IEM Katowice 2023 is nigh! Before we begin, we embark on an ambitious project: Rank all 36 players.
While all forms of Power Ranks are speculative, this one might take the cake. A new patch and map pool was implemented in the last two months, and we've seen ZERO high-stakes events in the new setting. Also, a large chunk of the players in the competition haven't competed at all in 2023, leaving their form a mystery.
Thus, I'm leaning hard on previous performances, reputation—and for the lack of a better word—vibes for some of these placements. I fully expect to be surprised by players who had very productive practice leading into Katowice, or those who are bringing effective new strategies to the competition.
Unfortunately for TeebuL and Coffee, historic results force me to place them here in Tier 6.
Since the WCS-EPT transition, the #1 seed out of Oceania/Rest of Asia and #2 seed from China have never made it out of the IEM Katowice play-in stage. That's not to say those seeds haven't scored upsets—previous China #2 seed Cyan took down Scarlett at Katowice 2021 and then defeated Has at Katowice 2022. As for the OCE #1 seed, Probe managed to eliminate Percival 2-0 in last year's Katowice play-in stage. Like their regional peers, TeebuL and Coffee could very well win surprise victories that help send a player from a stronger region out of the tournament.
However, you need to put together three to four of those upsets to escape the RO36, and I just can't see either of these two pulling off that kind of underdog run.
It's been three years since IEM Katowice's format was changed to include a RO36 bracket/play-in stage, and I believe that the 2023 edition features the most competitive, closely matched field of players yet.
Setting aside TeebuL and Coffee as the underdogs and Cure and Zoun as the two favorites, that leaves a whopping twelve players whom I believe have very similar odds of advancing into the RO24. Of course, I favor certain players over the others (hence their ranking), but I don't think the gap between #34 and #22 is significant. Match-up luck and gameday form are sure to play a huge part in deciding who actually survives to reach the group stage.
Keep in mind how how wild last year's RO36 was: Favorites like herO, DRG, and Creator all got knocked out, making ByuN's advancement the only 'predictable' result. The other three RO24 spots went to Astrea, Ryung, and Spirit, who all happened to catch fire at the perfect moment.
While Ryung and/or Spirit have a chance of pulling off the same feat in 2023, it could very easily be someone else in this tier who makes a dramatic run to the main event. Could NightMare follow-up on his shocking RO8 placement at DreamHack: Atlanta and disrupt the groups? Will soO rekindle the fire from 2019 and play his best StarCraft since returning from the military? Or will it be Harstem captaining his ship into the RO24 for the first time since 2017? I'm open to every single possibility.
[*Unfortunately for SpeCial, he's the sole RO24 seed who I have ranked alongside the RO36 players in Tier 5, as I don't think he'd be a clear favorite to advance from the RO36 if he had to start there.]
Tier 4 is the group stage version of Tier 5, containing nine RO24 competitors—plus Cure and Zoun from the RO36—that I believe have similar chances of advancing into the playoff stage of the tournament.
Again, I believe these eleven players are extremely closely matched. I ran their names through a list randomizer a few times as an experiment, and each result felt like a reasonable, justifiable ranking from a certain point of view. For the sake of this particular power rank, I used major tournament success in 2022/23 as my primary differentiator, but even then the margins were razor thin. Take a look at Astrea's results in 2022 and compare them to ShoWTimE—can you really say either player was clearly better?
If I had to pick a handful of players who have a chance to vastly outperform my expectations, I'd have to go with GuMiho, Cure, and Zoun. In the case of GuMiho, he has a well-earned reputation for being a brilliant build-crafter, even strategizing his way to a Code S championship in 2017. If there's anyone who could take advantage of the new maps/patch and surprise their opponents, GuMiho would have to be near the top of the list.
As for Cure, he combines GuMiho's knack for strategizing with championship-tier play in the recent past. Yes, Cure has experienced a worrying fall-off since winning Code S 2021—hence his disappointing starting position in the RO36. However, that marvelous Code S run is still close enough in the past that I believe he could regain that form.
No one will ever match Rogue's knack for stepping up in big matches, but Zoun has become a bizarre, semi-successor to that legacy (alright, maybe 1/16th successor would be a more accurate description). Although he's not very consistent, he's pulled off some wild BO5 upsets in his career, like taking down Dark and Rogue in a GSL Super Tournament, or more recently eliminating Serral at HomeStory Cup XXII. What's particularly impressive about these upsets is that Zoun didn't even play particularly cheesy—he was just legitimately better than these world champion players for the duration of a single series. Sure, Zoun's inconsistency means he might just get knocked out in the RO36, but he's also got a chance to really ruin your bracket prediction.
HeroMarine reached an entirely new level at the last IEM Katowice, progressing all the way to the final four and pushing Reynor to the brink of elimination in the semis. This momentum carried over briefly into the start of the 2022/23 season, as he eliminated Serral from the first DH: Europe regional of the year with a 3-2 victory. Alas, this did not herald the coming of Big Gabe, Champion of Europe, as he soon reverted back to being 'normal' HeroMarine. While he remained one of the most consistently strong players in Europe, he ceased to be a serious title threat in the rest of the year's tournaments.
Still, seeing something once is enough to instill belief, and I'm not ready to say IEM Katowice 2022 was a once-in-a-career event for HeroMarine. I'm cautiously placing him in the longshot contenders tier, with hopes that he can turn in a repeat performance.
For better or for worse, my assessment for ByuN and Solar is the same as it has been for a couple of years now: they possess championship-level skill but are weighed down by their questionable mental.
There's no doubt that the two players made huge strides in 2022. Solar broke a multi-year championship drought by winning GSL Super Tournament 2, where he looked calm and composed as he clutched out a game seven against a proven 'winner' in Dark. While ByuN didn't win a championship, he finished the year strong with a top four finish in the same GSL Super Tournament (losing to Solar) and top three placement in HomeStory Cup XXII. It was particularly encouraging for ByuN that his chronic wrist issues—which had been revealed to be at least partially psychosomatic—didn't flair up in a significant way throughout the 2022/23 season.
The question is, how well will these improvements carry over to the most pressure-packed stage of all at IEM Katowice? While I doubt we'll see anything as drastic as Solar eating a historically disastrous nuke or ByuN requesting multiple pauses due to wrist pain, I'm worried that something will go wrong. As is always the case with these two, I'm praying for the best but bracing myself for the worst.
Considering how heavily I've factored in past performances for other players, it might be surprising to see that Clem is still lingering in this section of the rankings. After all, his showings in international competition have been consistently disappointing compared to his continued domination in Europe (winning his fourth and fifth EPT/DHM Europe regionals in 2022). It's largely due to his weak Terran vs Terran, which has been such a consistent problem that it might appear incurable to some fans.
However, I'm just too tantalized by Clem's talent to exclude him from title contention. We just saw Creator reach the GSL finals after a 10 year slump and herO redefine what's possible for military returnees—I think it's pretty reasonable to expect a hyper-talented Terran who's still only 20 years old to solve his problem match-up. And even if he doesn't quite figure out TvT, Clem's strong TvP and TvZ mean he's only a lucky bracket away from a top four finish.
Another Terran I'm high on is Bunny. He started to break out toward the end of 2021, stringing together some solid domestic results before making a career-best run to the top eight of IEM Katowice 2022. However, his momentum was derailed in comically unlucky fashion, with the combo of a hand/wrist injury and international COVID quarantine wasting the first half of the EPT 2022/23 season. However, he recovered in brilliant fashion, and went on the run of his career at DreamHack: Atlanta. Not only did he take down Serral, but he came within a map of beating herO and winning his first major championship.
I'm now left to seriously wonder whether that Atlanta run was a brief burst of supreme inspiration, or if it truly represented a new normal for Bunny. The subsequent GSL Super Tournament 2 definitely felt like a reality check, as Dark slapped him down hard in the RO4. Still, I'm going to err on the side of optimism here, and say 2023 will indeed be the Year of the Rabbit Bunny.
While there's sure to be much disagreement about the rankings up to this point, I think most fans would agree that these five players are locks at the very top.
herO's overall career resume is clearly the weakest of the five, but he arguably had the strongest EPT 2022/23 season out of anyone. He was the only player to win two of the 'tier 1' majors on the season (remind me to rant about how Liquipedia-Premier is too broad a category some other time), claiming the championship at both GSL Code S Season 2 and DreamHack: Atlanta.
He also put up solid head-to-head results against the other players in this tier, most notably beating Maru in both the semifinals of DreamHack: Atlanta and the grand finals of Code S Season 2. While he didn't play nearly as many high stakes matches against the three Zergs, he was definitely competitive against them (and in the case of Dark, regularly beat up on him in the ESL Open Cups).
Really, the only major mark against herO is just hasn't enough time in his post-military career to build up the same kind of aura of dominance as the others. But going by the 2022/23 season alone, he might even be the #1 world championship candidate.
Regardless of what I think of herO, it's actually Maru who comes into IEM Katowice with the most EPT points and the #1 overall seed. Maru might lament his three runner-up finishes in interviews, but his 1 gold/3 silver record in EPT 2022/23 would constitute a career-best year for around thirty of the other players in the tournament.
But while things look good for Maru on the surface, things are a bit more worrying underneath the hood. The reason why he has three silvers is because he's failed to overcome the other players in this very tier—Dark beat him in the DH: Valencia finals, herO took him down in Code S Season 2, and Serral walloped him in TSL9. At least the finals vs Dark was a nailbiter—the herO and Serral series were worryingly one-sided. Throw in Maru's history of underperforming when traveling outside of Asia, and I have to wonder if he's actually the weakest of the five players in this tier.
However, if I've been optimistic about Clem, HeroMarine, Solar, and other players down the ranking, I have to give Maru the benefit of the doubt as well. He's on the shortlist to be the greatest SC2 player of all time—surely he'll reach the IEM Katowice finals at least once?
Reynor and Dark feel like oddly similar players to me, even though one is the epitome of Zerg greed and the other is the swarm's most clinical early-game attacker. What ties them together is how their recent tournament results have basically zero correlation with how I feel about their level as players. Regardless of what their Aligulac ratings say, regardless of tournament placements, you know another championship is inevitably coming.
For instance, back in 2021, Reynor went into IEM Katowice after playing poorly in the three lead-in tournaments. That, of course, ended with Reynor fighting his way through a historically brutal bracket (Stats-Dark-Maru-Zest) to win the world championship. And while that achievement was hugely impressive, nothing about it was truly surprising. Similarly, Dark went through a rough stretch in late 2020 where he flopped out of consecutive Code S group stages. Then, not long after, he survived one of the most difficult tournament gauntlets of all time to win TSL6. Again, it was a performance that somehow elicited both applause and a shrug.
The reason I have Reynor higher than Dark is that he's pulled this kind of s*** off in two consecutive world championships. His tournament results leading into previous two IEM Katowice tournaments were uninspiring, but he still came up with the championship in 2021 and a runner-up finish in 2022. It's a nice bonus that this year he's actually going into IEM Katowice on the high note of having won HomeStory Cup XXII, but I'd still have the utmost faith in him had he been eliminated in last place.
For the vaunted #1 spot, I ultimately had to go with reigning Katowice champion Serral. If the lower half of the ranking was more focused on centered around objective results, I found myself leaning more and more heavily toward gut feeling as I went up the rankings. As I touched upon above with Reynor and Dark, I stopped caring so much about who had played well recently, and thought more about who had proven that they could play at a high level in a world championship event. And if that was my primary criteria, then who could I place higher than the only player in the entire tournament with both BlizzCon and Katowice championships?
Of course, this isn't to say that it's 100% vibes that lead me to take Serral at #1. His Aligulac.com rating is monstrously high as usual, and he stands at #1 headed into the event. His 2022/23 results were very good as well, winning championships at HSC XXI and TSL9.
Going through the rankings, I found it telling that I constantly went to "did Player X beat Serral?" as a criterion, as much as Aligulac rating or tournament results. That's just how much of a gold standard Serral has become in the scene. Even as the parity in the StarCraft II scene has reached its highest point in years, the man to beat remains the same.
Reference: Aligulac.com standings (February 7th, 2023)For the sake of reference and comparison, I've included the Aligulac.com rankings of all the competing players as of February 7th. Players who were marked as "inactive" have been listed according to their prior rating.
Hard disagree with your power rank, especially #1. If anything, Serral should be #3. I understand Zerg is good right now, but I'm confident the winner will be either be Maru or herO.
It's a really interesting list. Time will tell. Hard to predict anything with this being the first tournament on this patch, and the wildcard of mental/jetlag of the KR players travelling to Poland.
I'd love to see some wild upsets and a first time winner like Clem or Bunny.
On February 08 2023 15:11 Gescom wrote: It's a really interesting list. Time will tell. Hard to predict anything with this being the first tournament on this patch, and the wildcard of mental/jetlag of the KR players travelling to Poland.
I'd love to see some wild upsets and a first time winner like Clem or Bunny.
Agreed with the jetlag. Most likely this is the biggest reason why Koreans lose. If anyone has actually traveled long distance, they would know that jetlag is no joke at all. I'm willing to bet that Maru is very prone to the negative side effects of jetlag and thats why he is the way he is in non-Asian tournaments.
On Korean soil, Maru dominates every single non-Korean
On February 08 2023 15:10 tlnetuser108 wrote: Hard disagree with your power rank, especially #1. If anything, Serral should be #3. I understand Zerg is good right now, but I'm confident the winner will be either be Maru or herO.
On February 08 2023 15:11 Gescom wrote: It's a really interesting list. Time will tell. Hard to predict anything with this being the first tournament on this patch, and the wildcard of mental/jetlag of the KR players travelling to Poland.
I'd love to see some wild upsets and a first time winner like Clem or Bunny.
Agreed with the jetlag. Most likely this is the biggest reason why Koreans lose. If anyone has actually traveled long distance, they would know that jetlag is no joke at all. I'm willing to bet that Maru is very prone to the negative side effects of jetlag and thats why he is the way he is in non-Asian tournaments.
On Korean soil, Maru dominates every single non-Korean
The jet-lag didnt stop Rogue from winning 2 IEM, Soo from winning 1 and Maru from making 3 Ro4, plus KR have done pretty darn well in Valencia and Atlanta this year so it should be less of a factor. Besides, I think the schedule of this IEM is very friendly for KR player who has jet lag, basically the group stage are spread into 3 days to give them plenty of time to recover.
If jetlag realy was this big of a factor, don t you think players would just go there a few days earlier? 3 more nights in a hotel cost like 100 bucks, if that could double or tripple your price money earnings that easily, they would all be in europe 1 week early. I traveled around the globe (form Europe to North America, Southeast Asia and Australia) for sport competitions in the past and never realy felt any impact on my performance because of jetlag.
Jetlag is not an excuse for this kind of tournament imo It might me for smaller events like TSL or HSC, but not for this one If you want to increase your chances to win and not experience jetlag, just come a week before the event This is the world championship, and any favorites to the title should take this seriously and arrange their trip in the best possible way
I mean, you all can say "come a week early" and I'm sure most of them do. But there's always going to be an effect from traveling, even a week or two early. And at the very top level, it probably has a pretty meaningful impact.
Regardless, I think Serral is always going to be a top 2-3 favorite to win. I definitely wouldn't put Reynor there though. He simply doesn't have the consistency that Serral does.
On February 08 2023 18:02 Blargh wrote: I mean, you all can say "come a week early" and I'm sure most of them do. But there's always going to be an effect from traveling, even a week or two early. And at the very top level, it probably has a pretty meaningful impact.
Regardless, I think Serral is always going to be a top 2-3 favorite to win. I definitely wouldn't put Reynor there though. He simply doesn't have the consistency that Serral does.
While I agree that Serral is always going to be a top 2-3 favorite to win, Reynor has been in the World Championship Final in the last 3 editions (Blizzcon in 2019, then IEM 2021 and 2022). Whatever consistency issues he's been having throughout the year, he's clearly been able to be in peak form for the WC, so I would never count him out.
Maru and herO at #3 and #4 is very optimistic, the top 3 is clearly the zergs and then it's a toss up imo. Serral is the most reliable ZvZ player so I would put him at #1 and Reynor has had a meh year so I would put Dark at #2 and Reynor #3. The other tiers I kinda agree with, except I would put NightMare into top 16 given his fantastic run at DH:Atlanta!
On February 08 2023 18:02 Blargh wrote: I mean, you all can say "come a week early" and I'm sure most of them do. But there's always going to be an effect from traveling, even a week or two early. And at the very top level, it probably has a pretty meaningful impact.
Regardless, I think Serral is always going to be a top 2-3 favorite to win. I definitely wouldn't put Reynor there though. He simply doesn't have the consistency that Serral does.
But that effect from travelling and staying in a hotel is going to affect everybody. Jetlag would be specific for those who are from outside of Europe, but not sleeping as well in a hotel bed, or maybe not enjoying the hotel breakfast as much as your favourite bowl of cereal, affects all of the players equally.
I'd bump Astrea (he's better than HM right now), Byun, and nightmare up a tier, but otherwise a decent list. The exact order of the top 5 can also be debated until the end of time.
Some people are (sometimes much) more affected by things like jetlag or overall environment change. I never felt any jetlag but some people get "broken" by it for days.
But it's a kinda pointless question to ask "who is the best player in ideal conditions" because what you can measure is "who is the best performing player in a set of tournaments". I'm pretty sure Maru himself doesn't care to come up with reasons why he doesn't perform at his 100% at foreign tournaments. Jetlag or whatever - he just doesn't look like his best outside of Korea, and it's the bottom line. This comes from someone who roots for Maru in any tournament he plays in.
In the words of Michael Jordan, the GOAT of basketball, if I step on the court that means I’m 100% ready to play, win or lose there are no excuses. All this jet-lag talk and blah blah blah, professional athletes from all sports deal with this all the time. If players are ready willing and able to play then there are no excuses especially at the biggest tournament of the year AND when talking about the goat. You either get it done or you don’t period.
On February 08 2023 17:19 dbRic1203 wrote: If jetlag realy was this big of a factor, don t you think players would just go there a few days earlier? 3 more nights in a hotel cost like 100 bucks, if that could double or tripple your price money earnings that easily, they would all be in europe 1 week early. I traveled around the globe (form Europe to North America, Southeast Asia and Australia) for sport competitions in the past and never realy felt any impact on my performance because of jetlag.
3 nights at a hotel costs more than a $100. Plus flights costs are different everyday at different times.
And just because you felt a certain way doesn't mean everyone is like you. There really is a good chance that jetlag affects Maru worse than others.
On February 08 2023 17:19 dbRic1203 wrote: If jetlag realy was this big of a factor, don t you think players would just go there a few days earlier? 3 more nights in a hotel cost like 100 bucks, if that could double or tripple your price money earnings that easily, they would all be in europe 1 week early. I traveled around the globe (form Europe to North America, Southeast Asia and Australia) for sport competitions in the past and never realy felt any impact on my performance because of jetlag.
3 nights at a hotel costs more than a $100. Plus flights costs are different everyday at different times.
And just because you felt a certain way doesn't mean everyone is like you. There really is a good chance that jetlag affects Maru worse than others.
The book 'Peak Sleep Performance for Athletes' written by someone who's consulted NBA players costs £12.85. Too expensive maybe ? I'll commit to personally gift it to verified pros who DM me.
It’s not like other terrans showed up at WC anyways so I don’t see why everyone is talking about jet lag for Maru. He might be more sensitive to international travel but that’s not the main issue that plagued his runs
Maru was in semis 3 times in recent IEMs and every time he lost to the eventual Zerg champion. And it always was 3-2 as far as I remember, with him leading 2-1 or even 2-0 at one point of every series.
A bit more luck/concentration and he probably could be 3x world champ - but history doesn't know if`s and but`s. It is what it is.
It used to be that Maru did horribly bad in Blizzcon, and he even got eliminated from the group in IEM 2019, so thats where all the "jetlag" excuses are coming from. Its similar to how Maru only win in GSL but never win weekend tournament, but now that should no longer be the case.
On February 09 2023 00:32 Poopi wrote: It’s not like other terrans showed up at WC anyways so I don’t see why everyone is talking about jet lag for Maru. He might be more sensitive to international travel but that’s not the main issue that plagued his runs
It's a big nothingburger. Surely after 10yrs in the game, if I'd dramatically underperformed my teammate (cough Rogue cough) in the world championship department, I'd maybe amortize half the time difference by shifting my sleep schedule weeks before. That makes it a remaining... wow... 4 hours change !
On February 08 2023 22:34 Itsxjoeyy wrote: In the words of Michael Jordan, the GOAT of basketball, if I step on the court that means I’m 100% ready to play, win or lose there are no excuses. All this jet-lag talk and blah blah blah, professional athletes from all sports deal with this all the time. If players are ready willing and able to play then there are no excuses especially at the biggest tournament of the year AND when talking about the goat. You either get it done or you don’t period.
The NBA only plays in NA, he never had to deal with jetlag. (e: this actually isn't true, you can still be jetlagged going coast to coast, albeit not as severe as NA to EU or Asia)
Players typically arrive a few days early or for bigger tournaments, a week+ early, just to get used to the time difference which will have a drastic effect on performance. In some esports, they will bootcamp in the region of the tournament to fully adapt their circadian rhythm as to not have jetlag as an excuse.
I imagine they adequately prepared for this, but who knows. Either way, jetlag is a very real, very challenging detriment.
On February 08 2023 22:34 Itsxjoeyy wrote: In the words of Michael Jordan, the GOAT of basketball, if I step on the court that means I’m 100% ready to play, win or lose there are no excuses. All this jet-lag talk and blah blah blah, professional athletes from all sports deal with this all the time. If players are ready willing and able to play then there are no excuses especially at the biggest tournament of the year AND when talking about the goat. You either get it done or you don’t period.
The NBA only plays in NA, he never had to deal with jetlag. (e: this actually isn't true, you can still be jetlagged going coast to coast, albeit not as severe as NA to EU or Asia)
I imagine they adequately prepared for this, but who knows. Either way, jetlag is a very real, very challenging detriment.
Thanks for your edit, this was technically untrue, as he played in the Olympics as well.
On February 08 2023 22:34 Itsxjoeyy wrote: In the words of Michael Jordan, the GOAT of basketball, if I step on the court that means I’m 100% ready to play, win or lose there are no excuses. All this jet-lag talk and blah blah blah, professional athletes from all sports deal with this all the time. If players are ready willing and able to play then there are no excuses especially at the biggest tournament of the year AND when talking about the goat. You either get it done or you don’t period.
The NBA only plays in NA, he never had to deal with jetlag. (e: this actually isn't true, you can still be jetlagged going coast to coast, albeit not as severe as NA to EU or Asia)
I imagine they adequately prepared for this, but who knows. Either way, jetlag is a very real, very challenging detriment.
Thanks for your edit, this was technically untrue, as he played in the Olympics as well.
You can bet that Olympic athletes arrive with plenty of time to practice and adjust to jetlag, which is why I didn't mention it.
On February 08 2023 15:11 Gescom wrote: It's a really interesting list. Time will tell. Hard to predict anything with this being the first tournament on this patch, and the wildcard of mental/jetlag of the KR players travelling to Poland.
I'd love to see some wild upsets and a first time winner like Clem or Bunny.
Agreed with the jetlag. Most likely this is the biggest reason why Koreans lose. If anyone has actually traveled long distance, they would know that jetlag is no joke at all. I'm willing to bet that Maru is very prone to the negative side effects of jetlag and thats why he is the way he is in non-Asian tournaments.
On Korean soil, Maru dominates every single non-Korean
You seem to forgot Serral destroyed Maru and the whole Korean crew on Korean soil while playing jet lag Ms won 2 GSL
On February 08 2023 22:34 Itsxjoeyy wrote: In the words of Michael Jordan, the GOAT of basketball, if I step on the court that means I’m 100% ready to play, win or lose there are no excuses. All this jet-lag talk and blah blah blah, professional athletes from all sports deal with this all the time. If players are ready willing and able to play then there are no excuses especially at the biggest tournament of the year AND when talking about the goat. You either get it done or you don’t period.
Just the usual Korean fanboys excuses when losing to foreigners since the beginning of SC
Jet lag, didn’t try, hiding and saving builds for GSL, etc if anything it makes them sound quite pathetic constantly using those excuses
Funny when the Korean pro players has acknowledged Serral as the best player since 2018. Dunno why the fans has yet to accept that
On February 08 2023 22:34 Itsxjoeyy wrote: In the words of Michael Jordan, the GOAT of basketball, if I step on the court that means I’m 100% ready to play, win or lose there are no excuses. All this jet-lag talk and blah blah blah, professional athletes from all sports deal with this all the time. If players are ready willing and able to play then there are no excuses especially at the biggest tournament of the year AND when talking about the goat. You either get it done or you don’t period.
The NBA only plays in NA, he never had to deal with jetlag. (e: this actually isn't true, you can still be jetlagged going coast to coast, albeit not as severe as NA to EU or Asia)
Players typically arrive a few days early or for bigger tournaments, a week+ early, just to get used to the time difference which will have a drastic effect on performance. In some esports, they will bootcamp in the region of the tournament to fully adapt their circadian rhythm as to not have jetlag as an excuse.
I imagine they adequately prepared for this, but who knows. Either way, jetlag is a very real, very challenging detriment.
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
only rogue has more more bigger titels and with serrals earnings he achieved more then all the 3
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
Regardless if GSL vs world is “lower tier” than code S, serral dominated all the best code S players in those tournaments. What’s the difference where he beat them? NO EXCUSES!
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
Regardless if GSL vs world is “lower teir” than code S, serral dominated all the best code S players in those tournaments. What’s the difference where he beat them? NO EXCUSES!
The difference is the amount of events he's won with the majority of top players present. Rogue and Maru have both won over 10 events that had the vast majority of top Pros at the time of the event present. Maru also had 3 amazing proleague seasons. For Serral the only events he's won that had the large majority of the top 20 present were Blizzcon, IEM, GSL vs the World x2, and TSL. Unless I'm forgetting something the rest of his wins are either HSC, only had 6 Koreans present or were straight up region locked and didn't allow any Koreans.
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
Regardless if GSL vs world is “lower teir” than code S, serral dominated all the best code S players in those tournaments. What’s the difference where he beat them? NO EXCUSES!
The difference is the amount of events he's won with the majority of top players present. Rogue and Maru have both won over 10 events that had the vast majority of top Pros at the time of the event present. Maru also had 3 amazing proleague seasons. For Serral the only events he's won that had the large majority of the top 20 present were Blizzcon, IEM, GSL vs the World x2, and TSL. Unless I'm forgetting something the rest of his wins are either HSC, only had 6 Koreans present or were straight up region locked and didn't allow any Koreans.
I mean how many times do you need to see it? How many examples do we need to see serral is superior? He’s routinely played the top players in Korea and the world for the past 4-5 years.
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
Regardless if GSL vs world is “lower teir” than code S, serral dominated all the best code S players in those tournaments. What’s the difference where he beat them? NO EXCUSES!
The difference is the amount of events he's won with the majority of top players present. Rogue and Maru have both won over 10 events that had the vast majority of top Pros at the time of the event present. Maru also had 3 amazing proleague seasons. For Serral the only events he's won that had the large majority of the top 20 present were Blizzcon, IEM, GSL vs the World x2, and TSL. Unless I'm forgetting something the rest of his wins are either HSC, only had 6 Koreans present or were straight up region locked and didn't allow any Koreans.
I mean how many times do you need to see it? How many examples do we need to see serral is superior? He’s routinely played the top players in Korea and the world for the past 4-5 years.
Can’t even dominate his own region, Clem was the top dog in DH:EU this season. Regardless, he has the best ZvZ and he is consistent so being #1 in PR is logical in that meta / sotg
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
Regardless if GSL vs world is “lower teir” than code S, serral dominated all the best code S players in those tournaments. What’s the difference where he beat them? NO EXCUSES!
The difference is the amount of events he's won with the majority of top players present. Rogue and Maru have both won over 10 events that had the vast majority of top Pros at the time of the event present. Maru also had 3 amazing proleague seasons. For Serral the only events he's won that had the large majority of the top 20 present were Blizzcon, IEM, GSL vs the World x2, and TSL. Unless I'm forgetting something the rest of his wins are either HSC, only had 6 Koreans present or were straight up region locked and didn't allow any Koreans.
I mean how many times do you need to see it? How many examples do we need to see serral is superior? He’s routinely played the top players in Korea and the world for the past 4-5 years.
To be the goat he has to win a higher number of events with the large majority (say at least 70-80%) of top pros present than Rogue/Maru have. His number of events with that level of top competition present is still lower than them.
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
Regardless if GSL vs world is “lower teir” than code S, serral dominated all the best code S players in those tournaments. What’s the difference where he beat them? NO EXCUSES!
The difference is the amount of events he's won with the majority of top players present. Rogue and Maru have both won over 10 events that had the vast majority of top Pros at the time of the event present. Maru also had 3 amazing proleague seasons. For Serral the only events he's won that had the large majority of the top 20 present were Blizzcon, IEM, GSL vs the World x2, and TSL. Unless I'm forgetting something the rest of his wins are either HSC, only had 6 Koreans present or were straight up region locked and didn't allow any Koreans.
I mean how many times do you need to see it? How many examples do we need to see serral is superior? He’s routinely played the top players in Korea and the world for the past 4-5 years.
To be the goat he has to win a higher number of events with the large majority (say at least 70-80%) of top pros present than Rogue/Maru have. His number of events with that level of top competition present is still lower than them.
But when he plays tournaments with all the top players…he beats them? I mean by those standards there are still players from WoL with more event wins with top tier players than serral. Like I said, regardless, no one can deny that serral beats every other top player more often than not. He’s got the record for longest time being #1 aligulac. There’s really nothing anyone can say.
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
Regardless if GSL vs world is “lower teir” than code S, serral dominated all the best code S players in those tournaments. What’s the difference where he beat them? NO EXCUSES!
The difference is the amount of events he's won with the majority of top players present. Rogue and Maru have both won over 10 events that had the vast majority of top Pros at the time of the event present. Maru also had 3 amazing proleague seasons. For Serral the only events he's won that had the large majority of the top 20 present were Blizzcon, IEM, GSL vs the World x2, and TSL. Unless I'm forgetting something the rest of his wins are either HSC, only had 6 Koreans present or were straight up region locked and didn't allow any Koreans.
I mean how many times do you need to see it? How many examples do we need to see serral is superior? He’s routinely played the top players in Korea and the world for the past 4-5 years.
To be the goat he has to win a higher number of events with the large majority (say at least 70-80%) of top pros present than Rogue/Maru have. His number of events with that level of top competition present is still lower than them.
But when he plays tournaments with all the top players…he beats them? I mean by those standards there are still players from WoL with more event wins with top tier players than serral. Like I said, regardless, no one can deny that serral beats every other top player more often than not. He’s got the record for longest time being #1 aligulac. There’s really nothing anyone can say.
If you want to use aligulac as your criteria go ahead. In my opinion quantity of event wins that have the majority of the top players present at the time of the event are the most important criteria. Moreso than current skill level. In my opinion if a player had won 1-2 events a year from 2010 forward and were never actually the clear best at any point in time they would still be the goat due to accumulating the most trophies. I think trophies > all was pretty commonly accepted before people started calling Serral the goat off nothing but his 2018 run but I could be wrong.
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
Regardless if GSL vs world is “lower teir” than code S, serral dominated all the best code S players in those tournaments. What’s the difference where he beat them? NO EXCUSES!
The difference is the amount of events he's won with the majority of top players present. Rogue and Maru have both won over 10 events that had the vast majority of top Pros at the time of the event present. Maru also had 3 amazing proleague seasons. For Serral the only events he's won that had the large majority of the top 20 present were Blizzcon, IEM, GSL vs the World x2, and TSL. Unless I'm forgetting something the rest of his wins are either HSC, only had 6 Koreans present or were straight up region locked and didn't allow any Koreans.
I mean how many times do you need to see it? How many examples do we need to see serral is superior? He’s routinely played the top players in Korea and the world for the past 4-5 years.
To be the goat he has to win a higher number of events with the large majority (say at least 70-80%) of top pros present than Rogue/Maru have. His number of events with that level of top competition present is still lower than them.
But when he plays tournaments with all the top players…he beats them? I mean by those standards there are still players from WoL with more event wins with top tier players than serral. Like I said, regardless, no one can deny that serral beats every other top player more often than not. He’s got the record for longest time being #1 aligulac. There’s really nothing anyone can say.
If you want to use aligulac as your criteria go ahead. In my opinion quantity of event wins that have the majority of the top players present at the time of the event are the most important criteria. Moreso than current skill level. In my opinion if a player had won 1-2 events a year from 2010 forward and were never actually the clear best at any point in time they would still be the goat due to accumulating the most trophies. I think trophies > all was pretty commonly accepted before people started calling Serral the goat off nothing but his 2018 run but I could be wrong.
He’s not the goat based off 2018. Although he won the most money that year than anyone ever has in a single year. But since then my eyes tell me he’s better than maru rogue etc. He’s a model of consistency. A top 4 is actually a bad tournament for him.
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
Regardless if GSL vs world is “lower tier” than code S, serral dominated all the best code S players in those tournaments. What’s the difference where he beat them? NO EXCUSES!
Just Let the Korean fan boys cope with that and hold onto any excuses they can find
The general consensus and majority of the fan base acknowledged Serral has 2 GSL wins. It’s just the minority trying to discredit Serral achievement.
Funnily Serral path to victory on those 2 GSLs are harder than any of Maru’s GSL.
Only Rogue can compete with Serral for the GOAT title which is already cemented
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
Regardless if GSL vs world is “lower tier” than code S, serral dominated all the best code S players in those tournaments. What’s the difference where he beat them? NO EXCUSES!
Just Let the Korean fan boys cope with that and hold onto any excuses they can find
The general consensus and majority of the fan base acknowledged Serral has 2 GSL wins. It’s just the minority trying to discredit Serral achievement.
Funnily Serral path to victory on those 2 GSLs are harder than any of Maru’s GSL. Maru has barely any noticeable achievement outside of Korea
Only Rogue can compete with Serral for the GOAT title which is already cemented
The general consensus and majority of the fan base acknowledged Serral has 2 GSL wins.
I wanted to say "you can't be serious, right?"... but unfortunately, knowing you a bit - it is serious, and this is just... sad.
The general consensus and majority of the fan base acknowledges that there's a big difference between GSL Code S - which is what people mean when they say "GSL" in 95% cases GSL ST - same players, much lower stakes and prestige GSL vs. the World - good prize pool but this was an invitational tournament, no WCS points
GSL vs the World 2019 had Elazer and Neeb in top 4, for fook's sake.
Serral is one of the greatest players in SC2, any way you look at it - he doesn't need ridiculous claims to have huge legacy.
On February 09 2023 07:37 ZeroByte13 wrote: The general consensus and majority of the fan base acknowledged Serral has 2 GSL wins.
I wanted to say "you can't be serious, right?"... but unfortunately, knowing you a bit - it is serious, and this is just... sad.
The general consensus and majority of the fan base acknowledges that there's a big difference between GSL Code S - which is what people mean when they say "GSL" in 95% cases GSL ST - same players, much lower stakes and prestige GSL vs. the World - good prize pool but this was an invitational tournament, no WCS points
GSL vs the World 2019 had Elazer and Neeb in top 4, for fook's sake.
So basically you are saying the foreigners took a dump on Korean soil in 2019 in GSL
GSL has been a B tier tournament ever since Kespa disbanded and that’s a fact.
The golden standard since 2018 is whichever tournament Serral attend instantly becomes S tier
On February 09 2023 00:32 Poopi wrote: It’s not like other terrans showed up at WC anyways so I don’t see why everyone is talking about jet lag for Maru. He might be more sensitive to international travel but that’s not the main issue that plagued his runs
Its 100% the issue for him. Have you ever had to perform at a high level while being sleep deprived and tired as hell? Its not fun.
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
Regardless if GSL vs world is “lower tier” than code S, serral dominated all the best code S players in those tournaments. What’s the difference where he beat them? NO EXCUSES!
The difference is that preparation based tournaments outweigh weekenders. I would argue that due to format, GSL Code S is more prestigious than IEM Katowice/Blizzcon/WCS Global Finals. Prep based tourneys generally require more skill not only mechanically but strategically as well.
On February 09 2023 05:15 ZeroByte13 wrote: Serral won 2 GSLs? Okay...
There's a concentrated effort from Serral fans to treat GSL vs the World as equal to Code S despite the fact that it was near universally accepted to be a lower tier event before Serral won it.
the next excuse
Not an excuse. I fully acknowledge that Serral has been the best player for a while now. While I don't believe he's been the continuous best since 2018 I do think that from 2018 forward he's spent the most time as the best player. Skill is completely independent from achievement though. Additionally the game didn't start in 2018. Serral may have the highest skill level but his lifetime SC2 accomplishment is really not that close to players like Rogue, Maru, and even Innovation.
Regardless if GSL vs world is “lower tier” than code S, serral dominated all the best code S players in those tournaments. What’s the difference where he beat them? NO EXCUSES!
The difference is that preparation based tournaments outweigh weekenders. I would argue that due to format, GSL Code S is more prestigious than IEM Katowice/Blizzcon/WCS Global Finals. Prep based tourneys generally require more skill not only mechanically but strategically as well.
where does it require more skill ? prep mean u can take ur time and prepare, sound more easy to me
On February 08 2023 17:19 dbRic1203 wrote: If jetlag realy was this big of a factor, don t you think players would just go there a few days earlier? 3 more nights in a hotel cost like 100 bucks, if that could double or tripple your price money earnings that easily, they would all be in europe 1 week early. I traveled around the globe (form Europe to North America, Southeast Asia and Australia) for sport competitions in the past and never realy felt any impact on my performance because of jetlag.
Let's not use your personal experience. When you competed in sport competitions in the past, you were not competing in the Olympics (correct me if I am wrong here), however, IEM Katowice for Starcraft II is the equivalent of the Olympics in eSports. Go watch some ex-NBA player playing against NCAA/semi-pro hooper videos - Brian Scalabrine vs Regular people challenge. TLDR, he went 1v3, one of them was a professional overseas, but Scalabrine absolutely destroyed them. My point here is: the sports competitions you were in, slight changes in circadian rhythm doesn't matter, but it does matter for world's top players in sports. There, all of them devoted tens of thousands of hours in a game, the slightest change in lifestyle/physical-conditions could have significant impact.
Anyhow, my ranking for the top players as below: 1. Maru 2. Serral 3. Hero 4. Dark 5. Reynor
On February 09 2023 09:54 johnnyh123 wrote: Let's not use your personal experience. When you competed in sport competitions in the past, you were not competing in the Olympics (correct me if I am wrong here), however, IEM Katowice for Starcraft II is the equivalent of the Olympics in eSports. Go watch some ex-NBA player playing against NCAA/semi-pro hooper videos - Brian Scalabrine vs Regular people challenge. TLDR, he went 1v3, one of them was a professional overseas, but Scalabrine absolutely destroyed them. My point here is: the sports competitions you were in, slight changes in circadian rhythm doesn't matter, but it does matter for world's top players in sports. There, all of them devoted tens of thousands of hours in a game, the slightest change in lifestyle/physical-conditions could have significant impact.
Oof, this is really poorly argued. Did you register just to make this your first post?
For starters, even if there is a huge skill gap between the top players and some lower tier of still-professional players, what evidence do you have that issues with circadian rhythm only affect those top players, and not anybody else?
I'll say it right now, I think Classic will make it out of his group. He's beaten both Byun and Gumiho in tournaments as recent as last month, he got to hide his PvT during the Play-in Stage and he is the king of Prep! Classic lets go!
Alright, I asked ChatGPT. Somebody please forward to Korea.
If I were Maru and trying to win the Katowice StarCraft II tournament, which steps from the above would you recommend ?
ChatGPT: As a competitive Starcraft player, you likely have a rigorous training schedule and a strong focus on performance. In this context, I would recommend the following steps to help mitigate the effects of jet lag when traveling to compete in the Katowice tournament:
1.Gradual sleep pattern adjustment: Try to gradually adjust your sleep pattern in the days leading up to the trip to help your body adapt to the new time zone.
2.Hydration: Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water, as dehydration can exacerbate jet lag symptoms and affect your focus and energy levels during the tournament.
3.Schedule and routine: Maintain a consistent schedule for eating, sleeping, and exercising, as this can help reduce the impact of jet lag and keep you in a routine that supports peak performance.
4.Light exposure: Make sure to get exposure to natural light upon arrival, especially in the morning, to help reset your body's internal clock.
5.Exercise: Incorporate exercise into your daily routine, as this can help combat fatigue, improve sleep quality, and keep you in top physical condition for the tournament.
6.Minimize alcohol and caffeine: Avoid alcohol and caffeine, as they can disrupt sleep patterns and exacerbate jet lag symptoms.
7.Consider melatonin: If necessary, consider taking a melatonin supplement before bedtime to help regulate your sleep-wake cycle and reduce jet lag symptoms.
It's important to remember that everyone is different and what works for one player may not work for another. It's also important to listen to your body and make adjustments as needed to ensure you are performing at your best during the tournament.
On February 09 2023 10:16 MyLovelyLurker wrote: Alright, I asked ChatGPT. Somebody please forward to Korea.
If I were Maru and trying to win the Katowice StarCraft II tournament, which steps from the above would you recommend ?
ChatGPT: As a competitive Starcraft player, you likely have a rigorous training schedule and a strong focus on performance. In this context, I would recommend the following steps to help mitigate the effects of jet lag when traveling to compete in the Katowice tournament:
1.Gradual sleep pattern adjustment: Try to gradually adjust your sleep pattern in the days leading up to the trip to help your body adapt to the new time zone.
2.Hydration: Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water, as dehydration can exacerbate jet lag symptoms and affect your focus and energy levels during the tournament.
3.Schedule and routine: Maintain a consistent schedule for eating, sleeping, and exercising, as this can help reduce the impact of jet lag and keep you in a routine that supports peak performance.
4.Light exposure: Make sure to get exposure to natural light upon arrival, especially in the morning, to help reset your body's internal clock.
5.Exercise: Incorporate exercise into your daily routine, as this can help combat fatigue, improve sleep quality, and keep you in top physical condition for the tournament.
6.Minimize alcohol and caffeine: Avoid alcohol and caffeine, as they can disrupt sleep patterns and exacerbate jet lag symptoms.
7.Consider melatonin: If necessary, consider taking a melatonin supplement before bedtime to help regulate your sleep-wake cycle and reduce jet lag symptoms.
It's important to remember that everyone is different and what works for one player may not work for another. It's also important to listen to your body and make adjustments as needed to ensure you are performing at your best during the tournament.
This straight up seems like a personal attack at Maru lol
On February 09 2023 18:09 661 wrote: here for the last 10 years, the debate has been going on like that
it's not boring at all
Me too, but now we have AI so we can automate it. Also to this 10y point, I like Maru and want to see him do well, but it's not like Korea discovered airplanes and time differences yesterday (in fact and perhaps ironically, none other than Jin Air was an important sponsor of the scene).
With this in mind, here goes. Thanks, ChatGPT !
If an athlete doesn't do any of these things, who should they blame ?
ChatGPT: As an AI language model, I do not assign blame or hold opinions on personal responsibility. However, if an athlete does not take steps to mitigate the effects of jet lag, it is ultimately their own responsibility to manage their performance and health.
It's important for athletes to take their health and performance seriously and take the necessary steps to prepare for competitions, including addressing the effects of jet lag. By not taking these steps, they may be putting their performance and overall health at risk.
However, it's also important to remember that everyone is different and what works for one person may not work for another. There may be factors outside of an athlete's control that impact their ability to prepare effectively for jet lag, such as a tight travel schedule or other health issues.
Ultimately, the goal should be to find a balance between preparation and performance, and to work with medical professionals and coaches to find the best approach for individual needs and circumstances.
On February 08 2023 17:19 dbRic1203 wrote: If jetlag realy was this big of a factor, don t you think players would just go there a few days earlier? 3 more nights in a hotel cost like 100 bucks, if that could double or tripple your price money earnings that easily, they would all be in europe 1 week early. I traveled around the globe (form Europe to North America, Southeast Asia and Australia) for sport competitions in the past and never realy felt any impact on my performance because of jetlag.
You would also need to factor in other changes, like food. Korean food and Polish food are very different.
But the travel early to counter jetlag is something that Maru really should consider. He has complained about it repeatedly and you can see the in his face the difference between a long and gruelling day near his home compared to being in Europe. He is very much afflicted.
With the way Katowice is a yearly event, I am surprised that the Koreans haven't made preparations, a Korean house a la Noregret's foreigner house in South Korea or something similar.
Don't know how many more of these big events we'll get while the game still has relevancy, so gonna savor this one a little extra. Best of luck to all the players!
On February 09 2023 10:12 CicadaSC wrote: I'll say it right now, I think Classic will make it out of his group. He's beaten both Byun and Gumiho in tournaments as recent as last month, he got to hide his PvT during the Play-in Stage and he is the king of Prep! Classic lets go!
On February 09 2023 10:12 CicadaSC wrote: I'll say it right now, I think Classic will make it out of his group. He's beaten both Byun and Gumiho in tournaments as recent as last month, he got to hide his PvT during the Play-in Stage and he is the king of Prep! Classic lets go!
On February 09 2023 09:54 johnnyh123 wrote: Let's not use your personal experience. When you competed in sport competitions in the past, you were not competing in the Olympics (correct me if I am wrong here), however, IEM Katowice for Starcraft II is the equivalent of the Olympics in eSports. Go watch some ex-NBA player playing against NCAA/semi-pro hooper videos - Brian Scalabrine vs Regular people challenge. TLDR, he went 1v3, one of them was a professional overseas, but Scalabrine absolutely destroyed them. My point here is: the sports competitions you were in, slight changes in circadian rhythm doesn't matter, but it does matter for world's top players in sports. There, all of them devoted tens of thousands of hours in a game, the slightest change in lifestyle/physical-conditions could have significant impact.
Oof, this is really poorly argued. Did you register just to make this your first post?
For starters, even if there is a huge skill gap between the top players and some lower tier of still-professional players, what evidence do you have that issues with circadian rhythm only affect those top players, and not anybody else?
Changes in circadian rhythm affect everyone differently, but it does affect most of the population. The differences in skill doesn't really matter that much for low level players, whereas slightest changes matters for top players. I was a low master's league, it doesn't really matter if I am jet-lagged or drunk, I was more or less +/- that league. Could win when I was not in optimal condition. However, for top-level sports athletes, it really matters, you are not breaking the world record with a sub-optimal condition.
(I have always been on this forum, been watching every single premier tournament since 2010, but yes, this is a new account that I just created)
So far the most overperforming players compared to this Power Rank are Classic (+14) and Special (+16) The most underperforming players are Clem (-14) and Bunny (-16). Oliveira has a top 8 secured allready, wich means he also exceeded expectations by at least 13 places already
I compiled a list comparing the power rank with the actual finish placement:
While the biggest overperformance is (obviously) Oliveira, Special and Classic also did way better than expected. The 2 biggest disapointments have been Bunny and Clem.
I used Groupstage Match wins as a tiebreaker for players that got eliminated on the same tournament stage. If players were still tied then, I sorted by Power Rank.
When you compare Oli's spot in the tournament with Clem/Bunny who were much further up the list. Even Zoun was above Oli and he only managed 25/26th spot.
When Oliveira win the championship,i just keep laughing.However,tears slipped down without control.We lost our server,we have no champion in the past.But now,we have champion.Oliveira,his name is 李培楠,he is the hero for all of Chinese sc2 player.
On February 13 2023 21:43 time win wrote: When Oliveira win the championship,i just keep laughing.However,tears slipped down without control.We lost our server,we have no champion in the past.But now,we have champion.Oliveira,his name is 李培楠,he is the hero for all of Chinese sc2 player.
He is the hero for all of us! But I know what you mean.
It really is crazy how much community we lost with the loss of the Chinese Blizzard scene. The CN community has been pushing the highest levels of gameplay; we have Oliveira who demonstrated such commitment to the game, there are also figures across other games.
In WoW, there were numerous of CN guilds that also participated in the race to world first with the recent raid release in December. They were able to get four guilds that were in the top 10 guilds of the RWF. Outside of that top 10, there were plenty of others too.
Not to mention, the CN scene for the last few years have known to be huge sponsors and fans of SC1 and SC2 as well. I just hope this schism doesn't persist; they are obviously huge gamers.
EPT
![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/MGv0irz.png)
