• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 07:06
CEST 13:06
KST 20:06
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star10Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists14[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Fresh Flow9[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash10[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0
Community News
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers12Maestros of the Game 2 announced52026 GSL Tour plans announced14Weekly Cups (April 6-12): herO doubles, "Villains" prevail1MaNa leaves Team Liquid23
StarCraft 2
General
MaNa leaves Team Liquid Maestros of the Game 2 announced 2026 GSL Tour plans announced Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists
Tourneys
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2)
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 522 Flip My Base The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 521 Memorable Boss Mutation # 520 Moving Fees
Brood War
General
ASL21 Strategy, Pimpest Plays Discussions [ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star Data needed BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ RepMastered™: replay sharing and analyzer site
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro16 Group D [ASL21] Ro16 Group C [ASL21] Ro16 Group B [Megathread] Daily Proleagues
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Any training maps people recommend? Fighting Spirit mining rates
Other Games
General Games
Dawn of War IV Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread YouTube Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Sexual Health Of Gamers
TrAiDoS
lurker extra damage testi…
StaticNine
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1203 users

uThermal is smurfing with cheeses and it's cringe - Page 2

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
kaby
Profile Joined July 2010
Russian Federation195 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-09-14 21:24:06
September 14 2023 21:23 GMT
#21
On September 15 2023 03:33 luxon wrote:
ideally everyone just does what harstem does, he has a cheese account and cheese at his actual mmr, and does this for all 3 races.

But this is way harder, right? You have to put work into getting good enough with different strategies of different races at nearly your real MMR. Intead, you don't have to put a fuck into going 2k MMR below and make spectacular videos easily.

While viewers are ready to watch this shit quality content that doesn't require to put any efforts to be made, the majority of the streamers will go this easier way of smurfing 1k+ MMR (hiding it with switching the scene if required).

If you don't accept it — do not watch it.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland26631 Posts
September 14 2023 22:01 GMT
#22
On September 15 2023 03:29 Fleetfeet wrote:
Grubby does this kind of stuff all the time in WC3. It's entertaining if done right.

Been a while since I watched the Grubster but didn’t he used to play pretty straight up doing whacky stuff relatively close to his actual MMRs?

I think WC3 is a little more forgiving/unforgiving in this regard like a player of Grubby’s calibre can still beat a good ladder player with all his races/even doing silly things.

'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Balnazza
Profile Joined January 2018
Germany1281 Posts
September 14 2023 23:00 GMT
#23
On September 15 2023 07:01 WombaT wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 15 2023 03:29 Fleetfeet wrote:
Grubby does this kind of stuff all the time in WC3. It's entertaining if done right.

Been a while since I watched the Grubster but didn’t he used to play pretty straight up doing whacky stuff relatively close to his actual MMRs?

I think WC3 is a little more forgiving/unforgiving in this regard like a player of Grubby’s calibre can still beat a good ladder player with all his races/even doing silly things.



Lately, Grubby just does some really whacky stuff, though he does it on BNet.
Last one for example was a "counter yourself"-challenge, so he always build something that was bad against the stuff his opponent had. Or he tried to do a Wyrm-Chimera rush
"Wenn die Zauberin runter geht, dann macht sie die Beine breit" - Khaldor, trying to cast WC3 German-only
BluemoonSC
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
SoCal8910 Posts
September 14 2023 23:20 GMT
#24
On September 14 2023 23:59 BisuDagger wrote:
How do we know the OP isn't a smurf account? Next thread should be "Uthermal is smurfing on TL to troll high post TL accounts"

can't wait to see the thumbnail for this video
LiquidDota Staff@BluemoonGG_
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33592 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-09-15 07:21:06
September 15 2023 00:28 GMT
#25
It's settled business in StarCraft II since Blizzard have taken their hands off the issue, but it's worth noting that other prominent games are 'officially' anti-smurfing. Dota2 took a very hard stance recently, League of Legends is at least nominally looking for solutions, and Blizzard attempted a phone number verification system in Overwatch at least partially due to smurfing (toxicity + cheating also played factor).

To come to these conclusions, they must clearly think the benefit of their game being streamed/youtubed is outweighed by negative experiences of the actual players.
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
Fleetfeet
Profile Blog Joined May 2014
Canada2690 Posts
September 15 2023 01:32 GMT
#26
On September 15 2023 07:01 WombaT wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 15 2023 03:29 Fleetfeet wrote:
Grubby does this kind of stuff all the time in WC3. It's entertaining if done right.

Been a while since I watched the Grubster but didn’t he used to play pretty straight up doing whacky stuff relatively close to his actual MMRs?

I think WC3 is a little more forgiving/unforgiving in this regard like a player of Grubby’s calibre can still beat a good ladder player with all his races/even doing silly things.


Like post above mentioned, it's more super silly stuff as the equalizer between MMR. He's not playing fresh accounts as far as I can tell, but garbage like "paladin only no units" etc combined with him talking through his movements/decisions in unusual circumstances makes it entertaining and 'close'. At the end of the day he's stomping people he's much better than, but not doing so in a maliciously stompy way.

I also agree that WC3 is a better landscape for this kind of thing than sc2 for a number of reasons!
Blargh
Profile Joined September 2010
United States2103 Posts
September 15 2023 04:59 GMT
#27
I do think there's a moderate difference between smurfing with the intent of continuously farming noobs for fun (ie, throwing games to drop your MMR back down after crushing people), and doing self-imposed challenges. At least in a self-imposed challenge, they should move up as much as their skill with whatever challenge permits. If they are only good enough to reach diamond only using zerglings before they start losing 50%, then I see no real problem. Opponents would still be winning half of their games, and losing half of their games.

But one thing that Chess.com (and I think also Lichess?) has done is make it so smurfing / challenge accounts provide no negative rating to opponents who lose. So Hikaru can do his silly queen sacrifice 0 to GM speedchess runs, but none of his opponents will suffer any rating loss if they lose, they can only gain from it. It's still not a perfect solution, but I think this removes the bitter taste of GMs ruining the ladder. Sure, the game wasn't "authentic", but I think it's a reasonable compromise.

You could argue that any time a pro player decides to try an off-race, that's the equivalent of smurfing, since they're probably GM with any off-race, but would not be immediately placed in GM MMR with a new race. I'm sure there's other somewhat comparable scenarios that are similar.
Husyelt
Profile Blog Joined May 2020
United States837 Posts
September 15 2023 06:53 GMT
#28
sorry folks, smurfing or bronze 2 GM videos as a form of substantive content are a plague on the starcraft scene

if you want to do the same premise, invite your twitch/discord subscribers to 1v1 match as Uthermal or Harstem or whoever proceeds to dunk on them and its all fun and games. you do this on ladder, and im afraid im going to have to become a Marxist against you capitalist pigs

like really, starcraft 2 is one of the most durable games of all time, stop poisoning the well
You're getting cynical and that won't do I'd throw the rose tint back on the exploded view
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany7153 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-09-15 06:57:32
September 15 2023 06:55 GMT
#29
On September 15 2023 09:28 Waxangel wrote:
It's settled business in StarCraft II since Blizzard have taken their hands off the issue, but it's worth noting that other prominent games are 'officially' anti-smurfing. Dota2 took a very hard stance recently, League of Legends is at least nominally looking for solutions, and Blizzard attempted a phone number verification system in Overwatch at least partially due to smurfing.

To come to these conclusions, they must clearly think the benefit of their game being streamed/youtubed is outweighed by negative experiences of the actual players.


I mean, why would I queue for 1v1 ladder when I know there is a high chance of a smurf not only stomping me but also making fun of me with his viewers? Like "look at this guy, only 100 apm and supply blocked again. what a loser" . No thank you!
So yeah, smurfing is actually killing the player base and to be real, there is a shitton of smurfs active these days, probably more than people playing at their actual MMR.
What I really want to see is a Reynor smurf destroying a Uthermal smurf. Now that I would watch
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33592 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-09-15 07:19:44
September 15 2023 07:19 GMT
#30
On September 15 2023 15:55 Harris1st wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 15 2023 09:28 Waxangel wrote:
It's settled business in StarCraft II since Blizzard have taken their hands off the issue, but it's worth noting that other prominent games are 'officially' anti-smurfing. Dota2 took a very hard stance recently, League of Legends is at least nominally looking for solutions, and Blizzard attempted a phone number verification system in Overwatch at least partially due to smurfing.

To come to these conclusions, they must clearly think the benefit of their game being streamed/youtubed is outweighed by negative experiences of the actual players.


I mean, why would I queue for 1v1 ladder when I know there is a high chance of a smurf not only stomping me but also making fun of me with his viewers? Like "look at this guy, only 100 apm and supply blocked again. what a loser" . No thank you!
So yeah, smurfing is actually killing the player base and to be real, there is a shitton of smurfs active these days, probably more than people playing at their actual MMR.
What I really want to see is a Reynor smurf destroying a Uthermal smurf. Now that I would watch


I think saying "killing" is going to a hard extreme. But, I have to say, the PERCEPTION of smurfs being rampant could be bad for your game, regardless of the reality.
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France12911 Posts
September 15 2023 07:20 GMT
#31
I don't see the problem though:
I would much rather be cannon rushed, or only ghosts TvT or whatever silly strat by a competent player like uThermal, and even have the opportunity to have my replay on youtube, than by random strangers. Usually, he gains MMR fast enough not to "farm" the same people over and over again.
WriterMaru
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20326 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-09-15 07:29:04
September 15 2023 07:26 GMT
#32
On September 15 2023 00:26 WombaT wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 14 2023 22:37 Charoisaur wrote:
On September 14 2023 22:17 WombaT wrote:
Is it really smurfing if you’re just playing silly things?

Not so much SC but the proliferation of skill-based-matchmaking into absolutely every game means you play somewhat serious or you lose, dicking around or playing with silly weapons and chars against players as good has you isn’t destined to work out as too good a time.

Yeah but cannon rush isn't really a "silly thing". it's a widely used strat, that people usually find obnoxious to play against. I usually enjoy watching his challenges but this one leaves a bad taste

I mean I hate it myself I just assumed there was some kind of flavour or additional gimmick, like anything else in this vein I’ve seen him do.



It's kinda transitioned over time from stuff like ghosts to grandmaster (which was more legit and a good addition to the game IMO) to games without relevant limitations which are just stomping newbies for fun. Doesn't feel like it belongs in the same category when instead of killing somebody with 30 ghosts he is doing fast expand > 3gate adept prism drops against the same guy who has a projected <=10% winrate.
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany7153 Posts
September 15 2023 07:26 GMT
#33
On September 15 2023 16:19 Waxangel wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 15 2023 15:55 Harris1st wrote:
On September 15 2023 09:28 Waxangel wrote:
It's settled business in StarCraft II since Blizzard have taken their hands off the issue, but it's worth noting that other prominent games are 'officially' anti-smurfing. Dota2 took a very hard stance recently, League of Legends is at least nominally looking for solutions, and Blizzard attempted a phone number verification system in Overwatch at least partially due to smurfing.

To come to these conclusions, they must clearly think the benefit of their game being streamed/youtubed is outweighed by negative experiences of the actual players.


I mean, why would I queue for 1v1 ladder when I know there is a high chance of a smurf not only stomping me but also making fun of me with his viewers? Like "look at this guy, only 100 apm and supply blocked again. what a loser" . No thank you!
So yeah, smurfing is actually killing the player base and to be real, there is a shitton of smurfs active these days, probably more than people playing at their actual MMR.
What I really want to see is a Reynor smurf destroying a Uthermal smurf. Now that I would watch


I think saying "killing" is going to a hard extreme. But, I have to say, the PERCEPTION of smurfs being rampant could be bad for your game, regardless of the reality.


Fair enough.
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
[Phantom]
Profile Blog Joined August 2013
Mexico2170 Posts
September 15 2023 07:39 GMT
#34
Smurfing is honestly something only assholes can do or justify.

"I'll have fun at the expense of these other people" "they tried their best to het to this mmr?, well to bad, I spend 10 hours a day playing, I will cheat the system so we are matched together when we shouldn't, and I will make fun of them by publicly trolling and cheesing them in front of my viewers".

Whenever I play, I want a challenge. If I lose due to bs I hate it. If I win due to bs I'll take it, but I won't like it. To the point I sometimes apologize for winning due to luck.


If I play vs a person who completely outplays me and also trolls me by using shitty builds, I'll hate it. I can only play very few games per week now, and I don't want to spend them in a doomed game being made fun of.

And then the viewers see that and start smurfing themselves.

It's completely selfish,

"I don't care" "People watch it" "get good and this won't happen" I don't care, it's objectively an asshole thing to do, and ruins the experience of the actual players.

And like Valve Realized and Waxangel hints at, having the perception of rampant smurfs (or actually having them), could very well be bad for the game, in a game that already doesn't have that big of a playerbase.

WriterTeamLiquid Staff writer since 2014 @Mortal_Phantom
RickyHorny456
Profile Joined June 2023
7 Posts
September 15 2023 07:45 GMT
#35
Weak shit
Haighstrom
Profile Joined March 2011
United Kingdom207 Posts
Last Edited: 2023-09-15 07:49:55
September 15 2023 07:47 GMT
#36
It's pretty obvious that these people complaining about smurfing don't actually play ladder. The number of smurfs you actually encounter is unbelievably tiny in 1v1. And if you occasionally encounter one... so what? You don't even get your feelings hurt for losing, as they were bound to win, maybe you played someone famous on stream which is cool, and you have a nice replay of how to play much better than you do. I really don't get the objection to pros making this type of content.

If you're looking for someone to blame for why you have ladder anxiety, look in the mirror, and work on yourself.
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16062 Posts
September 15 2023 08:02 GMT
#37
On September 15 2023 16:47 Haighstrom wrote:
It's pretty obvious that these people complaining about smurfing don't actually play ladder. The number of smurfs you actually encounter is unbelievably tiny in 1v1. And if you occasionally encounter one... so what? You don't even get your feelings hurt for losing, as they were bound to win, maybe you played someone famous on stream which is cool, and you have a nice replay of how to play much better than you do. I really don't get the objection to pros making this type of content.

If you're looking for someone to blame for why you have ladder anxiety, look in the mirror, and work on yourself.

Yeah I agree that this is way overblown by people with a toxic mindset who want to blame something other than themselves.
Uthermal is usually pretty quickly facing high master/low-mid gm players who he could face even on his normal accounts, and who definitely can beat him on his challenge accounts.
If you are salty about losing to a uthermal smurf it's on you
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France12911 Posts
September 15 2023 08:13 GMT
#38
On September 15 2023 16:47 Haighstrom wrote:
It's pretty obvious that these people complaining about smurfing don't actually play ladder. The number of smurfs you actually encounter is unbelievably tiny in 1v1. And if you occasionally encounter one... so what? You don't even get your feelings hurt for losing, as they were bound to win, maybe you played someone famous on stream which is cool, and you have a nice replay of how to play much better than you do. I really don't get the objection to pros making this type of content.

If you're looking for someone to blame for why you have ladder anxiety, look in the mirror, and work on yourself.

Basically this.
People dropping games to lower their MMR and actually smurf is an issue (albeit I don't think there are that many of them), but pros ranking up new accounts for challenges is not a particularly big deal, as long as they only try to rank up and don't drop games on purpose to lower their MMR
WriterMaru
Vision_
Profile Joined September 2018
875 Posts
September 15 2023 08:22 GMT
#39
I don t think "smurf" is an action. it looks like a mentality.
RandomPlayer
Profile Joined April 2012
Russian Federation400 Posts
September 15 2023 09:56 GMT
#40
I completely agree with the OP, I had the same thoughts recently. Marc has been degrading steadily to become a huge troll..
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
11:00
Playoffs Day 1
herO vs Classic
SHIN vs Cure
Solar vs Percival
Liquipedia
Afreeca Starleague
10:00
Ro16 Group D
Barracks vs Leta
Royal vs Light
Afreeca ASL 15107
StarCastTV_EN374
Liquipedia
GSL
08:00
2026 Season 1: Qualifiers
herO vs Rogue
Maru vs SHIN
Cure vs ClassicLIVE!
Solar vs Zoun
IntoTheiNu 417
CranKy Ducklings SOOP188
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
OGKoka 303
TKL 40
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 11955
Sea 6107
Jaedong 5955
Britney 4162
BeSt 1355
Horang2 970
Rush 893
Pusan 442
Mind 299
Zeus 279
[ Show more ]
Larva 247
JYJ 174
ToSsGirL 125
Sharp 100
ggaemo 90
Sexy 45
[sc1f]eonzerg 28
Killer 27
Shine 25
Bale 25
Noble 12
JulyZerg 10
GoRush 10
SilentControl 10
Icarus 10
Sacsri 10
Terrorterran 6
Movie 3
Sea.KH 3
eros_byul 0
Dota 2
Gorgc2581
XaKoH 465
Counter-Strike
olofmeister2607
x6flipin330
zeus323
allub284
edward176
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King122
Other Games
singsing1774
crisheroes210
Trikslyr116
QueenE45
B2W.Neo38
Happy6
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream9994
PGL Dota 2 - Secondary Stream4916
Other Games
gamesdonequick370
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 279
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• TFBlade1273
• Stunt565
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
22h 54m
Replay Cast
1d 12h
The PondCast
1d 22h
KCM Race Survival
1d 22h
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
1d 23h
Gerald vs TBD
Clem vs TBD
ByuN vs TBD
Rogue vs MaxPax
ShoWTimE vs TBD
CranKy Ducklings
2 days
Escore
2 days
RSL Revival
3 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
3 days
Universe Titan Cup
3 days
Rogue vs Percival
[ Show More ]
Ladder Legends
4 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
4 days
BSL
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
4 days
Ladder Legends
5 days
BSL
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Wardi Open
5 days
Monday Night Weeklies
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-04-20
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
WardiTV TLMC #16
Nations Cup 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W4
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
2026 GSL S1
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.