• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 17:16
CEST 23:16
KST 06:16
  • 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
ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play1Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview8
Community News
[TLMC] Summer 2026 Ladder Map Rotation05.0.16 patch for SC2 goes live (8 worker start)76ZeroSpace at Steam NextFest - Last free demo31Weekly Cups (June 8-14): Clem and Solar double, PTR tested0RSL: S6 Finals played at BlizzCon 202611
StarCraft 2
General
Is the larve respawn broken? 5.0.16 patch for SC2 goes live (8 worker start) Daily SC2 Player Grid - feedback wanted The Death of Cheese: From a Professional Cheeser Mizenhauer's Douyu Cup Preview
Tourneys
Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule ! Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28) RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event INu's Battles#17 <BO.9> Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
New Map Maker - Looking for Advice - Love or Hate Work In Progress Melee Maps [D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 531 Experimental Artillery Mutation # 530 One For All Mutation # 529 Opportunities Unleashed
Brood War
General
Best thing happen to StarCraft since Remastered? Fact based Zerg Upgrade Tier List ASL 22 Proposed Map Pool BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Quality of life changes in BW that you will like ?
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Grand Finals The Casual Games of the Week Thread [BSL22] GosuLeague Casts - Tue & Thu 22:00 CEST
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Creating a full chart of Zerg builds Relatively freeroll strategies Why doesn't anyone use restoration?
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Beyond All Reason ZeroSpace at Steam NextFest - Last free demo
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
The Games Industry And ATVI US Politics Mega-thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread
Fan Clubs
The HerO Fan Club! The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Listen To The Coaches!
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
I'm an arrogant trash talke…
FlaShFTW
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 13044 users

Serral wins IEM Katowice 2024 - Page 2

Forum Index > SC2 General
89 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next All
LostUsername100
Profile Joined April 2022
96 Posts
February 15 2024 14:18 GMT
#21
Maru was saving builds for GSL.

Nasigil
Profile Joined July 2023
137 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-15 20:21:04
February 15 2024 14:50 GMT
#22
Other games worth recommending:

herO vs Cure G3 - unbelievable micro to hold push being down 40 army supply and comeback
Byun vs Gumiho G2 - just all around entertaining TvT
Maru vs Cyan G2 - surprising upset in a late game PvT no less, Cyan played out of his mind
herO vs Reynor G2 - all around entertaining high level late game PvZ
FFXthebest
Profile Joined February 2024
75 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-15 14:55:32
February 15 2024 14:54 GMT
#23
On February 15 2024 23:04 Itsxjoeyy wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 15 2024 22:19 Yoshi Kirishima wrote:
On February 15 2024 22:04 UnLarva wrote:
On February 15 2024 21:08 Lambertus wrote:
Very nice summary Wax! And I agree wholeheartly with your assessment of Serrals State of the Game...I will not use the word we all lovehate. Just wow, what a run...


Lovehate of that word comes from the way of common usage of it: it is taken as timeless absolute, something unchangeable once carved to a stone.

SC2 servers, all copies of game, every possible way to play the game must be EMP'd and erased out from existence before the final question of lovehate word can be assessed as really absolute, and I suspect not even then as 100% consensus.

If Maru hack'and'slash through next few international premiers including RIadh and emerges victorious from them, personally I have no big problems to change attachment of the lovehate word from Serral to him then. But I'm content and happy with current emerging consensus of that tag and to whom it is attached. It is unofficial honorary title and holder of it can change if reality itself force to make changes to placement of lovehate, based on merit and success, both always unavoidably someway recency biased.

...

I got some kind of psychosomatized PTSD-like angst symptoms after Katowice 2022 when I finally realized that tournament's recap was somehow "forgotten" for whatever reasons. It was perceived unfairness because of lack of proper publication. This article redeems a lot from that complex. So, thanks again Waxangel. :D


Not sure if he we can 100% concensus taht Serral is the lovehate word though cus he did drop a game to herO in his last 21 games or so (MC7 and Kato), and Maru is better than herO, so Serral might lose to Maru sometime, and because Katowice doesn't give as much money anymore I'm not sure if everyone was trying hard for it, compared to GSL

Actually since this is post-kespa era, even if Serral racks up 7 WCs (cus WC = 1 GSL or slightly more), i'm not sure if he will ever be able to be above koreans like Maru

I can't tell if you're trolling or just on some really hard drugs...$150,000 for 1st place but no one was trying hard for it? and so because serral dropped map to hero that makes Maru better than serral now? even though serral wins almost every series they play? serral is the undisputed goat, there is no more debate.



It’s just Maru fans coping. Funny how he brings up post kespa, yet Maru won majority of his post kespa against a super weak Koreans in GSL

Serral has been stomping Maru for 4-5 years already. Serral has already lapped the field once-twice already. Everyone is just competing for 2nd


And most importantly, thank you Wax for a fantastic write up
bela.mervado
Profile Joined December 2008
Hungary409 Posts
February 15 2024 15:04 GMT
#24
posting to show some love for ByuN and ShoWTimE,
both played very well <3
was sad to see them eliminated
Comedy
Profile Joined March 2016
469 Posts
February 15 2024 15:07 GMT
#25
Undisputed GOAT that's right. He already had that title but only amongst pros. Now everyone can't help but agree.
onPHYRE
Profile Joined October 2010
Bulgaria925 Posts
February 15 2024 15:15 GMT
#26
On February 15 2024 23:06 yezzir88 wrote:
Still can't claim GOAT without a single Code S title.


You can when all of your titles are coming against the same players. If Serral’s only goal was to win a Code S title in 2024, he would easily get it. All of his peers would tell you the same, and multiple Koreans have made similar comments. If you think otherwise you don’t know the game.

There is no value to him sacrificing months living there for such a small prize pool.
Livin' this life like it was written.
SharkStarcraft
Profile Joined April 2011
Austria2271 Posts
February 15 2024 15:20 GMT
#27
Great writeup! Serral is definitely the GOAT. In my book, he already was before, but now I can hardly see anyone making a point for Maru
Cogito, ergo Toss
Durnuu
Profile Joined September 2013
13324 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-15 15:22:48
February 15 2024 15:21 GMT
#28
On February 15 2024 23:06 yezzir88 wrote:
Still can't claim GOAT without a single Code S title.

As someone who agrees somewhat with this take*, would it really make a difference at this stage, considering code S can't even be filled with 16 good korean players? It wouldn't matter one bit imho. Even the argument of preparation vs weekender no longer matters to me, with the meta being so stale ansmd every game looking like the next, even in code S.

*As in, yes code S is still by far the most competitive tournament and prep > weekender
BUNNYYYYYYYYY https://i.imgur.com/BiCF577.png
Antithesis
Profile Joined August 2010
Germany1250 Posts
February 15 2024 15:35 GMT
#29
Great article for an amazing tournament.

Congratulations again to Serral. He's the GoaT.
Mutation complete.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27041 Posts
February 15 2024 15:40 GMT
#30
On February 16 2024 00:21 Durnuu wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 15 2024 23:06 yezzir88 wrote:
Still can't claim GOAT without a single Code S title.

As someone who agrees somewhat with this take*, would it really make a difference at this stage, considering code S can't even be filled with 16 good korean players? It wouldn't matter one bit imho. Even the argument of preparation vs weekender no longer matters to me, with the meta being so stale ansmd every game looking like the next, even in code S.

*As in, yes code S is still by far the most competitive tournament and prep > weekender

Odd given same genre, same company but I’m reminded of Happy in WC3. He wasn’t the man in the times where your Grubbys and Moons of the world were duking it out for things like WCG in WC3’s peak. But in latter day WC3 he very much has been, and his numbers are frankly absurd, but in a game whose heyday has past.

I think in both cases comparisons across eras are just impossible to do, so I pick the copout option and think it’s fair to crown them both BOATs (best of…), where the GOAT question remains unanswered, and perhaps unanswerable.

If you had to pick one dude to play a Bo69 against some egotistical alien overlord for the fate of the Earth, and they allow us to travel back in time to grab folks in their prime in the interests of fairness. A year for hardcore prep time, who you picking?

I’m probably going Serral/Happy for their respective games.

And yeah 100% agreed, the player pool dropping sucked, but the worst aspect of recent GSL changes is combining the Ro4/finals day. It really erodes that prep aspect which is the USP of GSL.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Durnuu
Profile Joined September 2013
13324 Posts
February 15 2024 15:52 GMT
#31
On February 16 2024 00:40 WombaT wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 16 2024 00:21 Durnuu wrote:
On February 15 2024 23:06 yezzir88 wrote:
Still can't claim GOAT without a single Code S title.

As someone who agrees somewhat with this take*, would it really make a difference at this stage, considering code S can't even be filled with 16 good korean players? It wouldn't matter one bit imho. Even the argument of preparation vs weekender no longer matters to me, with the meta being so stale ansmd every game looking like the next, even in code S.

*As in, yes code S is still by far the most competitive tournament and prep > weekender

Odd given same genre, same company but I’m reminded of Happy in WC3. He wasn’t the man in the times where your Grubbys and Moons of the world were duking it out for things like WCG in WC3’s peak. But in latter day WC3 he very much has been, and his numbers are frankly absurd, but in a game whose heyday has past.

I think in both cases comparisons across eras are just impossible to do, so I pick the copout option and think it’s fair to crown them both BOATs (best of…), where the GOAT question remains unanswered, and perhaps unanswerable.

If you had to pick one dude to play a Bo69 against some egotistical alien overlord for the fate of the Earth, and they allow us to travel back in time to grab folks in their prime in the interests of fairness. A year for hardcore prep time, who you picking?

I’m probably going Serral/Happy for their respective games.

And yeah 100% agreed, the player pool dropping sucked, but the worst aspect of recent GSL changes is combining the Ro4/finals day. It really erodes that prep aspect which is the USP of GSL.

Oh yeah great point, I forgot about the combined ro4 and finals.
BUNNYYYYYYYYY https://i.imgur.com/BiCF577.png
Glorfindelio
Profile Joined October 2022
223 Posts
February 15 2024 15:59 GMT
#32
Listen, if you want to believe Maru is the GOAT, it can still be a reasonable take. He's an utterly amazing player and has been for a very, very long time. I've been dreaming of Maru and Serral meeting in an offline tournament since 2018 (at a Katowice, no less!) so the result swayed me. Serral delivered a victory that displayed his brilliance to the highest degree--as he said, this was his full performance. He's still a mechanical monster with singular scouting, control and multi-tasking. But his ability now to plan out a series and execute tailored builds makes him truly terrifying. The old Serral lacked that versatility and would've let Dark or Maru dictate the games while trying to out-macro them every time.

On GSL--I used to hold this against him quite a bit as well. However, he's been remarkably consistent about his stance, in that it doesn't make sense for him personally or professionally or financially. Very rarely in life do people that are singularly great at anything (sports, music, business, etc.) do things they don't want to do, simply for the sake of others. And based on his results, I can't really say he's wrong.

Thank you, Wax, for the article.
bagstone
Profile Joined November 2016
8 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-15 16:20:23
February 15 2024 16:20 GMT
#33
On February 15 2024 22:19 Yoshi Kirishima wrote:
and because Katowice doesn't give as much money anymore I'm not sure if everyone was trying hard for it, compared to GSL


Yes, Koreans aren't interested in the IEM Katowice $150,000 first place money and are saving builds for the $3,755 GSL win. Makes total sense now!
Durnuu
Profile Joined September 2013
13324 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-15 16:27:12
February 15 2024 16:26 GMT
#34
I think we should do a study on the IQ of the average Serral fan vs people that are more skeptical, because the amount of people that got baited by Yoshi has me flabbergasted.
BUNNYYYYYYYYY https://i.imgur.com/BiCF577.png
Itsxjoeyy
Profile Joined April 2020
30 Posts
February 15 2024 16:28 GMT
#35
Anyone who continues to make excuses for the Koreans, mostly maru, are lying to themselves...when talking about the goat there are no excuses. If you show up ready to play You either get it done or you don't. Period. Some say maru didn't have a chance to prepare...oh for the tournament with $500k that he knew about for months? Lol stop with the excuses. Serrals the goat.
Glorfindelio
Profile Joined October 2022
223 Posts
February 15 2024 16:38 GMT
#36
On February 16 2024 01:26 Durnuu wrote:
I think we should do a study on the IQ of the average Serral fan vs people that are more skeptical, because the amount of people that got baited by Yoshi has me flabbergasted.


People are so thirsty to discredit and disrespect the man (forgive me, aren't there three separate forum topics attempting to do so?) that I chalk it up to reaping what you sow.
argonautdice
Profile Joined January 2013
Canada2720 Posts
February 15 2024 16:46 GMT
#37
Thus, by now having three of StarCraft II's greatest prizes in hand, and having been the most daunting presence in the competitive scene from 2018 to 2024, I believe the title of "GOAT" is now Serral's undisputed honor.


Serral is undeniably GOAT 2018-2024 just by pure consistency winning at least 2 "competitive" Premier tournaments (aka beating at least two Koreans in tournament, offline if possible) per year for 6 years. Here's the data:

2018:
GSL vs World > Innovation, Dark, Stats
Blizzcon > sOs, Zest, Dark, Rogue, Stats
HomeStory Cup > soO, Trap, Bunny x 2, Taeja, Innovation

2019:
GSL vs World > TY, Trap, Classic
HomeStory Cup > soO, Trap, Zest, Innovation

2020 (online only due to COVID):
Dreamhack Summer > Innovation, TY, Cure, Trap
Dreamhack Winter > Trap, Stats

2021 (online only due to COVID):
Dreamhack Fall > Zoun, Trap x 2, Bunny
NeXT Masters > Classic, Zest

2022:
IEM Katowice > Dark, Ryung, Maru, Rogue
HomeStory Cup > Ryung, Creator, soO
TSL 9 (online/offline) > Solar, Gumiho, Maru

2023:
ESL Summer > Dark, Classic, Gumiho
Master's Coliseum (online) > Maru x 2, Gumiho, Dark, ByuN, Cure

2024 so far:
Master's Coliseum (online) > Solar x 2, Maru, Cure, herO
IEM Katowice > ByuN, Dark, Maru

This is not including all the times Serral beat world-class foreigners like Reynor and Clem especially in the ESL Europe or region-locked Dreamhacks in 2018-2019.

Another way to put it: Serral participated in 61 Premier tournaments from 2018 till now (~10 tournaments a year), and has only not made top 8 three times. He has 25 gold, 11 silver, 10 semifinal, and 12 quarterfinal finishes, so the chance of Serral winning a Premier tournament since 2018 on average is 41%, 59% to make it to the grand final, 75% to reach at least top 4, 95% to reach at least top 8.

This is basically saying for at least 6 years now, when Serral enters a Premier tournament:
- he's almost guaranteed to reach top 8
- once top 8, his chance to advance to top 4 is more than 3 in 4
- once top 4, his chance to advance to the grand final is about 4 in 5
- and once he's in the grand final, his chance to win it all is more than 2 in 3.

Lastly, according to Aligulac, Serral's win rate against Koreans since 2018 is 69% in games and 79% in matches. If you narrow it down to just offline Bo3+, it's 68% in games and 78% in matches.
very illegal and very uncool
LostUsername100
Profile Joined April 2022
96 Posts
February 15 2024 17:08 GMT
#38
On February 16 2024 01:26 Durnuu wrote:
I think we should do a study on the IQ of the average Serral fan vs people that are more skeptical, because the amount of people that got baited by Yoshi has me flabbergasted.


To be fair, for the longest time it was impossible to tell if the korean fans were trolling.

It's been 6 years and the cope is still going strong.
argonautdice
Profile Joined January 2013
Canada2720 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-15 17:25:31
February 15 2024 17:08 GMT
#39
Btw no one from 2018 till now has a winning record against Serral, including any one on the GOAT list, Reynor, Clem, or any other top Koreans (Edit: technically DRG has a winning match record 4-3 but losing game record 8-11). In fact, no one had a more than 40% Bo3+ match win rate against Serral except Hurricane (only one match played), DRG, and Rogue, who has an exactly 50% Bo3+ match win rate against Serral, but all of those wins were online and Rogue has never won against Serral offline in a Bo3+. On the other hand, the only person who has winning record against Serral offline Bo3+ (outside of only facing off one time offline like DRG and Hurricane) is Solar at 2-1, but they've only faced off 3 times.
very illegal and very uncool
UnLarva
Profile Joined March 2019
458 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-15 17:31:20
February 15 2024 17:30 GMT
#40
There are also those much harder to evaluate intangibles. How to measure Serral's impact to the SC2 scene generally and to the rise of Euro scene particularly? In both cases Serral's touch have some real revigorating influence. The decline of the scene would've likely started an year or two earlier. The CPR was successfully conducted by The Finnisher.

Also, of all Top Players, It was Serral who was picked to play against AI.

Etc. Etc.
Part-time Serralogist
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
14:00
Playoffs Day 1/2
Bonyth vs TerrOr
eOnzErG vs Dewalt
XuanXuan vs TBD
ZZZero.O315
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft649
elazer 115
Nina 78
ProTech71
Railgan 66
StarCraft: Brood War
ZZZero.O 300
Dota 2
LuMiX1
League of Legends
Doublelift11668
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor317
Other Games
summit1g5512
Grubby3607
FrodaN3471
KnowMe287
UpATreeSC49
JuggernautJason26
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick2230
BasetradeTV262
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 81
• musti20045 28
• davetesta23
• Response 10
• HeavenSC 1
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• sooper7s
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• FirePhoenix15
• Pr0nogo 4
• ZZZeroYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Other Games
• Shiphtur1621
Upcoming Events
Douyu Cup 2020
7h 44m
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
16h 44m
Mihu vs TBD
Online Event
17h 44m
RSL Revival
1d 4h
WardiTV Weekly
1d 13h
RSL Revival
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
Bombastic Starleague
2 days
Kung Fu Cup
3 days
OSC
4 days
[ Show More ]
CrankTV Team League
4 days
Bombastic Starleague
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
The PondCast
5 days
HomeStory Cup
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
HomeStory Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Season 21: Qualifier 1
WardiTV Spring 2026
Heroes Pulsing #2

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
YSL S3
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSL Season 21: Qualifier 2
SCTL 2026 Spring
Douyu Cup 2026
Murky Cup 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026

Upcoming

CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
ASL Season 22:Wild Card Qualifier
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
BCC 2026
Light Tournament 2026
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale
Eternal Conflict S2 E1
Heroes Pulsing #3
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 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.