• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 16:36
CEST 22:36
KST 05:36
  • 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
Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915Serral wins Maestros of the Game 243ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12
Community News
Weekly Cups (Aug 3-9): Protoss get shut out3RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-2212Weekly Cups (July 27-Aug 2): SHIN's big week0SC4ALL II: Brood War - $2500 - Dec 5-69SC4ALL II announced - $10,000 prize pool, Dec 5-64
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (Aug 3-9): Protoss get shut out SC4ALL II: StarCraft 2 Player Announcement 5/8 SC4ALL: II Talent Announcement! Protoss AoE skill expression August World Ranking: Clem climbs to #2
Tourneys
PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-22 RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event Tasteless Time Warp: SC Evo Showmatch (May 25)
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 538 Media Blackout The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 537 Hostile Territory Mutation # 536 Railroad Switch
Brood War
General
ASL22 General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion Are you ready for ASL 22? NEW HYPE VIDEO How FlaSh Nearly Forfeited MSL Finals being late
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues 2v2v2v2 Tournament KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3 Escore Tournament - Season 3
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Any training maps people recommend? Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread EVE Corporation General RTS Discussion Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Diablo 2 thread
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Iain M Banks Says He Has Cancer And Months To Live The Letting Off Steam Thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread NBA General Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
Are High-Level Gamers more A…
TrAiDoS
Cathedral Of CS And NY pizza a…
FuDDx
Please support my new stand…
Peanutsc
Hello guys!
LIN1s
ASL S22 English Commentary…
namkraft
Poker (part 2)
Nebuchad
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 6887 users

Serral wins IEM Katowice 2024 - Page 4

Forum Index > SC2 General
89 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next All
FFXthebest
Profile Joined February 2024
75 Posts
February 16 2024 02:03 GMT
#61
On February 16 2024 02:59 Mizenhauer wrote:
Few articles have aged better than the one we did after he won Blizzcon

Definitely especially the last couple of sentence

“Things won’t go back to the old ways. Not when Serral is around”

Koreans has been trying to catch up for 5-6 years now, but Serral is still overlapping them
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27255 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-16 02:18:46
February 16 2024 02:14 GMT
#62
On February 16 2024 10:31 Balnazza wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 16 2024 10:16 UnLarva wrote:
In a future we may don't have anything World Championship worthy at all, even if tournament's relative prestige would increase within a season (higher proportion to absolute best participate, insane prize pools, quadruple elimination bracket after double all vs all round robin). Such scenario would need SC2 to become some kind of fetish for some super rich dude, and much lower amount of active players, tho.

Multiple WCs per year is indeed possible, GSL code S was once handled as such and held high in terms of prestige.


It just feels a bit odd, like we don't have a word for these kind of tournaments. IEM being a "World Championship" (or Global Championship) is basically just a relict from the start, when IEM was an actual circuit with finals at the end. I think they don't even call it IEM World Championship anymore? It is "just" IEM Katowice.
Clearly though, there is a difference between Katowice and lets say ESL Winter. So calling Katowice "just another Premier" doesn't sound particular correct either.

In the end, it comes down to preference. For me, THE World Championship is the Circuit-Finisher (be it BlizzCon, Katowice or soon the EWC). Katowice, Gamers8, WESG and what not are...uff, idk. Grand Slam Tournaments? Majors? Pseudo-WCs? Doesn't exactly roll of the tongue, does it?

Nomenclature aside they’re on a tier above. Grand slam works as per tennis naming convention. Major, used in golf and snooker would work if major wasn’t already a designation below premiere. For some reason, they didn’t go with this precedent.

Snooker has a ‘triple crown’ thing where the Masters, UK Championship and World Championship are on a tier above, and GOAT candidates are very much judged on how many of those they have.

Which I think dovetails super well to SC2. It’s (historically) Blizzcon, Katowice and GSL, and just swap Gamers 8 for Katowice. Hell, the Masters is a top 16 ranked invitational and the Worlds are (within reason) open qualification, there’s almost a perfect map to historic SC2 structure.

For some fucking reason someone decided that a Triple Crown in SC2 was winning tournaments in different continents of vastly different levels of competion so we can’t appropriate it.

And I do yearn for more snooker/Starcraft synthesis but alas today is not that day.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
rwala
Profile Joined December 2019
343 Posts
February 16 2024 04:39 GMT
#63
Legendary run, overtakes Rogue for me as the true GOAT. A bit sad to not see the finals live up to the hype, and in general not a ton of super memorable series in the tourney overall, but impressive to watch as an incredible display of pure gamer skill and talent.
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33675 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-16 06:11:14
February 16 2024 06:08 GMT
#64
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.


Really, the worst thing about Serral is the most toxic and most irrational portion of his fandom—don't worry, I don't mean you (or do I ?)
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
Starcloud
Profile Joined September 2018
138 Posts
February 16 2024 08:15 GMT
#65
On February 16 2024 15:08 Waxangel wrote:
Show nested quote +
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.


Really, the worst thing about Serral is the most toxic and most irrational portion of his fandom—don't worry, I don't mean you (or do I ?)


Usually when you have to go into personal attacks instead of trying to focus on the topic itself, you are already lost. Also, isnt it kinda funny that Serral fans havent been bashing on Koreans on different topics or make baseless claims about balance issues or "he doesnt care this tournament"- excuses every time he loses ? They/We have been mostly defending against this kind of stuff for 6 years now. And still it doesnt seem to end. (this is not for you Wax, of course )
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany7358 Posts
February 16 2024 09:29 GMT
#66
The problem is, some Korean Elitists are of course using sarcasm when stating something, but others are dead serious when they write supid stuff like Code S > Katowice

On February 15 2024 23:06 yezzir88 wrote:
Still can't claim GOAT without a single Code S title.

User was temp banned for this post.



Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
ejozl
Profile Joined October 2010
Denmark3531 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-16 10:38:05
February 16 2024 10:34 GMT
#67
On February 15 2024 23:06 yezzir88 wrote:
Still can't claim GOAT without a single Code S title.

User was temp banned for this post.

This ban is stupid, banned for having a wrong opinion?, could we debate instead?, or is this not the site for that?

On February 16 2024 01:46 argonautdice wrote:
Show nested quote +
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.

This is an awesome write-up.
What makes him so silly strong, is that you never have to worry, you just know that he will deliver. Never did I believe Maru had a chance, I didn't even buy into the narrative of the battle of the GOATs. Serral just wins and it was the same in Kr vs. The World and the Blizzcon when the competitiveness was even stronger.

As for the removal of the World Championsship title that is so stupid. It was called IEM WCS before Blizzcon became it, it was the end of the IEM tournament year, just like DH: Winter is the end of DH, and Anaheim was the finals of the MLG series.
SC2 Archon needs "Terrible, terrible damage" as one of it's quotes.
HolydaKing
Profile Joined February 2010
21254 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-16 13:03:09
February 16 2024 13:02 GMT
#68
On February 16 2024 19:34 ejozl wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 15 2024 23:06 yezzir88 wrote:
Still can't claim GOAT without a single Code S title.

User was temp banned for this post.

This ban is stupid, banned for having a wrong opinion?, could we debate instead?, or is this not the site for that?

That the ban is temporary and in this thread is the surprising thing, i even reported the guy in the IEM thread because he was just balancing whining and basically shitting on Serra's achievement.
Balnazza
Profile Joined January 2018
Germany1337 Posts
February 16 2024 14:53 GMT
#69
On February 16 2024 19:34 ejozl wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 15 2024 23:06 yezzir88 wrote:
Still can't claim GOAT without a single Code S title.

User was temp banned for this post.

This ban is stupid, banned for having a wrong opinion?, could we debate instead?, or is this not the site for that?


Please look at his posting history. Then you will surely understand that the guy wasn't banned for "that post" but for literally everything else.
"Wenn die Zauberin runter geht, dann macht sie die Beine breit" - Khaldor, trying to cast WC3 German-only
Gantz023
Profile Joined June 2023
36 Posts
February 16 2024 18:28 GMT
#70
Thx for the recap !!! . Love every word of it.
argonautdice
Profile Joined January 2013
Canada2721 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-16 19:58:30
February 16 2024 19:57 GMT
#71
Also this is the 8th non-Korean Premier tournament in a row that was won by a foreigner since November 2022 when herO won Dreamhack Atlanta. Koreans were stopped 4x by Serral, 2x by Reynor, and 1x by Clem and Oliveira. That was also the last time a Protoss has won a Premier. The streaks continue. What's more likely to happen first, Protoss wins a Premier, or a Korean wins a global Premier? I'll take bets :D
very illegal and very uncool
TornadoSteve
Profile Joined March 2018
1119 Posts
February 17 2024 04:14 GMT
#72
Serral is the goat and its not even a debate. For many years, he has proven it and still doing so.
But please, those who compare him to Magnus Carlsen are completely out of their mind. The longevity, the gap between him and his closest rivals are more importantly, the fact that SC 2 is almost dead while chess is more alive than ever, with many youngsters trying to push him should be more than enough to convince you.
miau
Profile Joined July 2022
18 Posts
February 17 2024 06:41 GMT
#73
GOAT
UnLarva
Profile Joined March 2019
458 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-17 08:03:18
February 17 2024 07:57 GMT
#74
On February 17 2024 13:14 TornadoSteve wrote:
Serral is the goat and its not even a debate. For many years, he has proven it and still doing so.
But please, those who compare him to Magnus Carlsen are completely out of their mind. The longevity, the gap between him and his closest rivals are more importantly, the fact that SC 2 is almost dead while chess is more alive than ever, with many youngsters trying to push him should be more than enough to convince you.


Similarities in a sociological aspects of how his peers and chess commentators, fans and writers talk about Magnus, comment and handle with him and how Serral's opponents and SC2 commentators talk about Serral is striking and immediately evident. Regardless of differences in overall levels of competition between the games, there are nothing "completely out of mind" in the assumption that Serral may enjoy from some kind 'Magnus Carlsen - effect' within SC2 scene relative to his peers.

Already totally lost the count of how many times that is directly said or at least implied by mouths of his top level competition during various interviews over years. We can call it Serral -effect in SC2 context so nobody needs to get triggered by false straw man comparisons.

Otherwise comparisons are hardly fitting, tho not necessarily in all aspects "completely out of mind".

Part-time Serralogist
TornadoSteve
Profile Joined March 2018
1119 Posts
February 17 2024 08:18 GMT
#75
fair enough, agreed
UnLarva
Profile Joined March 2019
458 Posts
February 17 2024 08:47 GMT
#76
Part-time Serralogist
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27255 Posts
February 17 2024 14:18 GMT
#77
On February 17 2024 16:57 UnLarva wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 17 2024 13:14 TornadoSteve wrote:
Serral is the goat and its not even a debate. For many years, he has proven it and still doing so.
But please, those who compare him to Magnus Carlsen are completely out of their mind. The longevity, the gap between him and his closest rivals are more importantly, the fact that SC 2 is almost dead while chess is more alive than ever, with many youngsters trying to push him should be more than enough to convince you.


Similarities in a sociological aspects of how his peers and chess commentators, fans and writers talk about Magnus, comment and handle with him and how Serral's opponents and SC2 commentators talk about Serral is striking and immediately evident. Regardless of differences in overall levels of competition between the games, there are nothing "completely out of mind" in the assumption that Serral may enjoy from some kind 'Magnus Carlsen - effect' within SC2 scene relative to his peers.

Already totally lost the count of how many times that is directly said or at least implied by mouths of his top level competition during various interviews over years. We can call it Serral -effect in SC2 context so nobody needs to get triggered by false straw man comparisons.

Otherwise comparisons are hardly fitting, tho not necessarily in all aspects "completely out of mind".


It’s not really mentioned enough as a plus point in the Serral column, but basically all pros I’ve ever heard asked, foreign or Korean have Serral as the man to beat. Not feared perhaps, at least for some, but definitely the toughest opponent going.

I mean these are his peers that are training with him, or they have to devise means to beat him if they’re drawn against him, they have to have some insight that counts for something.

I mean it was just a bit of fun to make some content for breaks, but the player cards Katowice had made kind of put it into perspective. 99s in multiple categories, and a decent gap in terms of average rating to even monsters like Reynor.

And the top pros will notice the little things, small optimisations or minor but impactful things that even regular GM level players won’t pick up on, never mind the rest of us plebs.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Mizenhauer
Profile Blog Joined February 2015
United States1949 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-02-17 14:30:54
February 17 2024 14:30 GMT
#78
On February 17 2024 23:18 WombaT wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 17 2024 16:57 UnLarva wrote:
On February 17 2024 13:14 TornadoSteve wrote:
Serral is the goat and its not even a debate. For many years, he has proven it and still doing so.
But please, those who compare him to Magnus Carlsen are completely out of their mind. The longevity, the gap between him and his closest rivals are more importantly, the fact that SC 2 is almost dead while chess is more alive than ever, with many youngsters trying to push him should be more than enough to convince you.


Similarities in a sociological aspects of how his peers and chess commentators, fans and writers talk about Magnus, comment and handle with him and how Serral's opponents and SC2 commentators talk about Serral is striking and immediately evident. Regardless of differences in overall levels of competition between the games, there are nothing "completely out of mind" in the assumption that Serral may enjoy from some kind 'Magnus Carlsen - effect' within SC2 scene relative to his peers.

Already totally lost the count of how many times that is directly said or at least implied by mouths of his top level competition during various interviews over years. We can call it Serral -effect in SC2 context so nobody needs to get triggered by false straw man comparisons.

Otherwise comparisons are hardly fitting, tho not necessarily in all aspects "completely out of mind".


It’s not really mentioned enough as a plus point in the Serral column, but basically all pros I’ve ever heard asked, foreign or Korean have Serral as the man to beat. Not feared perhaps, at least for some, but definitely the toughest opponent going.

I mean these are his peers that are training with him, or they have to devise means to beat him if they’re drawn against him, they have to have some insight that counts for something.

I mean it was just a bit of fun to make some content for breaks, but the player cards Katowice had made kind of put it into perspective. 99s in multiple categories, and a decent gap in terms of average rating to even monsters like Reynor.

And the top pros will notice the little things, small optimisations or minor but impactful things that even regular GM level players won’t pick up on, never mind the rest of us plebs.


I asked soO during WCS Austin in 2017 (an event in which Nerchio made the finals) who the best Zerg in the event was. soO said it was Serral without hesitation (despite the fact that Serral was eliminated in the Ro8).
┗|∵|┓Second Place in LB 28, Third Place in LB 29 and Destined to Be a Kong
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France13012 Posts
February 17 2024 14:42 GMT
#79
On February 17 2024 23:30 Mizenhauer wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 17 2024 23:18 WombaT wrote:
On February 17 2024 16:57 UnLarva wrote:
On February 17 2024 13:14 TornadoSteve wrote:
Serral is the goat and its not even a debate. For many years, he has proven it and still doing so.
But please, those who compare him to Magnus Carlsen are completely out of their mind. The longevity, the gap between him and his closest rivals are more importantly, the fact that SC 2 is almost dead while chess is more alive than ever, with many youngsters trying to push him should be more than enough to convince you.


Similarities in a sociological aspects of how his peers and chess commentators, fans and writers talk about Magnus, comment and handle with him and how Serral's opponents and SC2 commentators talk about Serral is striking and immediately evident. Regardless of differences in overall levels of competition between the games, there are nothing "completely out of mind" in the assumption that Serral may enjoy from some kind 'Magnus Carlsen - effect' within SC2 scene relative to his peers.

Already totally lost the count of how many times that is directly said or at least implied by mouths of his top level competition during various interviews over years. We can call it Serral -effect in SC2 context so nobody needs to get triggered by false straw man comparisons.

Otherwise comparisons are hardly fitting, tho not necessarily in all aspects "completely out of mind".


It’s not really mentioned enough as a plus point in the Serral column, but basically all pros I’ve ever heard asked, foreign or Korean have Serral as the man to beat. Not feared perhaps, at least for some, but definitely the toughest opponent going.

I mean these are his peers that are training with him, or they have to devise means to beat him if they’re drawn against him, they have to have some insight that counts for something.

I mean it was just a bit of fun to make some content for breaks, but the player cards Katowice had made kind of put it into perspective. 99s in multiple categories, and a decent gap in terms of average rating to even monsters like Reynor.

And the top pros will notice the little things, small optimisations or minor but impactful things that even regular GM level players won’t pick up on, never mind the rest of us plebs.


I asked soO during WCS Austin in 2017 (an event in which Nerchio made the finals) who the best Zerg in the event was. soO said it was Serral without hesitation (despite the fact that Serral was eliminated in the Ro8).

Serral showed his strength super early in LotV during that famous nation wars game where INno lost countless scvs to his 1 ling
WriterMaru
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27255 Posts
February 17 2024 14:54 GMT
#80
On February 17 2024 23:30 Mizenhauer wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 17 2024 23:18 WombaT wrote:
On February 17 2024 16:57 UnLarva wrote:
On February 17 2024 13:14 TornadoSteve wrote:
Serral is the goat and its not even a debate. For many years, he has proven it and still doing so.
But please, those who compare him to Magnus Carlsen are completely out of their mind. The longevity, the gap between him and his closest rivals are more importantly, the fact that SC 2 is almost dead while chess is more alive than ever, with many youngsters trying to push him should be more than enough to convince you.


Similarities in a sociological aspects of how his peers and chess commentators, fans and writers talk about Magnus, comment and handle with him and how Serral's opponents and SC2 commentators talk about Serral is striking and immediately evident. Regardless of differences in overall levels of competition between the games, there are nothing "completely out of mind" in the assumption that Serral may enjoy from some kind 'Magnus Carlsen - effect' within SC2 scene relative to his peers.

Already totally lost the count of how many times that is directly said or at least implied by mouths of his top level competition during various interviews over years. We can call it Serral -effect in SC2 context so nobody needs to get triggered by false straw man comparisons.

Otherwise comparisons are hardly fitting, tho not necessarily in all aspects "completely out of mind".


It’s not really mentioned enough as a plus point in the Serral column, but basically all pros I’ve ever heard asked, foreign or Korean have Serral as the man to beat. Not feared perhaps, at least for some, but definitely the toughest opponent going.

I mean these are his peers that are training with him, or they have to devise means to beat him if they’re drawn against him, they have to have some insight that counts for something.

I mean it was just a bit of fun to make some content for breaks, but the player cards Katowice had made kind of put it into perspective. 99s in multiple categories, and a decent gap in terms of average rating to even monsters like Reynor.

And the top pros will notice the little things, small optimisations or minor but impactful things that even regular GM level players won’t pick up on, never mind the rest of us plebs.


I asked soO during WCS Austin in 2017 (an event in which Nerchio made the finals) who the best Zerg in the event was. soO said it was Serral without hesitation (despite the fact that Serral was eliminated in the Ro8).

Man from the odd tidbit here and there I’ve seen in your posts, a ‘What soO told Mizenhauer over the years’ would be a fascinating blog posts. And luckily you don’t have any kind of big, controversial series that you’re currently working on!

Pros definitely know way ahead of the curve who the most latently skillful players are when they’re coming up for sure. Whether they can convert that to ruthless tournament success a la Serral isn’t always guaranteed, but game recognises game as they say

'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3h 24m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ProTech89
JuggernautJason61
ViBE57
EmSc Tv 23
StarCraft: Brood War
Dewaltoss 127
Dota 2
XaKoH 253
League of Legends
Doublelift3066
KnowMe51
Counter-Strike
summit1g3534
shoxiejesuss2077
fl0m1588
minikerr36
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King135
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu509
Other Games
Grubby2222
FrodaN624
shahzam559
Mlord372
mouzStarbuck313
uThermal189
White-Ra151
UpATreeSC88
elazer53
SteadfastSC26
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV107
StarCraft 2
EmSc Tv 23
EmSc2Tv 23
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• HerbMon 26
• blackmanpl 22
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota2867
League of Legends
• Scarra1068
• Shiphtur859
• TFBlade454
Upcoming Events
PiGosaur Cup
3h 24m
Replay Cast
12h 24m
Kung Fu Cup
14h 24m
Replay Cast
1d 3h
The PondCast
1d 13h
OSC
1d 16h
Replay Cast
2 days
Escore
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
[ Show More ]
OSC
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
Rush vs Hm
Bisu vs Shuttle
WardiTV Weekly
5 days
The Patches Monday
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
Sharp vs Shinee
Action vs Shine
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-08-10
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
Acropolis #5
RSL Revival: Season 6
Esports World Cup 2026: LCQ
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W7
CSLAN 4
ASL Season 22
Escore Tournament S3: W8
Acropolis #5 - TRS
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Acropolis #5 - GSA
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1
META DYMY #4
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Thunderpick World Champ.
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
Logitech G Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 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.