NOTE: This post has nothing to do with Teamliquid.com or TL.net. These are purely my opinions.
Since I'm not up for writing a million words, I decided to write stuff about some of the big names as EWC approaches.
Serral: A Lion Doesn’t Concern Himself With The Opinions Of The Sheep
Despite currently fulfilling his military service and the limitations it has placed on him, Serral remains the best in the world. He's won Master's Coliseum 7, IEM Katowice and ESL Spring-posting a 12-1 record in the finals of said events (4-0 vs Maru at ESL Spring and IEM Katowice and 5-1 vs herO). While others spend their time arguing whether or not Serral is the GOAT, he continues to amass the largest trophy collection of anyone to touch the game. He's the defacto best player heading into EWC and, while he will be tested early by herO/Solar and some combination of Cure, Reynor, Classic and Clem, Serral has proven over and over that he has what it takes to run the gauntlet and defeat every challenger in his path.
Maru: Making It Count
Maru spent 2024 affirming that he's better than anyone not named Seral, but that only resulted in two Premier Event wins since the calendar turned (that's if you count StarWar 11). He has shown some vulnerabilities over the years-especially in the finals of Code S seasons 2 where Dark exposed the greediness of Maru's go to builds en route to a championship. Meanwhile, Serral beat him 4-0 in the finals of a pair of major events. And, if that weren't bad enough, Maru has finished second in two of the last three World Championship sized events-losing both finals by a combined 1-8 score against Oliveria and Serral. For Maru, EWC isn't just an opportunity to pad his pockets, it's a chance to write the wrongs of the last couple years and, more importantly, a chance to temporarily steal the title of "best player in the world" from Serral. A World Championship win would go a long way towards shoring up Maru's career resume, just as another loss against a certain Finn would further weaken his case as a Goat candidate.
Reynor: Doubling Dipping
Last August, Reynor defied the odds by winning Gamers8 (the predecessor to this years EWC)-something I can only say because it was his first championship in a World Championship-esque event since winning IEM Katowice all the way back in 2021. Reynor has consistently shown that he has what it takes to beat the best in the world ever since he emerged as a top tier player a half decade ago. 2024, however, looks eerily similar to his performances the past few years. His best showing of the year was an unimpressive top 8 finish at ESL Spring, but he looked even worse during IEM Katowice where he was eliminated in the Round of 24 and the Second Season of Code S where he posted an 0-2 record. Then again, hope springs eternal for those with Reynor's natural ability. He's reached the mountaintop more than once already, but he'll get another chance at EWC prove he has what it takes to consistently beat players like Serral, Maru, Cure and herO. And, should things play out as his fans hope, Reynor will fly home with another six figure pay day to his name.
Cure: One Shining Moment
Cure's career is an extremely interesting one (and deserves a lot more space to properly describe), but the TLDR is-it seems Cure is destined to always play the role of second best. He's been the second best Terran in Korea since TY retired in 2020 and the second best Terran on Jin Air since the day Maru joined. Even now, with the team disbanded, Cure has settled into a role where he is good enough to be considered amongst the best in the world, while declaring just as loudly that he really has no shot against players like Dark, Maru, herO, Reynor and Serral (as long as they are playing to the best of their abilities). Despite his consistency over the last three to four years, Cure is still looking for a career defining victory. Doing so at EWC will be tremendously difficult but, should he emerge triumphant, this would be the win Cure has long been pining for.
Dark: Right On Time
For Dark, EWC couldn't have come at a better time. Fresh off his win against Maru in the finals of Season 2 of Code S, Dark is looking as good as he has in years. For a player of such tremendous ability and renown, Dark's performances over the past few years aren't exactly what we've come to expect from a player who has held a spot amongst the two best Zergs in Korea for eight years running. Since the start of 2021, Dark's only premier event titles came in Code S, twice, and DreamHack Valencia in late 2022. Fortunately for Dark, he seems to have regained some of the predatory nature that made him such a difficult opponent during the first four or so years of Legacy of the Void. For the first time in years, Dark enters a World Championship event as one of the favorites. In fact, outside of Serral and Maru, Dark is probably the third most likely player to win. And, while that is still an enormous mountain to climb, if Dark manages to duplicates the way he played in the most recent Season of Code S, one would be a fool to count him out.
While I only covered five of the 18 players in the event, there are intriguing storylines everywhere. Had I had more time to work on this might have covered more, but I hope these were enjoyable enough.
On August 13 2024 21:45 MJG wrote: Nothing intriguing for Protoss fans then...
Sadly for Protoss fans, their best hopes lie with Classic, whose form has steadily dipped after his reasonably impressive post military debut and herO, who faces an extremely hard bracket that features a likely second round showdown with Serral. Should herO fall down to the loser's bracket, it will be a tough run, as Group B is full of players like Clem. Reynor, Cure, Solar and Classic who will offer stiff competition for the most recent Protoss Code S champion.
A few more storylines and narratives that could be worth a watch:
- Can Oliveira defend his EPT World Championship Title? I know he lost the title as Katowice Champion, but technically, he is still the "World Champion". - How good will the "break-through" players of the last year be, namely Spirit and Coffee? - Can Clem achieve a good offline result? - The way the brackets are drawn, there is potential for a huge korean collapse early in the tournament. Or will the korean block hold against the storm once again?
On August 13 2024 22:11 WombaT wrote: Does the sportswashing narrative count?
Not to diminish your fine OP
Good question...I haven't seen much of the EWC yet. How was it so far, can anyone who spend time watching CS, LoL and co. give a bit of insight on that?
On August 13 2024 22:11 WombaT wrote: Does the sportswashing narrative count?
Not to diminish your fine OP
Good question...I haven't seen much of the EWC yet. How was it so far, can anyone who spend time watching CS, LoL and co. give a bit of insight on that?
Watched some CS but mostly the games themselves and there it was standard commentary. Did not watch much before/ after. From what I've seen this could have been in Sweden, USA, Germany or anywhere else
On August 13 2024 21:45 MJG wrote: Nothing intriguing for Protoss fans then...
Sadly for Protoss fans, their best hopes lie with Classic, whose form has steadily dipped after his reasonably impressive post military debut and herO, who faces an extremely hard bracket that features a likely second round showdown with Serral. Should herO fall down to the loser's bracket, it will be a tough run, as Group B is full of players like Clem. Reynor, Cure, Solar and Classic who will offer stiff competition for the most recent Protoss Code S champion.
The format is really rough for those who don't make it through their initial bracket. Even if you do manage to get through the lower bracket, you'll have played many more games and shown many more builds in order to do so.
On August 13 2024 21:45 MJG wrote: Nothing intriguing for Protoss fans then...
Sadly for Protoss fans, their best hopes lie with Classic, whose form has steadily dipped after his reasonably impressive post military debut and herO, who faces an extremely hard bracket that features a likely second round showdown with Serral. Should herO fall down to the loser's bracket, it will be a tough run, as Group B is full of players like Clem. Reynor, Cure, Solar and Classic who will offer stiff competition for the most recent Protoss Code S champion.
I feel like Astrea has a better chance to beat gumiho / heromarine or Dark than Classic beating Clem at this point in time
Clem has always been demolishing classic every time they play
On August 13 2024 22:11 WombaT wrote: Does the sportswashing narrative count?
Not to diminish your fine OP
Definitely a big one unfortunately
In theory, this would be an event I'd want to watch every game of, but I'm not sure yet whether I'll catch any given the discomfort around this.
Not that SC2 hasn't had some sus sponsors in the past, but this feels a bit more hectic.
Hopefully TL posters can really nail the LR threads for folks who don’t want to watch for whatever reason!
Amen! There are a few tournaments I've followed largely by the LR and then watching a game or series if it generated lots of excitement (or sufficient despair ).
On August 13 2024 22:11 WombaT wrote: Does the sportswashing narrative count?
Not to diminish your fine OP
Sportwashing starts by ignoring sportswashing...
not surprising that Mizenhauer is also good at promoting narratives by entirely ignoring other narratives
I'm not here to argue morality or tell you how you should feel. Some people are looking forward to the tournament, if you want to highjack the thread and make it a political issue, then it's gonna be locked pretty quickly.
On August 13 2024 22:11 WombaT wrote: Does the sportswashing narrative count?
Not to diminish your fine OP
Sportwashing starts by ignoring sportswashing...
not surprising that Mizenhauer is also good at promoting narratives by entirely ignoring other narratives
I'm not here to argue morality or tell you how you should feel. Some people are looking forward to the tournament, if you want to highjack the thread and make it a political issue, then it's gonna be locked pretty quickly.
You know, locking a thread once it becomes political (aka criticising sportswashing) is also a form of sportswashing
On August 13 2024 22:11 WombaT wrote: Does the sportswashing narrative count?
Not to diminish your fine OP
Sportwashing starts by ignoring sportswashing...
not surprising that Mizenhauer is also good at promoting narratives by entirely ignoring other narratives
I'm not here to argue morality or tell you how you should feel. Some people are looking forward to the tournament, if you want to highjack the thread and make it a political issue, then it's gonna be locked pretty quickly.
You know, locking a thread once it becomes political (aka criticising sportswashing) is also a form of sportswashing
To a degree, my posting record is there for anyone to read that it’s both very consistently against this whole endeavour, with zero mod action whatsoever.
But for me, say your piece and make your position known, engage if engaged and then leave the stage for the purposes of enjoying the games for those who wish to enjoy the games. There comes a point where it can just be crusading derailing.
Personally I wish the community was more against this than it is, but they’re not gonna flip via repetition, and I feel the whole mod team have given plenty of space for dissenting opinions.
On August 13 2024 22:11 WombaT wrote: Does the sportswashing narrative count?
Not to diminish your fine OP
Sportwashing starts by ignoring sportswashing...
not surprising that Mizenhauer is also good at promoting narratives by entirely ignoring other narratives
I'm not here to argue morality or tell you how you should feel. Some people are looking forward to the tournament, if you want to highjack the thread and make it a political issue, then it's gonna be locked pretty quickly.
You know, locking a thread once it becomes political (aka criticising sportswashing) is also a form of sportswashing
To a degree, my posting record is there for anyone to read that it’s both very consistently against this whole endeavour, with zero mod action whatsoever.
But for me, say your piece and make your position known, engage if engaged and then leave the stage for the purposes of enjoying the games for those who wish to enjoy the games. There comes a point where it can just be crusading derailing.
Personally I wish the community was more against this than it is, but they’re not gonna flip via repetition, and I feel the whole mod team have given plenty of space for dissenting opinions.
Agree, but I don't think it is derailing if the only reason this is in Saudi Arabia, 90 percent of whole SC2 funding is from Saudi Arabia. To me, it feels like all the people involved and paid by this AND the players are deliberately not even acknowledging the BIG elephant in the room, pretending that it is just another tournament.
I get that it is probably the biggest paycheck they the commentators and players will ever have. But at some point, you have to ask yourself whether it is sustainable to have like all the players + 50 commentators for many languages, analysts, hosts etc while having likely pityful number of viewers. At this point, the players/commentators are just pawn solely to sportswash. At this point, it is probably better to find a normal fucking job with the benefit of not having to denigrate yourself. At least you keep your self-respect.
EPT
).
