EPTSerral was fking unstoppable
Serral wins EWC 2025 - Page 2
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EEk1TwEEk
Russian Federation187 Posts
Serral was fking unstoppable | ||
Poopi
France12906 Posts
On July 30 2025 21:18 EEk1TwEEk wrote: Very dissapointed in Maru's, Clem's, Rogue's and Reynor's performance. Serral was fking unstoppable For Maru and Rogue I kinda agree. But for Clem and especially Reynor, how? Reynor barely lost 2-3 to Maru in a close and epic series, same versus Serral. He probably misplayed that engagement but that can happen when you are so eager to win. As for Clem, apparently when he went to Korea he got destroyed by Classic in practice, and given how other terrans fare in TvP, no shame in losing to Classic. But yeah Maru's loss was on him, he has the ability to beat Cure in TvT, that's a very disappointing performance. | ||
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Admiral Yang
43 Posts
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Antithesis
Germany1215 Posts
In my personal view, Serral's win in ultra lategame ZvP after losing his main and natural in game 1 in the first series against Classic was the single most impressive play of anyone at EWC. Yes, the ZvZ hold in game 5 against Reynor was much closer, but I think pulling off such a ZvZ clutch hold is something several Zerg players can do on their best day, as it "only" requires 20-30 seconds of ideal play and a bit of over-commitment on the other part. Out-trading ultra lategame protoss in ZvP over a span of 10+ minutes, after losing your main and natural, however, as in the first game against Classic, I think literally no other Zerg player on earth could have pulled off in this way right now. It even felt as if in this match, the very first map against Classic, Serral sent a message: "Look, forget about Dallas, ultra lategame is not where I will be outplayed." And they did not get into this phase in any of their other 9 maps. | ||
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WombaT
Northern Ireland26225 Posts
On July 31 2025 09:09 Antithesis wrote: This was an awesome tournament and yet another strong run by Serral. In my personal view, Serral's win in ultra lategame ZvP after losing his main and natural in game 1 in the first series against Classic was the single most impressive play of anyone at EWC. Yes, the ZvZ hold in game 5 against Reynor was much closer, but I think pulling of such a ZvZ clutch hold is something several Zerg players can do on their best day, as it "only" requires 20-30 seconds of ideal play and a bit of over-commitment on the other part. Out-trading ultra lategame protoss in ZvP over a span of 10+ minutes, after losing your main and natural, however, as in the first game against Classic, I think literally no other Zerg player on earth could have pulled off in this way right now. It even felt as if in this match, the very first map against Classic, Serral sent a message: "Look, forget about Dallas, ultra lategame is not where I will be outplayed." And they did not get into this phase in any of their other 9 maps. It’s unbelievable, having bases up and trading at a slight deficit, we see that with reasonable regularity. Out-doing Toss on efficiency of trades when ecos are relative similar, that’s crazy. Nobody but Serral can actually do that. You see this in the final too. Conventional wisdom was that PvZ is a little Toss favoured in lategame, and Classic is very good at that. Naturally you’d assume Classic just does that. Also Classic had prior to this tournament taken Serral out. That Classic didn’t go for that as his bread and butter for the finals I think says a lot. Based on their prior series I think Classic didn’t think he could reliably win by just shooting for the lategame so he mixed it up If it’s any other Zerg I think Classic throws out a few sharp timings, and plays for the lategame in the majority of sets. Versus Serral, specifically I think he lost confidence in his ability to win in the lategame so he switched it up a bit. With the form he’d shown, I wouldn’t say it’s a guarantee but I think Classic had at least an 50/50 against any Zerg if they’d made it to the grand finals. Against Serral in a Bo9? Not being hyperbolic I basically thought he had a 0% shot. A Bo5 sure, and a Bo7 he’d need some BO luck but possible, Bo9 though? Any other Zerg? He can definitely win, he can definitely lose. If Reynor had made it through, he’s super good obviously and basically any result is possible. Reynor blitzes Classic with a bunch of aggression and wins comfortably, alternative Classic survives the aggression and picks him apart in lategame and wins comfortably. Serral’s genuinely just on another planet. It’s super hard to sneak out some brutal timing against his scouting and game sense. He can also all-in you if he thinks it’s worth a shot, and if you want to just go NR 20 he can pick you apart. Like good fucking luck with that. He just exists on a different stratosphere, and in some ways that’s a bad thing. Take Serral out of it and we’d have a crazy competitive era in terms of champ winners/contenders. He lost one series in 2024 to someone not called Clem, which was to Maru, who he swept in the rematch. In 2025 he’s lost a little more, but it’s still ridiculous. Of his 10 losses on his 38-10, 1 was a group stage loss in a group he sailed through, 1 was effectively a show match. We’ve a loss at Master’s Colosseum to MaxPax, but he recovered to win the tournament from the lower bracket. He lost to Clem and MaxPax consecutively to knock him out of the Liuliu Cup. Lost to Dark at Pigsty Festival, but got through the loser’s bracket to face Clem, losing 3-4 in the finals. Lost in the Ro8 2-3 to Classic at Dreamhack Dallas. Lost to Zoun at Stara Zagora, recovered to lose to Clem 3-4 in the finals of that event. I’m almost certain this is unique at the highest level of the game. Serral has not lost a single match in 2025 that didn’t go to the deciding rubber. Outside of one loss to MaxPax in ‘Basilisk Big Brain Bouts #80’ which I assume is some kind of weekly/showmatch. That’s fucking mental, less competition or not. What’s even more mental is it’s not actually one of his best years if we’re talking win rates. Just the 79% match win. 2024 he had an insane match win, but Clem did sweep him numerous times. The 2025 iteration of Serral wins a bit less, but if you are to beat him the series [i]will[/i/] go the distance. Which is pretty insane IMO, like nobody has done that admittedly minor quirk but hey. I’m sure I’ll have people saying Koreans don’t practice anymore or whatever the usual craic is there. | ||
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Yoshi Kirishima
United States10366 Posts
On July 30 2025 21:25 Poopi wrote: For Maru and Rogue I kinda agree. But for Clem and especially Reynor, how? Reynor barely lost 2-3 to Maru in a close and epic series, same versus Serral. He probably misplayed that engagement but that can happen when you are so eager to win. As for Clem, apparently when he went to Korea he got destroyed by Classic in practice, and given how other terrans fare in TvP, no shame in losing to Classic. But yeah Maru's loss was on him, he has the ability to beat Cure in TvT, that's a very disappointing performance. Reynor did great, just too bad he faced the final boss in Ro8 and not even Ro4 But Maru would have lost to Serral anyways, but it mighta been a cool match to see with his mech (or maybe it'd be a stomp again, it's so hard to know lol) | ||
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WombaT
Northern Ireland26225 Posts
Under these filters, Serral is 321–79 (80.25%) in games and 132–12 (91.67%) in matches 91! That’s insane. 2024 we’ve got a specific offline win rate that’s a mere 86% There’s less depth these days, I’d agree with that but nobody gets near these win rates on their best years (with a few exceptions). Those that do aren’t chaining them up year after year. For 7 years now. If Serral was only doing it for a few years, or if you saw a few other people marching his numbers, you can make the case that the scene declined and people are more dominant because the depth’s dropped off. But they’re generally not doing that. Nobody else is routinely sticking up these numbers. | ||
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WombaT
Northern Ireland26225 Posts
On July 31 2025 10:14 Yoshi Kirishima wrote: Reynor beat Maru 3-2, he did lose to Serral 2-3 Reynor did great, just too bad he faced the final boss in Ro8 and not even Ro4 But Maru would have lost to Serral anyways, but it mighta been a cool match to see with his mech (or maybe it'd be a stomp again, it's so hard to know lol) He probably gets soundly beaten, perhaps not a stomp. Reynor’s as good, if not actually better than Serral in a chaotic mechanical slugfest against bio styles, it’s why he’s quite a good matchup for Clem. Serral is both better at sniffing out shenanigans or other pocket styles, and generally more patient at dismantling them. Reynor will throw one too many runbys away I think Maru has triple problem that he can’t just throw out crazy builds because Serral tends to read them well, he can’t just play to turtle because unlike other Zergs Serral can dismantle it, where even other very good Zergs struggle to break it. And Maru can’t just play like Clem, which does give Serral problems, but doesn’t seem like something Maru can play to the same level. 2018 quad GSL Maru can absolutely hang with Serral, but he can’t do it now. Serral is better and Maru is worse. There’s just no way to exploit Serral. He’s obviously a very macro-oriented player, but he’s not greedy. If Serral was more of a ‘if you let him be greedy and he cuts corners, he’s unbeatable’ player there’s counters there | ||
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dyhb
United States71 Posts
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TeamMamba
155 Posts
On July 31 2025 09:37 WombaT wrote: It’s unbelievable, having bases up and trading at a slight deficit, we see that with reasonable regularity. Out-doing Toss on efficiency of trades when ecos are relative similar, that’s crazy. Nobody but Serral can actually do that. You see this in the final too. Conventional wisdom was that PvZ is a little Toss favoured in lategame, and Classic is very good at that. Naturally you’d assume Classic just does that. Also Classic had prior to this tournament taken Serral out. That Classic didn’t go for that as his bread and butter for the finals I think says a lot. Based on their prior series I think Classic didn’t think he could reliably win by just shooting for the lategame so he mixed it up If it’s any other Zerg I think Classic throws out a few sharp timings, and plays for the lategame in the majority of sets. Versus Serral, specifically I think he lost confidence in his ability to win in the lategame so he switched it up a bit. With the form he’d shown, I wouldn’t say it’s a guarantee but I think Classic had at least an 50/50 against any Zerg if they’d made it to the grand finals. Against Serral in a Bo9? Not being hyperbolic I basically thought he had a 0% shot. A Bo5 sure, and a Bo7 he’d need some BO luck but possible, Bo9 though? Any other Zerg? He can definitely win, he can definitely lose. If Reynor had made it through, he’s super good obviously and basically any result is possible. Reynor blitzes Classic with a bunch of aggression and wins comfortably, alternative Classic survives the aggression and picks him apart in lategame and wins comfortably. Serral’s genuinely just on another planet. It’s super hard to sneak out some brutal timing against his scouting and game sense. He can also all-in you if he thinks it’s worth a shot, and if you want to just go NR 20 he can pick you apart. Like good fucking luck with that. He just exists on a different stratosphere, and in some ways that’s a bad thing. Take Serral out of it and we’d have a crazy competitive era in terms of champ winners/contenders. He lost one series in 2024 to someone not called Clem, which was to Maru, who he swept in the rematch. In 2025 he’s lost a little more, but it’s still ridiculous. Of his 10 losses on his 38-10, 1 was a group stage loss in a group he sailed through, 1 was effectively a show match. We’ve a loss at Master’s Colosseum to MaxPax, but he recovered to win the tournament from the lower bracket. He lost to Clem and MaxPax consecutively to knock him out of the Liuliu Cup. Lost to Dark at Pigsty Festival, but got through the loser’s bracket to face Clem, losing 3-4 in the finals. Lost in the Ro8 2-3 to Classic at Dreamhack Dallas. Lost to Zoun at Stara Zagora, recovered to lose to Clem 3-4 in the finals of that event. I’m almost certain this is unique at the highest level of the game. Serral has not lost a single match in 2025 that didn’t go to the deciding rubber. Outside of one loss to MaxPax in ‘Basilisk Big Brain Bouts #80’ which I assume is some kind of weekly/showmatch. That’s fucking mental, less competition or not. What’s even more mental is it’s not actually one of his best years if we’re talking win rates. Just the 79% match win. 2024 he had an insane match win, but Clem did sweep him numerous times. The 2025 iteration of Serral wins a bit less, but if you are to beat him the series [i]will[/i/] go the distance. Which is pretty insane IMO, like nobody has done that admittedly minor quirk but hey. I’m sure I’ll have people saying Koreans don’t practice anymore or whatever the usual craic is there. Great write up The biggest difference between Serral and the other Zergs is his ability to slow down the game and slowly pick his opponent apart. All the other Zergs will try to keep brute forcing themselves and try to overpower their opponents with their economy lead. Hence why a lot of Zergs literally hit a brick wall when they play against Maru or classic turtle defensive style. The other Zergs dont have that patience or ability to slow down the game and slowly out trade the opponents. That’s why all the other Zergs usually lose 10-20k more resources | ||
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Simplistik
2094 Posts
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RandomPlayer
Russian Federation400 Posts
On July 31 2025 18:33 Simplistik wrote: The final was pretty disappointing, to out it mildly. It's true and wild at the same time. Because those are the two best players in the tournament. I mean bracket design makde everything right for them to face each other, but serral had an answer to everything like an overmind. | ||
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tommey.liang
United States363 Posts
Would have liked to have seen Clem not get blanked with this title defense run. | ||
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Sviru1
30 Posts
Joona is the Goat of SC2 for sure and well deserved win. He thrives where other fall apart. But for me Reynor is like this unpredictable player with super strong mentality. He can lose 2-0 and reverse sweep you on the big stage. That is crazy. | ||
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Nasigil1
114 Posts
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radracer
United States73 Posts
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Glorfindelio
220 Posts
On August 03 2025 10:29 radracer wrote: Truly the GOAT of SC2's twilight Did you twirl your mustache villainously in the dark while exclaiming to yourself: "this will stem the tide!" | ||
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JJH777
United States4415 Posts
On July 31 2025 10:14 Yoshi Kirishima wrote: Reynor did great, just too bad he faced the final boss in Ro8 and not even Ro4 But Maru would have lost to Serral anyways, but it mighta been a cool match to see with his mech (or maybe it'd be a stomp again, it's so hard to know lol) The one game from their Kato finals last year that Maru was straight up ahead in and would almost certainly won if he wasn't already mentally done was battle mech. Then he never did it again. I'm sad we didn't get to see it here. | ||
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radracer
United States73 Posts
On August 03 2025 13:29 Glorfindelio wrote: Did you twirl your mustache villainously in the dark while exclaiming to yourself: "this will stem the tide!" Not sure what you mean, he's dominating this era and is easily the best player of this era. | ||
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ejozl
Denmark3463 Posts
I wonder had he played as amazingly as he did vs. solar just before if that could change the outcome, I think one of the problems as you get older is the ability to focus for a long time. If it were up to me the finals day would only have the 3rd place match and gf both bo9's, I can't see solar cure having the same outcome hadn't solar just lost his ticket to the gf 30min earlier.. | ||
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