Maru interview with CranK
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ZAWGURN
96 Posts
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JJH777
United States4371 Posts
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Christof
8 Posts
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Locutos
Brazil245 Posts
Working out helps solving, or at least, minimizing these kinda physical problems | ||
UnLarva
458 Posts
On February 19 2024 04:50 Christof wrote: No idea maru was actually that much of a excuse seeker..you lost... get beter Disappointment driven statements, that's clear. But why injury symptoms tend to handicap performance largely only when playing outside Korea, and against top foreigners during weekenders? Serral was just better, why just not accept it? It is not a shame to lose Serral in The Katowice finals. Terran IMBA whine seems to penetrate and permeate the narrative from the bottom to the top. Why don't do like Serral do? When losing and observing some weakness(es) in his own play, he then immediately proceed to fix those perceived problems? Can't be so that Top Dog Terran cannot do that, it makes no sense. | ||
Christof
8 Posts
On February 19 2024 05:12 UnLarva wrote: Disappointment driven statements, that's clear. But why injury symptoms tend to handicap performance largely only when playing outside Korea, and against top foreigners during weekenders? Serral was just better, why just not accept it? It is not a shame to lose Serral in The Katowice finals. Terran IMBA whine seems to penetrate and permeate the narrative from the bottom to the top. Why don't do like Serral do? When losing and observing some weakness(es) in his own play, he then immediately proceed to fix those perceived problems? Can't be so that Top Dog Terran cannot do that, it makes no sense. Exactly my point. I always considerd maru and serral to be on ecual foot. Not anymore... serral wouldnt do this | ||
Pandain
United States12978 Posts
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Comedy
447 Posts
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Antithesis
Germany1046 Posts
On February 19 2024 05:12 UnLarva wrote: Disappointment driven statements, that's clear. But why injury symptoms tend to handicap performance largely only when playing outside Korea, and against top foreigners during weekenders? Serral was just better, why just not accept it? It is not a shame to lose Serral in The Katowice finals. Terran IMBA whine seems to penetrate and permeate the narrative from the bottom to the top. Why don't do like Serral do? When losing and observing some weakness(es) in his own play, he then immediately proceed to fix those perceived problems? Can't be so that Top Dog Terran cannot do that, it makes no sense. Yeah, I must agree. I'm actually quite surprised about Maru's outlook. Though perhaps partly in jest, his answers are disappointingly replete with excuses (shoulder, "play like Clem", balance, whatever), with little acknowledgement of his own mistakes and Serral's performance. This is another one of the many things which, in my view, make Serral the GoaT. When inquired about his losses (for example, his series against Clem in Atlanta), he does not blame external circumstances. He just goes on to list all the little details he could have done and will do better next time. Which he then does. | ||
UnLarva
458 Posts
On February 19 2024 05:30 Christof wrote: Exactly my point. I always considerd maru and serral to be on ecual foot. Not anymore... serral wouldnt do this I find this sad. Really sad. I didn't realize that a psychological rupture was that wide, and handicapping. "Shoulder problems", while real, are also cover and euphemism for something else much more devastating. In hindsight, Serral's win doesn't appear anyway surprising. And yes, Serral would turn disappointments inside, and seek faults and reasons from within, criticising himself for his own errors, mistakes and underperformances, necessary requirement for being able to fix, change, or develop anything. Is there some kind cultural psychological differences I'm not aware of, that make psychological coping mechanism so different? | ||
WombaT
Northern Ireland22181 Posts
On February 19 2024 05:30 Christof wrote: Exactly my point. I always considerd maru and serral to be on ecual foot. Not anymore... serral wouldnt do this Serral’s shoulder isn’t fucked either. And it’s not like Maru said anything ungracious, he said if he felt absolutely 100% he’d still consider his chances the same as picking a coin toss. It’s just the guy’s personality, at least the side us foreign folks see. He’s a very reserved character with a very glass half-full lens on everything, and is pretty damn self-critical. Maru’s perception of his play is akin to Artosis’ old line on the game state if you’re playing Maru (‘if it’s even, he’s ahead…). If he says he’s in awful shape, he’s still playing better than most of a bracket. If he says he’s ok, he’s probably approaching apotheosis. If he says he’s playing great, well I can’t remember him ever saying that! You can go back to any Maru interview basically ever, read his comments and if you didn’t know they were his words you’d assume they came from some new face who’s not adjusted to being on the big stage yet. Not the ‘4th race’ and the arguable GOAT. Don’t think any disrespect was meant, he’s just a very negative Nancy is Maru. Cheers for the share btw OP and it’s cool to see. For all they’ve been such a fixture for so long, we still don’t get that big a sense of what most of the Korean scene think of the state of game, or their general personalities all that much. | ||
WombaT
Northern Ireland22181 Posts
On February 19 2024 06:16 UnLarva wrote: I find this sad. Really sad. I didn't realize that a psychological rupture was that wide, and handicapping. "Shoulder problems", while real, are also cover and euphemism for something else much more devastating. In hindsight, Serral's win doesn't appear anyway surprising. And yes, Serral would turn disappointments inside, and seek faults and reasons from within, criticising himself for his own errors, mistakes and underperformances, necessary requirement for being able to fix, change, or develop anything. Is there some kind cultural psychological differences I'm not aware of, that make psychological coping mechanism so different? I’m sure Maru also does that. I mean he carried Terran in various eras solo in a manner I really feel Trap has only ever come close to replicating in his latter days (maybe someone else has another equivalent example?). He’s got a very proven track record in just knuckling down and getting on with it. I feel people underestimate the language/cultural divide here, we just hear way more of the thoughts, elations and disappointments of our foreign pros as they almost all speak English, most of us do and we get a lot more exposure to it. Maru’s shoulder isn’t in good shape. I’m not sure exactly how bad it is, but it’s definitely somewhere between trivial and and a career crippler like an Mvp or a Taeja had with their various limbs. Guy’s probably pretty damn frustrated trying to get that missing part of the jigsaw in completing SC2 as an eSport, while having injury issues, and having a seeming brick wall like Serral deny him again. I’d cut him a bit of slack personally. I don’t like when fans make endless excuses or devalue Serral’s achievements etc, but I can’t blame the man himself for having pretty natural frustrations. As good as Serral is, he’s really never had any period where Zerg wasn’t pretty damn potent, so naturally he’s not really got that to use as a crutch to avoid self-reflection and improvement. It’s like when a really privileged person goes ‘Hey I don’t complain, why are you?’ Well I mean you have nothing to complain about! | ||
UnLarva
458 Posts
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Mizenhauer
United States1738 Posts
Anyone who has played StarCraft knows that even the tiniest thing can throw you off. Even just playing with a different keyboard is frustrating. I try to give the pros the benefit of the doubt when it comes to these things. These guys are their own harshest critics, I can't see why they would seek solace or pity from the community by coming up with random excuses. | ||
WombaT
Northern Ireland22181 Posts
On February 19 2024 06:40 UnLarva wrote: @ WombaT Thanks for clarifications. No problem sir! I mean like I said I’m not fully in the loop either but it’s to the best of my knowledge. Maru and Serral are two titans, nay gods of the game, that have delivered so many ‘how the fuck did he do that?’ moments I’ve long lost count. Life is all about preferences, so by all means have one! But not appreciating the other is just daft (this comment isn’t directed at you btw) | ||
WombaT
Northern Ireland22181 Posts
On February 19 2024 07:04 Mizenhauer wrote: I've interviewed a number of pros and commiserated with them how explanations and excuses are often the same thing in the eyes of fans. It's really hard for them to be honest about their condition a lot of the time because its often less of a hassle to keep their mouth shut rather than deal with asinine knee-jerk reactions from people who are clueless. Anyone who has played StarCraft knows that even the tiniest thing can throw you off. Even just playing with a different keyboard is frustrating. I try to give the pros the benefit of the doubt when it comes to these things. These guys are their own harshest critics, I can't see why they would seek solace or pity from the community by coming up with random excuses. People play the game? :O But yeah running LANs our schedule was a frequent nightmare because we gave people a lot of setup time, people brought their own gear and psych-up music. But we all knew many of us are very particular and it was worth the trade for competitive integrity Yeah you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If your wrists are about to explode and you bomb out in multiple tournaments and don’t explain it, people will start theorising that your motivation is gone, or you’re just phoning it in. If you are forthright and honest about it, some people will say you’re making excuses. Fans really do suck sometimes, I try not to myself but I know I’m not perfect in this regard either | ||
Poopi
France12738 Posts
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Yoshi Kirishima
United States10252 Posts
When Maru referred to the "chat room" for balance discussions, what is he referring to? Nice to get his thoughts on how he feels he stacks up vs Serral, whether he needs something special to win or not, etc. I think if Maru can defeat Serral and win a WC (especially if it's an actual WC in name), then Maru could regain a decent case to be #1 GOAT, and a very exciting and fun rivalry can continue (and perhaps keep SC2 alive!) | ||
UnLarva
458 Posts
On February 19 2024 07:06 WombaT wrote: No problem sir! I mean like I said I’m not fully in the loop either but it’s to the best of my knowledge. Maru and Serral are two titans, nay gods of the game, that have delivered so many ‘how the fuck did he do that?’ moments I’ve long lost count. Life is all about preferences, so by all means have one! But not appreciating the other is just daft (this comment isn’t directed at you btw) It's all about preferences, yep. What surprised me most was that I've always feared Maru the most when it comes to the threat vs Serral, from the perspective of Finnish Serral fanboi. I've always thought Maru like a distant, etherreal, demi-godly entity. This interview changed my perception profoundly and mainly because of Maru's perceived lack of sportsmanship. Then, considering how fragile whole competitive Sc2 scene is, Top players particularly hold certain responsibility what comes to their public statements on various topics. Also, I didn't expect Terran IMBA whine coming from Maru's mouth in this context. The Best Terran's misplaced scans in one game and inability to follow tactically and multitask properly against in-form best Zerg of the world equals now IMBA? That feels just low to me. LOW. L-O-W. Still, paradoxically I hope now more than ever Maru would get a grip, and not retire. | ||
Antithesis
Germany1046 Posts
On February 19 2024 07:35 UnLarva wrote: What surprised me most was that I've always feared Maru the most when it comes to the threat vs Serral, from the perspective of Finnish Serral fanboi. I've always thought Maru like a distant, etherreal, demi-godly entity. This interview changed my perception profoundly and mainly because of Maru's perceived lack of sportsmanship. [...] Also, I didn't expect Terran IMBA whine coming from Maru's mouth in this context. The Best Terran's misplaced scans in one game and inability to follow tactically and multitask properly against in-form best Zerg of the world equals now IMBA? That feels just low to me. LOW. L-O-W. I feel the same way. And I think some of the justifications given are ignoring a part of the picture. Here is a passage from the interview: Crank: "But you overwhelmingly defeated the best players except Serral at Katowice, so there are discussions whether a special effort is needed to defeat Serral from the fans' perspective. Do you also think you need to prepare something special to win vs. Serral as well?" Maru: "Rather than that, shouldn't Zerg be nerfed? [...] There is a chat room for balance discussions, so I posted asking to nerf Burrowed Infestors when I got back." Yes, Maru may have been honest in voicing this opinion. But if so, it is an outright denial of his own responsibility in favor of balance whine. I think it is perfectly valid to say that this is not a good look. Even some of Crank's responses seem to mirror this sentiment. | ||
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