GSL vs. The World is a rare tournament where the best players from WCS Korea and the WCS Circuit are brought together in competition, allowing for dream matches that might answer some of the community's most hotly debated questions. 'How good IS Serral?' 'Will Has' bulls*** work against Koreans?' 'Wait, are they playing that match-up completely wrong?'
Here are the potential matches TeamLiquid.net's writers (and trial writers) are anticipating the most. Granted, some of them are highly unlikely to occur, but what's this tournament for if not for dreaming?
Serral is currently enjoying the greatest foreigner vs foreigner peak of all time. His dominance over his peers is has reached a historic level. It doesn't matter who comes his way in WCS. A red-hot Reynor? 3-0. Tricky Terrans who could exploit his 'worst' matchup? 3-0. The most resistance was put up by MaNa, in the midst of arguably the single most impressive run of his career. 4-2.
Serral's critics will say he hasn't done enough against Koreans, but he's still won numerous sets in important tournaments. He won an epic 3-2 comeback against Trap at IEM, right after Trap eliminated Zerg powerhouse Dark. He crushed top Korean Protoss Classic 3-0 at WESG, revenge for a loss at IEM. He's also won scattered matches over the likes of Rogue, Impact, and Zest. Serral hasn't played a huge number of Koreans, but he has quality wins. Well, except against that guy...
Maru is currently enjoying the highest skill-peak in Legacy of the Void. And while this might seem like self-parody after Olli recently criticized casters for excessive hyperbole, Maru's peak might even be one of the highest of ALL TIME. He is the first player to win back to back Code S championships since 2011 and is favored to win three in a row. A red-hot Classic? 4-1. A resurgent Zest? 4-0. Only Rogue has come close to cracking the code.
Not surprisingly, Maru has crushed foreigners along the way. He carved his way through TIME, Semper, Elazer, Nerchio, Scarlett, ShoWTimE, Reynor, and yes, Serral himself, at WESG. No one even came close to endangering Maru. In total, Maru went 21-1 at WESG, against a more impressive list of opponents than in any of Serral's WCS title runs.
Maru would be the favorite on paper, but Serral has done enough to inspire audacious hope from the foreign community. Will the foreigner king claim his greatest conquest yet, or will Korea's champion ruthlessly extinguish hope?
Maru vs Has: The Twisted Fantasy
by Vult
Just suspend your disbelief for a minute, and imagine this...
It is August 5th, 2018. Two awe-inspiring men walk into the GSL studio, and electricity fills the air in anticipation of their clash. On one side is Maru—the conqueror of Korea, the magician of marine micro, and patron saint of multi-tasking. Facing him is Has—the crazed strategic genius, arch-cannoneer, and feared iconoclast.
Maru looks over at Has and scoffs, scornful of his arsenal of parlor tricks. Maru has faced the best players in the world, and has proven he is unshakable in the face of unexpected trial. He knows that he is invincible.
Standing in Maru's stoic presence, a tremor of anxiety passes through Has. Fear of the unknown, fear of what might be lurking in the fog of war—these are the things Has feeds upon. But those are the fears of mere mortals—is Maru another kind of being altogether? Then, Has thinks back to a bygone match, and smiles. No, whatever lies behind that emotionless mask, there is still a mere human at its core.
The match begins, and a Probe leaves Has' base. A Pylon begins warping in Maru's main, leading fans around the world faint in their seats, causing monitors to short-circuit, and sending Tasteless to the hospital with the rare affliction of exploded-brain. An emergency call is made to UN headquarters: Sir, the internet has literally broken.
It's just the start of a wild war.
Scarlett vs Neeb: Canada vs USA
Malefice
Forget about best in the world. Hell, forget about best in the West. This is bald eagle vs moose, poutine vs cheeseburger, all drenched in the delicious maple syrup (from Vermont or Quebec) that is SC2! Move over Kerrigan and Zeratul, this is the REAL battle for the heart and soul of StarCraft! This is Scarlett vs Neeb!
Scarlett and Neeb's latest bout at the Hangzhou StarCraft Carnival treated the world to a delightfully wacky PvZ affair. This series had everything from Queen pushes, Cannon rushes, mass Phoenix, and even a proxy Hatch! A mere BO3 between these NA heroes contained all of the nail biting, heart palpitating goodness that any SC2 fan could ever ask for. Just imagine what they could do with a whole BO5!
Based off of recent results, both Scarlett and Neeb look to be returning to form. At WCS Valencia, Scarlett took the three time WCS Champion, Serral, to five games in an epic ZvZ. Neeb, on the other hand, managed to advance to the RO16 in the GSL just a few weeks ago, defeating both Losira and aLive. With both players heating up, look for this match to be a good ol’ ZvP slugfest as well as the next tumultuous chapter in a North American rivalry for the ages.
Will Neeb’s Adepts strike like eagles and plant the American flag atop a mountain of Drone corpses? Or will Scarlett’s swarm glide across icy creep to lay waste to the USA’s hopes and dreams? Find out (maybe) at GSL vs the World!
Maru vs Zest: The Rematch
by Orlok
While foreigner vs Korean action is at the center of attention, there are also plenty of amazing inter-regional matches lurking in the bracket. We may even see a rematch from the previous GSL finals: Maru vs Zest.
Everyone has already hyped up Maru aplenty, so I'll just keep my introduction short: He’s the favorite for this tournament, for the last GSL and Blizzcon by a mile, and shows no signs of slowing down. GSL vs. The World should be no more than another show of dominance for the King of Korea.
But let's not overlook Zest, who graced the finals of the previous GSL Code S. While Zest lost 0-4 to Maru in the GSL finals, he has still shown strong PvT that's capable of beating just about anyone else. One has to wonder if the GSL finals was just a case of everything breaking the wrong way for Zest. The expected outcome of their match was probably still a Maru victory, but such one-sided margin suggests that Zest left something on the table. Rarely do we get to see such theories get checked in such short order. Zest vs Maru—should we see such a match—may shed some interesting light on Zest, Maru, and Code S Season 2.
Stats vs Has: Polar Opposites
by Mizenhauer
Amid all of the star-studded match-ups we may see at GSL vs. The World, there's one that's more curious than ballyhooed.
Stats and Has are two men in walking different paths at the moment. Has shocked the world at WCS Valencia, reaching deep into his bag of tricks en route to a finals appearance. We expect Has to catch inexperienced players off guard, but seasoned pros and established names alike found themselves utterly befuddled and oddly impotent by strategies they should have seen coming. One can safely assume that Has hasn’t suddenly transformed into the second best foreigner, so maybe it’s best to attribute his shocking performance to right place, right time. It is inarguable, however, that Has is riding a surge of momentum.
Stats, meanwhile, finds himself in a rather uncertain place. The most consistent player in the world for years, Stats has been up and down since the beginning of March. He bombed out of IEM Katowice, but redeemed himself in GSL Season 1 and the Super Tournament. Following that up by failing to get past the Round of 16 for only the second time in LotV had to be sobering, but at least he escaped the Round of 32 in Season 3, albeit unconvincingly. The fact that we’ve gotten a full dose of “Online Stats” since then doesn’t paint the most flattering picture heading into GSL vs. the World.
Should Has weasel his way past SpeCial, he’s more than likely looking at a matchup with Stats. The match itself could be a routine shellacking or a comedy of errors. Either the Has hype train will come to a screeching halt or Stats will suffer one of the biggest embarrassments of his career with the whole world watching.
Rogue vs Has: Art of Chaos
by Destructicon
There is something beautiful to watching two masters of 'standard' play duke it out. Precise army movements, rhythmic macro, finesseful strokes of micro—it all ebbs and flows into an exquisite work of art.
Yet, not every game is a predictable, rehearsed dance. Some games are maelstroms of chaos that sweep away both players on its waves. There is a different beauty to be found in such games. Each situation is unpredictable, and there is a delight in discovering how events will unfold. There's an instinctual, almost savage flavor in every action. With their rich and often cheesy histories, Rogue and Has have the potential to create such a series.
Has has made his career of unapologetically cheesing almost all of Starcraft 2’s fan-favorites throughout his history. But what has made Has special is the manner in which he cheeses. He has Pylon-walled Jaedong, he has actually expanded into MMA’s natural and used it as a staging point to build Tempests and siege his base, he propelled mass Oracle into popularity and he even forced Maru into a draw.
Rogue, while he can’t be considered a cheeser on Maru's level, has played a distinct, improvisational brand of Zerg. His BlizzCon may have highlighted his late-game macro play, but there is a long history of Swarm Host harassment, Nydus all-ins, and Baneling drops in his past.
A match between the two is unlikely, as they can only meet in the finals, but it would be one of the most unusual, distinct finals Korea has seen.
Serral vs Neeb: Circuit Breakers
by Wax
GSL vs. World isn't just a tournament where we can see otherwise impossible match-ups—it's a chance to see the dream-match we should have already gotten on the WCS Circuit.
After Neeb dominated the 2017 WCS Circuit by winning three championships, Serral launched a revolt against the crown in 2018. Unfortunately for the fans, there was no bloody war of succession. Neeb's drop in form caused him to quietly abdicate from the throne, leaving Serral to slaughter pretender after pretender without actually facing the former king himself. We're civilized folk, so we've mostly accepted three-time champion Serral as the new king of the Circuit. But there's still a barbaric urge underneath, that demands the new be anointed with the blood of the old.
Thankfully, the three-time WCS Circuit champs are lined-up for a semifinal battle in the GSL vs. The World bracket. It's not the ideal, WCS Circuit Finals setting we were hoping for, but it would still suffice to end this battle for the throne... or to begin a new chapter entirely.
I can't help but feel this article was written by someone with a strong western bias.
Why are Neeb, Serral, and Has in all of your dream matchups? You want to watch them get crushed 4-0 that badly? The only exception on your list is Maru vs Zest... really? That's not a dream match - I think if you did a poll of the Korean vs Korean finals, this one would be the least popular to see!
Maru vs Rogue Maru vs Classic soO vs Innovation soO vs Classic
These are the matchups the people want to see. Has is nothing special as a protoss cheeser - I don't get why you guys keep hyping him up like protoss haven't been cheesers forever. What did Rotti say to trick you all???
I'd also like to see Stats in the final personally as a protoss player (sorry Zest, the wound from your recent losses is still fresh) though!
On August 01 2018 10:47 Rodya wrote: Why are Neeb, Serral, and Has in all of your dream matchups? You want to watch them get crushed 4-0 that badly?
There is nobody in the world who is a favorite to beat Serral 4-0. And let me be clear, I am NOT saying that no one is favored to beat Serral in a series. I am saying there is no one, not even Maru, where the most likely outcome is specifically a 4-0.
On August 01 2018 10:47 Rodya wrote: Why are Neeb, Serral, and Has in all of your dream matchups? You want to watch them get crushed 4-0 that badly?
There is nobody in the world who is a favorite to beat Serral 4-0. And let me be clear, I am NOT saying that no one is favored to beat Serral in a series. I am saying there is no one, not even Maru, where the most likely outcome is specifically a 4-0.
Maru would not only 4-0 Serral, he would go out of his way to do it in the most humiliating fashion possible (refer: WESG).
Serral's worst MU by far is ZvT. By his own admission he doesn't really know what to do against the really top tier Terrans. Maru's best MU by is his TvZ. A grand total of one Zerg has defeated Maru in a series during all of 2018, and that was peak Rogue with the 3-2 at IEM Katowice.
Some people claim Maru relied on Ghost/Raven to beat Serral at WESG. Those people clearly didn't watch the actual series, because the one game without Ghost/Raven was the most onesided of them all. Serral got torn to pieces in archetypal Maru fashion, not a moment to rest or breathe or recover from the constant attacks. The only thing Ghost/Raven did was help Serral survive longer.
Some people also claim that Serral beat Maru 2-0 during the Katowice qualifiers. This is technically true, but they usually neglect to mention that Maru was playing the infamous KR-EU cross server. Obviously, this means Serral can win–just give Maru a 200 ping handicap.
Serral has great ZvP and good ZvZ. He might even be able to get by some of the Koreans. But against the Korean Terrans? I'd be surprised if Serral managed to take a game off Inno, let alone Maru.
the world was truly denied a great delight with this seeding for Has, a matchup of him vs Zest, Inno, Rogue, or Maru would've been absolute music to my ears (eyes? who knows)
If Has vs. Maru can capture the magic of the 4-game best of 3 they played in the IEM Gyeonggi qualifiers back at the end of Novemeber, 2016, then that's must watch Starcraft. Realistically, Maru smashes Has 3-0.
The only other dream scenarios are INnoVation, Rogue or Dark vs. Maru. Serral vs. Maru would be a complete curb stomping by Maru.
We've seen too much TvP in GSL lately and ZvP is just bleh these days, so I'm hoping for TvT or TvZ.
On August 01 2018 10:47 Rodya wrote: Why are Neeb, Serral, and Has in all of your dream matchups? You want to watch them get crushed 4-0 that badly?
There is nobody in the world who is a favorite to beat Serral 4-0. And let me be clear, I am NOT saying that no one is favored to beat Serral in a series. I am saying there is no one, not even Maru, where the most likely outcome is specifically a 4-0.
Some people also claim that Serral beat Maru 2-0 during the Katowice qualifiers. This is technically true, but they usually neglect to mention that Maru was playing the infamous KR-EU cross server. Obviously, this means Serral can win–just give Maru a 200 ping handicap.
Some people love to talk about online results as if they mean anything at all. Of course they don't, and Serral has no hope against Inno or Maru as you said.
Serral got a lucky seeding so he will get past Round 1, but Round 2 he will be lucky to win one map.
As much as I would like to see Zest make a series vs Maru, I don't see it happening. I think his chances vs ShowTime are shakey too.
Author is on point, Weasel is the right word for Has. I hope SpeCiaL shuts this down hard.
I adamantly disagree with preferring Stats over Zest. Stats' form has been awful. Zest getting trashed versus Maru doesn't compare to Stats' not even making it to RO16. I don't remember the last great Stats game.
I hope we see something real out of Scarlett.
I'm a korean elitist, but I hope Bottom Bracket is swept by foreigners. Top bracket, I'm hoping for underdogs. I don't see bottom bracket foreigner sweep as underdogs.
While I wouldn't imagine Maru vs Serral would be quite as one-sided as some of our memers are here fantasizing, I just couldn't see a series between them being that competitive without Serral getting a bunch of vT practice in Korea first. Would be kinda hype though considering he'd have to be in rather good shape to get there.
On August 01 2018 10:47 Rodya wrote: Why are Neeb, Serral, and Has in all of your dream matchups? You want to watch them get crushed 4-0 that badly?
There is nobody in the world who is a favorite to beat Serral 4-0. And let me be clear, I am NOT saying that no one is favored to beat Serral in a series. I am saying there is no one, not even Maru, where the most likely outcome is specifically a 4-0.
Serral has great ZvP and good ZvZ. He might even be able to get by some of the Koreans. But against the Korean Terrans? I'd be surprised if Serral managed to take a game off Inno, let alone Maru.
Is it actually even "good"? I mean I hear many top zerg players around saying he is one of the better ZvZ players in the world, and his overall stats are great, but I just don't know.
On August 01 2018 13:11 Rodya wrote: Serral got a lucky seeding so he will get past Round 1, but Round 2 he will be lucky to win one map.
Great article overall, i really like the concept. I am really surprised, however, that in the one of the rare occasions we can see foreigners vs koreans you choose as a dream match..... Neeb vs Scarlett? a common Ro16 WCS matchup? Seriously? I would prefer to see any other match, as long as it foreigner vs korean
Soon our lord & saviour, Serral the monster will crush korean bones and eat flesh and blood of those korean little boys. Serral is our god and saviour from korean tyranny. Serral take my energy, I am your loyal servant, show us the light, guide our way to the new world. Serral is new Korea, Serral is bigger than Korea.
After all the heated speculation on how Serral will fare against the Koreans for months now...it'd be hilarious if Kelazhur somehow won and ruined the coolest story of the tournament
Especially given the controversy surrounding how he made it into this tournament
On August 01 2018 23:54 FrostedMiniWheats wrote: After all the heated speculation on how Serral will fare against the Koreans for months now...it'd be hilarious if Kelazhur somehow won and ruined the coolest story of the tournament
Especially given the controversy surrounding how he made it into this tournament
If Serral can't even beat Kelazhur I think that answers all questions about how he would fare against top koreans. Unless maybe Kelazhur follows it up with making a miracolous run through the bracket
On August 01 2018 23:54 FrostedMiniWheats wrote: After all the heated speculation on how Serral will fare against the Koreans for months now...it'd be hilarious if Kelazhur somehow won and ruined the coolest story of the tournament
Especially given the controversy surrounding how he made it into this tournament
I didn't follow that, what happened with Khelazur?
On August 01 2018 23:54 FrostedMiniWheats wrote: After all the heated speculation on how Serral will fare against the Koreans for months now...it'd be hilarious if Kelazhur somehow won and ruined the coolest story of the tournament
Especially given the controversy surrounding how he made it into this tournament
I didn't follow that, what happened with Khelazur?
He got the backing of big Brazilian eSports people and within a day won the foreign Terran vote by a 5000 vote margin, no other player across any poll actually was anywhere close to that amount of votes. But considering most of those people likely won't watch the tournament, let's say that result was a bit controversial.
On August 01 2018 23:54 FrostedMiniWheats wrote: After all the heated speculation on how Serral will fare against the Koreans for months now...it'd be hilarious if Kelazhur somehow won and ruined the coolest story of the tournament
Especially given the controversy surrounding how he made it into this tournament
I didn't follow that, what happened with Khelazur?
He was no where near winning the vote (like 1000 behind uthermal and HeroMarine) then a bunch of big figures in the brazilian esports tweeted out telling people to vote for him. He got like 5000 votes in a couple days and ended up winning.
On August 02 2018 01:26 StabiloBoss20 wrote: Has in a dream match?
As exciting as his cheeses are, a dream match should include high quality game play. And thats not what Has stands for.
Dream match = what people want to see. People want to see Has vs top koreans
ye... but why? some cheeses vs top korean are now dream games? srly, i dont get it. anyways... its a hypothetically question, so i guess we dont need to get into it.
On August 02 2018 01:26 StabiloBoss20 wrote: Has in a dream match?
As exciting as his cheeses are, a dream match should include high quality game play. And thats not what Has stands for.
Dream match = what people want to see. People want to see Has vs top koreans
ye... but why? some cheeses vs top korean are now dream games? srly, i dont get it. anyways... its a hypothetically question, so i guess we dont need to get into it.
We barely ever get to see foreigners and players like Has compete with the best koreans. Just because matches on paper will be one-sided doesn't mean people don't wanna see the outcome.
On August 02 2018 01:26 StabiloBoss20 wrote: Has in a dream match?
As exciting as his cheeses are, a dream match should include high quality game play. And thats not what Has stands for.
Dream match = what people want to see. People want to see Has vs top koreans
ye... but why? some cheeses vs top korean are now dream games? srly, i dont get it. anyways... its a hypothetically question, so i guess we dont need to get into it.
Have you watched Has vs. Maru in the IEM Gyeonggi qualifiers?
On August 02 2018 01:26 StabiloBoss20 wrote: Has in a dream match?
As exciting as his cheeses are, a dream match should include high quality game play. And thats not what Has stands for.
Dream match = what people want to see. People want to see Has vs top koreans
ye... but why? some cheeses vs top korean are now dream games? srly, i dont get it. anyways... its a hypothetically question, so i guess we dont need to get into it.
Have you watched Has vs. Maru in the IEM Gyeonggi qualifiers?
On August 02 2018 01:26 StabiloBoss20 wrote: Has in a dream match?
As exciting as his cheeses are, a dream match should include high quality game play. And thats not what Has stands for.
Dream match = what people want to see. People want to see Has vs top koreans
ye... but why? some cheeses vs top korean are now dream games? srly, i dont get it. anyways... its a hypothetically question, so i guess we dont need to get into it.
We barely ever get to see foreigners and players like Has compete with the best koreans. Just because matches on paper will be one-sided doesn't mean people don't wanna see the outcome.
Korean protoss have been cheesing before Has even had SC2 installed on his computer.
On August 02 2018 01:26 StabiloBoss20 wrote: Has in a dream match?
As exciting as his cheeses are, a dream match should include high quality game play. And thats not what Has stands for.
Dream match = what people want to see. People want to see Has vs top koreans
ye... but why? some cheeses vs top korean are now dream games? srly, i dont get it. anyways... its a hypothetically question, so i guess we dont need to get into it.
We barely ever get to see foreigners and players like Has compete with the best koreans. Just because matches on paper will be one-sided doesn't mean people don't wanna see the outcome.
Korean protoss have been cheesing before Has even had SC2 installed on his computer.
Not the kind of cheese Has brings though. No one from Korea plays like that. He's almost beaten Maru twice in LotV as well (went 3-2 at WeSG, and 2-1-1 at Gyeonggi).
On August 02 2018 01:26 StabiloBoss20 wrote: Has in a dream match?
As exciting as his cheeses are, a dream match should include high quality game play. And thats not what Has stands for.
Dream match = what people want to see. People want to see Has vs top koreans
ye... but why? some cheeses vs top korean are now dream games? srly, i dont get it. anyways... its a hypothetically question, so i guess we dont need to get into it.
Have you watched Has vs. Maru in the IEM Gyeonggi qualifiers?
do you think those were dream games?
They were entertaining as hell and that's all that matters in a spectator sport.
On August 01 2018 23:54 FrostedMiniWheats wrote: After all the heated speculation on how Serral will fare against the Koreans for months now...it'd be hilarious if Kelazhur somehow won and ruined the coolest story of the tournament
Especially given the controversy surrounding how he made it into this tournament
I didn't follow that, what happened with Khelazur?
He was no where near winning the vote (like 1000 behind uthermal and HeroMarine) then a bunch of big figures in the brazilian esports tweeted out telling people to vote for him. He got like 5000 votes in a couple days and ended up winning.
I was happy about it- EU Terrans get all the chances in the world and get stomped in every single WCS Ro8. Uninspired tank push after uninspired tank push. So sick of the meme that EU Protosses and Terrans are better than the other foreigners just because EU has the best foreign Zergs.
On August 01 2018 23:54 FrostedMiniWheats wrote: After all the heated speculation on how Serral will fare against the Koreans for months now...it'd be hilarious if Kelazhur somehow won and ruined the coolest story of the tournament
Especially given the controversy surrounding how he made it into this tournament
I didn't follow that, what happened with Khelazur?
He was no where near winning the vote (like 1000 behind uthermal and HeroMarine) then a bunch of big figures in the brazilian esports tweeted out telling people to vote for him. He got like 5000 votes in a couple days and ended up winning.
I was happy about it- EU Terrans get all the chances in the world and get stomped in every single WCS Ro8. Uninspired tank push after uninspired tank push. So sick of the meme that EU Protosses and Terrans are better than the other foreigners just because EU has the best foreign Zergs.
This makes absolutely no sense. While the WCS Circuit locks out the best players, everyone playing in it operates under the same rules. If the EU Terrans are the ones getting the opportunities in tournament playoffs, it is because they are the ones winning their way there. The players not getting those "chances" are the worse players.
On August 02 2018 01:26 StabiloBoss20 wrote: Has in a dream match?
As exciting as his cheeses are, a dream match should include high quality game play. And thats not what Has stands for.
Dream match = what people want to see. People want to see Has vs top koreans
ye... but why? some cheeses vs top korean are now dream games? srly, i dont get it. anyways... its a hypothetically question, so i guess we dont need to get into it.
Have you watched Has vs. Maru in the IEM Gyeonggi qualifiers?
do you think those were dream games?
They were entertaining as hell and that's all that matters in a spectator sport.
Entertaining? yes, absolutly. so imo, in a dream match his place is in the halftime show. doesnt matter... we will get a lot of great stuff in the next days!
On August 01 2018 10:47 Rodya wrote: Why are Neeb, Serral, and Has in all of your dream matchups? You want to watch them get crushed 4-0 that badly?
There is nobody in the world who is a favorite to beat Serral 4-0. And let me be clear, I am NOT saying that no one is favored to beat Serral in a series. I am saying there is no one, not even Maru, where the most likely outcome is specifically a 4-0.
Maru would not only 4-0 Serral, he would go out of his way to do it in the most humiliating fashion possible (refer: WESG).
Serral's worst MU by far is ZvT. By his own admission he doesn't really know what to do against the really top tier Terrans. Maru's best MU by is his TvZ. A grand total of one Zerg has defeated Maru in a series during all of 2018, and that was peak Rogue with the 3-2 at IEM Katowice.
Some people claim Maru relied on Ghost/Raven to beat Serral at WESG. Those people clearly didn't watch the actual series, because the one game without Ghost/Raven was the most onesided of them all. Serral got torn to pieces in archetypal Maru fashion, not a moment to rest or breathe or recover from the constant attacks. The only thing Ghost/Raven did was help Serral survive longer.
Some people also claim that Serral beat Maru 2-0 during the Katowice qualifiers. This is technically true, but they usually neglect to mention that Maru was playing the infamous KR-EU cross server. Obviously, this means Serral can win–just give Maru a 200 ping handicap.
Serral has great ZvP and good ZvZ. He might even be able to get by some of the Koreans. But against the Korean Terrans? I'd be surprised if Serral managed to take a game off Inno, let alone Maru.
I agree that Maru would win against Serral and it wouldn't be close but I could see serral winning 1-2 games if he came prepared. But it shouldn't be too hard for Maru because Serral has so few experience against good Terran players. Saying Serral could possibly maybe take games of good koreans in ZvP and ZvZ is just stupid tho. The couple times he have had chance to play against koreans he has done well winning against classic, zest, trap, rogue maybe couple more top players that I don't remember. What more can you ask for? He is very solid compared to other foreigners and plays still different than top korean zergs like Dark, soO, Rogue etc so koreans might have hard time adapting to his style.
On August 01 2018 10:47 Rodya wrote: Why are Neeb, Serral, and Has in all of your dream matchups? You want to watch them get crushed 4-0 that badly?
There is nobody in the world who is a favorite to beat Serral 4-0. And let me be clear, I am NOT saying that no one is favored to beat Serral in a series. I am saying there is no one, not even Maru, where the most likely outcome is specifically a 4-0.
Maru would not only 4-0 Serral, he would go out of his way to do it in the most humiliating fashion possible (refer: WESG).
Serral's worst MU by far is ZvT. By his own admission he doesn't really know what to do against the really top tier Terrans. Maru's best MU by is his TvZ. A grand total of one Zerg has defeated Maru in a series during all of 2018, and that was peak Rogue with the 3-2 at IEM Katowice.
Some people claim Maru relied on Ghost/Raven to beat Serral at WESG. Those people clearly didn't watch the actual series, because the one game without Ghost/Raven was the most onesided of them all. Serral got torn to pieces in archetypal Maru fashion, not a moment to rest or breathe or recover from the constant attacks. The only thing Ghost/Raven did was help Serral survive longer.
Some people also claim that Serral beat Maru 2-0 during the Katowice qualifiers. This is technically true, but they usually neglect to mention that Maru was playing the infamous KR-EU cross server. Obviously, this means Serral can win–just give Maru a 200 ping handicap.
Serral has great ZvP and good ZvZ. He might even be able to get by some of the Koreans. But against the Korean Terrans? I'd be surprised if Serral managed to take a game off Inno, let alone Maru.
I agree that Maru would win against Serral and it wouldn't be close but I could see serral winning 1-2 games if he came prepared. But it shouldn't be too hard for Maru because Serral has so few experience against good Terran players. Saying Serral could possibly maybe take games of good koreans in ZvP and ZvZ is just stupid tho. The couple times he have had chance to play against koreans he has done well winning against classic, zest, trap, rogue maybe couple more top players that I don't remember. What more can you ask for? He is very solid compared to other foreigners and plays still different than top korean zergs like Dark, soO, Rogue etc so koreans might have hard time adapting to his style.
If you were to summarize how Serral plays differently from Korean Zergs in a few sentences, what would you say?
Not challenging, just curious as a relative outsider to the scene that primarily only sees Korean games.
On August 01 2018 10:47 Rodya wrote: Why are Neeb, Serral, and Has in all of your dream matchups? You want to watch them get crushed 4-0 that badly?
There is nobody in the world who is a favorite to beat Serral 4-0. And let me be clear, I am NOT saying that no one is favored to beat Serral in a series. I am saying there is no one, not even Maru, where the most likely outcome is specifically a 4-0.
Maru would not only 4-0 Serral, he would go out of his way to do it in the most humiliating fashion possible (refer: WESG).
Serral's worst MU by far is ZvT. By his own admission he doesn't really know what to do against the really top tier Terrans. Maru's best MU by is his TvZ. A grand total of one Zerg has defeated Maru in a series during all of 2018, and that was peak Rogue with the 3-2 at IEM Katowice.
Some people claim Maru relied on Ghost/Raven to beat Serral at WESG. Those people clearly didn't watch the actual series, because the one game without Ghost/Raven was the most onesided of them all. Serral got torn to pieces in archetypal Maru fashion, not a moment to rest or breathe or recover from the constant attacks. The only thing Ghost/Raven did was help Serral survive longer.
Some people also claim that Serral beat Maru 2-0 during the Katowice qualifiers. This is technically true, but they usually neglect to mention that Maru was playing the infamous KR-EU cross server. Obviously, this means Serral can win–just give Maru a 200 ping handicap.
Serral has great ZvP and good ZvZ. He might even be able to get by some of the Koreans. But against the Korean Terrans? I'd be surprised if Serral managed to take a game off Inno, let alone Maru.
I agree that Maru would win against Serral and it wouldn't be close but I could see serral winning 1-2 games if he came prepared. But it shouldn't be too hard for Maru because Serral has so few experience against good Terran players. Saying Serral could possibly maybe take games of good koreans in ZvP and ZvZ is just stupid tho. The couple times he have had chance to play against koreans he has done well winning against classic, zest, trap, rogue maybe couple more top players that I don't remember. What more can you ask for? He is very solid compared to other foreigners and plays still different than top korean zergs like Dark, soO, Rogue etc so koreans might have hard time adapting to his style.
If you were to summarize how Serral plays differently from Korean Zergs in a few sentences, what would you say?
Not challenging, just curious as a relative outsider to the scene that primarily only sees Korean games.
I find this an interesting question.
I think commentators like inControl have been right. He's just a little better than everyone else (in the foreign scene) in most aspects of the game. He almost always scouts your build. He almost never over-drones. He has excellent control and rarely throws away units or throws a lead. He also doesn't drag out the game, he has a killer instinct and knows when to attack and win because he senses his advantage. He multitasks really well too and can bring back a game that is going against him because of it.
I think of him most like a foreign Dark, excepting one thing. Dark has a bunch of very early pressure builds he can often transition out of, and I don't think I've seen Serral do that very often successfully. Serral does have some, let's call them early mid-game pressure builds he busts out, but rarely early game pressure. Serral prefers to go to the late game if the opponent doesn't just throw him an obvious advantage, and it is a bit of a weakness because it makes him a bit predictable. I can see him being studied and getting beaten like Neeb was after KesPa cup, albeit I think Neeb was more vulnerable to being studied and countered.
On August 01 2018 10:47 Rodya wrote: Why are Neeb, Serral, and Has in all of your dream matchups? You want to watch them get crushed 4-0 that badly?
There is nobody in the world who is a favorite to beat Serral 4-0. And let me be clear, I am NOT saying that no one is favored to beat Serral in a series. I am saying there is no one, not even Maru, where the most likely outcome is specifically a 4-0.
Maru would not only 4-0 Serral, he would go out of his way to do it in the most humiliating fashion possible (refer: WESG).
Serral's worst MU by far is ZvT. By his own admission he doesn't really know what to do against the really top tier Terrans. Maru's best MU by is his TvZ. A grand total of one Zerg has defeated Maru in a series during all of 2018, and that was peak Rogue with the 3-2 at IEM Katowice.
Some people claim Maru relied on Ghost/Raven to beat Serral at WESG. Those people clearly didn't watch the actual series, because the one game without Ghost/Raven was the most onesided of them all. Serral got torn to pieces in archetypal Maru fashion, not a moment to rest or breathe or recover from the constant attacks. The only thing Ghost/Raven did was help Serral survive longer.
Some people also claim that Serral beat Maru 2-0 during the Katowice qualifiers. This is technically true, but they usually neglect to mention that Maru was playing the infamous KR-EU cross server. Obviously, this means Serral can win–just give Maru a 200 ping handicap.
Serral has great ZvP and good ZvZ. He might even be able to get by some of the Koreans. But against the Korean Terrans? I'd be surprised if Serral managed to take a game off Inno, let alone Maru.
I agree that Maru would win against Serral and it wouldn't be close but I could see serral winning 1-2 games if he came prepared. But it shouldn't be too hard for Maru because Serral has so few experience against good Terran players. Saying Serral could possibly maybe take games of good koreans in ZvP and ZvZ is just stupid tho. The couple times he have had chance to play against koreans he has done well winning against classic, zest, trap, rogue maybe couple more top players that I don't remember. What more can you ask for? He is very solid compared to other foreigners and plays still different than top korean zergs like Dark, soO, Rogue etc so koreans might have hard time adapting to his style.
If you were to summarize how Serral plays differently from Korean Zergs in a few sentences, what would you say?
Not challenging, just curious as a relative outsider to the scene that primarily only sees Korean games.
I find this an interesting question.
I think commentators like inControl have been right. He's just a little better than everyone else (in the foreign scene) in most aspects of the game. He almost always scouts your build. He almost never over-drones. He has excellent control and rarely throws away units or throws a lead. He also doesn't drag out the game, he has a killer instinct and knows when to attack and win because he senses his advantage. He multitasks really well too and can bring back a game that is going against him because of it.
I think of him most like a foreign Dark, excepting one thing. Dark has a bunch of very early pressure builds he can often transition out of, and I don't think I've seen Serral do that very often successfully. Serral does have some, let's call them early mid-game pressure builds he busts out, but rarely early game pressure. Serral prefers to go to the late game if the opponent doesn't just throw him an obvious advantage, and it is a bit of a weakness because it makes him a bit predictable. I can see him being studied and getting beaten like Neeb was after KesPa cup, albeit I think Neeb was more vulnerable to being studied and countered.
The weirdest thing I've noticed about Serral is that his queens, when attack-moving, actually attack and move immediately rather than pausing a bit before moving. I would say this alone gives him a 20% advantage in ZvT and 15% advantage in ZvP in the early game over your average pro.
I think of him most like a foreign Dark, excepting one thing. Dark has a bunch of very early pressure builds he can often transition out of, and I don't think I've seen Serral do that very often successfully. Serral does have some, let's call them early mid-game pressure builds he busts out, but rarely early game pressure. Serral prefers to go to the late game if the opponent doesn't just throw him an obvious advantage, and it is a bit of a weakness because it makes him a bit predictable. I can see him being studied and getting beaten like Neeb was after KesPa cup, albeit I think Neeb was more vulnerable to being studied and countered.
i think this is a very good comparison, dark also has no problem with lategame, and he certainly can end a game when he feels he is in front (you can replace killer instinct with "morphing aleph0 banelings" in his case ^^). one difference might be, that while dark sometimes plays with his prey (as seen yesterday with neeb), while serral shows the JD-face at the beginning of each match (which also might give him quite some edge over other players)
dark is still the more rounded player in my book, and should the semi happen, this might be one of the more entertaining ZvZs in a while (in addition to the korean vs non-korean thing, which i find more annoying at some times tbh)