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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/LeftNeck9994 on 2024-06-05 19:34:01+00:00.

After 50 patches buffing protoss, Toss is now 99% of the GM ladder, with only two terran players (Clem and Upatree) and zero zergs. Serral however continues to dominate, winning every single tournament despite the fact that banelings have been removed from the game and broodlings now have a duration of .002 milliseconds. Upset with Serral's tournament domination, the protoss and terran players constantly demand more zerg nerfs.

One hopeful zerg player, Reynor's son inspired by his father's stories of the good old days, attempts to get GM. After months of arduous training, he plays against Upatree, who is currently ranked number two on the GM ladder, and manages to win the first game. The second game is a nail-biter, with Reynor's son narrowly avoiding a bunker rush by making efficient use of overlords and queens. In the end, he emerges victorious with a final score of 2-0. GM now has all three races again. David Kim who has secretly been controlling the balance council all along, smiles and says "Finally. Perfect balance, achieved."

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/flyingad on 2024-06-05 18:37:34+00:00.

Oliveira checked in SCboy stream and talked a bit about his Dallas run. Generally, he's quite happy about his performance and hopes to keep it to EWC.

On the close game lost to Serral.

• Oli thinks the last game was very very close, but 1 or 2 small details cost his win, mainly the banshee position, and 2 medivacs position. Also, Oli thinks he was also close to winning game 1, but Serral was just one edge better in those decisive moments.
• Serral and Oli have been practicing a lot together, and Oli basically is Serral's only good ZvT practice partner. Other European T don't want to practice too much with Serral, and the Korean T tend not to practice with high ping. So Oli is almost the only good option.
• Oli learned a lot from these intense practices, specifically his macro. There are so many details in his macro to maximize the 8rax and defence, some can be as detailed as one specific SCV position. He believes his TvZ macro is the best in the world at this moment.
• Serral also improved a lot in these practices. They have been pushing each other's limits.

On the final, why did Maru lose so quickly

• Maru can't find any Korean Zerg practice partner that is close enough to Serral (in style or/and in competence)
• Maru's specific tactics in the final didn't challenge Serral at all, because Serral almost never fell into any cheese or specific tactic as he is so good at scouting and early-stage defending. Oli believes that the only way to beat Serral is hardcore macro and direct on-your-face push
• Maru's macro needs to be revisited
• Maru seemed very beaten up after the final, probably more than the Katowice lost.

On Oli's TvP improvement and TvZ with Reynor

• Although Oli did buy Maru KFC, it turns out Maru didn't teach Oli specific TvP tactics but more on mentality, that is Oli shouldn't think too much about counter strategy verses Protoss, but focus on his own macro and timing push, which actually helped.
• Maru has been practicing TvT with Oli.
• In Dallas, Nice helped Oli prepare TvP, and turned out to be very important.
• Oli thought the game with Reynor was actually quite straightforward, and he was very confident through the whole game, and thought he shouldn't have lost game 2.

About balance

• No plan for a new patch or map pool update before EWC
• There are some pro Terran players who complained to the balance team on the widow-mine nerf from the last patch but got hard push-back. The balance team said it will not get reversed, and even half-jokingly warned that the more they complain, the more nerf on widow-mine will come
• Protoss pro players are generally OK with the current patch despite only 1 in the top 8. No complaints there.
• Some Zerg discussion, but when Serral was asked about the Zerg balance, Serral said he never cared about any balance issues...

Gossips

• Preparing Dallas, Oli thought he and Serral were probably one of a few practice partners that really practiced to the most and tried to push each other's limits. Some didn't practice too much because of injury (Maru's shoulder was mentioned), and some seemed a bit lost focus and discipline.
• Oli really admires the naturally talented players like Serral, Reynor, Clem and Maru, who seems don't need much effort to achieve a very high level. He can only improve through a massive amount of practice, like hundreds of games to solve one issue. Therefore rather than a talent type, he is more of a work-hard type, AKA a normal man.
• Scarlet will come and stay in China for a year, just for life experience, and already started learning Chinese.
• Serral has about 140 days left for his military duty, but he only needs to go to the camp from Monday to Thursday, therefore can still keep enough time for practice. Serral doesn't need too much practice time anyway.
• Oli said players often have their own preparation routine before getting on stage, e.g. he likes to drink some hot water/tea before the game. But Serral is an exception, as he seems to need no preparation and is always ready.
• Oli needs sort out his health problem as first priority, starting with removing all 4 impacted wisdom teeth. And he is very scared of the pain...

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/relaaax on 2024-06-04 01:53:02+00:00.

Apparently they play this too growing up in Italy lol

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/ordin22 on 2024-06-04 13:31:11+00:00.

I've seen a lot of people pointing out just how amazing his patience was. It certainly was. Getting pushed HARD in game 5 and still waiting til just the right time to attack. One thing I haven't heard as much (although maybe I missed it), was the pack of lings he sent to cut off reinforcements streaming from Oli's base.

I am pretty sure this is what made all the difference in this game. It starts at about 930 in game 5 when Oli sieges up and spreads for the best engagement. As that's happening Serral send a pack of lings to catch the reinforcements. I am not certain on the exact #s, but I was watching the replay and I think he caught about 13 marines, 3 marauders and got a tank to very red. If all those reinforcements make it to the other side of the map, I'm not sure Serral can hold the attack and the series goes to Oli.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/Kalel_Clark on 2024-06-04 08:35:39+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/DereinzigWAHREJulian on 2024-06-04 07:32:19+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/Striped0 on 2024-06-04 14:14:11+00:00.

I've been following the SC2 scene on and off since 2010 and have recently picked it back up again. DH Dallas was excellent and it's kind of rekindled my intrigue in the competitive scene.

I was watching some of the ESL Open Cup on Twitch last night but didn't get to catch the whole tournament. I looked at the bracket this morning to see MaxPax absolutely dominating. The man dropped a single map in the whole bracket, and 3-0'd a recent GSL Champion (Solar). This is probably not breaking news for most of you, but I'm a bit taken back by it.

How good is this guy actually? Would he be as competitive in these Premier tournaments as he is in these weeklies? Protoss' long-standing struggles in the competitive scene makes MaxPax's situation that much more interesting. From the outside looking in, he seems like one of the best in the world.

As a lifelong Zerg player, I would love to see how he stacks up in these larger tournaments and potentially inject life into Protoss' competitive aspirations.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/Caemae on 2024-06-04 08:28:19+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/Careless-Goat-3130 on 2024-06-04 04:32:56+00:00.

For giving us the semifinal which could very well be better than the final itself.

Also, he is one of the reasons why we have world team league, master coliseum, kungfu cups and stars war. Many Chinese companies came in and sponsored a lot of tournaments and the Chinese SC2 fans donated a lot to scboy (Chinese equivalent of Wardi) after he won Katowice.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/LeftNeck9994 on 2024-06-04 02:57:32+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/Hustle767 on 2024-06-04 00:35:29+00:00.

In my opinion this was the best series in the tournament, the last map was insane !

3-2 against serral is insane considering serral's other matchup results.

Any other thoughts or opinions of their favorite series?

Scarlett vs Astrea was pretty good (sad she threw the 2-0 lead but it happens)

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/CombatConrad on 2024-06-03 02:38:56+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/Careless-Goat-3130 on 2024-06-03 19:22:03+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/DTubbs1017 on 2024-06-03 17:26:11+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/Exceed_SC2 on 2024-06-03 01:57:33+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/DeadWombats on 2024-06-03 19:31:02+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/LeftNeck9994 on 2024-06-03 00:52:53+00:00.

Serral's not actually in the military shooting guns. He's in a super secret hyperbolic time chamber where he is given medication to grow his brain and allow the best training in the universe

Korea and US government better step their shit up

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/himmelfried11 on 2024-06-03 15:16:18+00:00.

I'm still kind of in shock about yesterday's grand finals: How is this even possible? Yes, we all know that Serral is really good, maybe really better than any other pro. But how can it be that he stomps the second best player in such a manner? It wasn't just a clear win, it was - for the second time - a brutal, ridiculous, devastating stomp. Like someone in masters against a platinum player, as if there were several leagues between the two. But this doesn't add up with other matches of both players: Oliviera was kind of close to ebating Serral, Maru beat Dark (!) 3-1 in the semifinals - what is the specific asymmetry in Serral vs Maru?

I have some hypothesis and am very interested in your takes:

1. Maru does not prepare for Serral: He doesn't play him often, does not train against him, is used to other zerg strats and for some reason does not specifically prepare for Serral. But why?? Any info on that?

2. Serral reads Maru so much better than the other way round, manoeuvring him into desperate / impossible situations with perfect counter play - yet, yesterday Maru didn't even clearly fail with some super special strats: he simply got stomped every game as if his macro was three leagues worse than Serral - how??

3. Trauma / Serral-specific PTSD on the side of Maru

Maybe Serral is Maru's nemesis, gives him nightmares and tilts him in a offline grand finals in such a way that Maru simply cannot play at his true level anymore. After all, he was the GOAT and then came Serral and took it from him. I think this is pretty plausible, especially after the katowice stomp. But still: how can you be as good as Maru, consistently win tournaments, not get tilted under high pressure, but completely implode against one specific opponent / style? I really can't wrap my head around it.

Please share your thoughts and insights.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/flyingad on 2024-06-03 12:51:48+00:00.

My boy Oli hyped again! When he pushed Serral to the limit, I have in my head the badass Batman vs Superman scene: "tell me, do you bleed? you will."

But actually, he came to Dallas in a very bad shape.

TvP had been OIi's big problem since the new patch, and in his own words, the new patch, especially the widowmine nerf, made many of Terran's early-stage strategies no longer work. Protoss can much more easily pass its most vulnerable stage of the game, and quickly get into Colosus, mass Stalker/Zealots, or even Carriers.

In the ESL spring Asia quali, Oli to his first time lost 2 games in Swiss round to 2 semi-pro Protoss, Lemon and Nanami. That was how bad his shape was. And later in his homerun in China, the Starwar, he lost to Skillous 0-3 straight. And that was a huge blow.

But things started to turn. Insider said that, during Starwar which later Maru won the championship, Oli took Maru to Kentucky fried chicken and bought him a simple dinner, then Maru taught Oli some ideas on how to TvP. And immidiately in Dallas, Oli beat Classic and Stats, two very in-shape top Protoss. Oli and Maru are now called KFC buddies in Chinese SC2 scene. Maybe this time Oli can inspire Maru one thing or two on how to play with Serral? They are actually getting along pretty well in recent months, which is fantastic to see.

Another thing was that Oli has also been in pretty bad physical shape recently. Rumor says that because Oli has been practicing so much every single day, the only proper rest he gets is when he goes to the hospital and is ordered by a doctor.

We all know how he genuienly passionate about the game, and in his recent press interview, he said how he wants to prove to himself again, that he is not "the weakest world champion". Which his not, and if anything, he's among the strongest at least mentally.

He now has been diagnosed with periodontitis, gastroenteritis, high intraocular pressure, and a mild cervical vertebra dislocation pressing back nerves. His first thing to do when back from Dallas is probably go to the hospital again. Not saying he could have beaten Serral without these issues, but to get some good rest in June would be his best way to prepare for the EWC.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/falcaonpunch on 2024-06-03 13:10:29+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/Bennito_bh on 2024-06-02 22:34:37+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/atriden_ on 2024-06-02 18:31:33+00:00.

I have no idea who to tell this to, so I felt like making a post here.

I played WoL a long time ago when the game came out, then I stopped gaming and now I finally shelled out for a better computer and thought what the hell, I love SC. So I played through the original campaign, Broodwars and then on to SC2.

Amazing story, but then I got reeaaaaaaally caught up in getting a 100% after three consecutive playthroughs of Wings of Liberty.

Yeah, you read that right. I played the first time just to get through it, mix of hard/brutal, then another one purely brutal (getting all the tech achievements) and then one final one on normal (and holy shit was that too easy).

A few words on a couple of achievements:

1. Lost Vikings, Gold. 500,000 points. Goooooddamn did I have to play that a lot. My advice is USE the bombs to get immunity and focus on surviving, you'll get the points eventually. Embrace the suck.

I was about to give up on this achievement, settle for 99% for now and go on to play Heart of the Swarm, but I mean ... As soon as the opening cinematic started, I felt how immensely unsatisfying it was to proceed, and thus, channeling my inner Asian parent ("why only 99%, idiot son? why not 100%????? you disappoint me"), I embraced the aforementioned suck and just doubled down and finally made it and that was just like 15 minutes ago.

1. All-in and In Utter Darkness: My favourite missions. Totally bananas on the higher difficulties. Also pretty proud I finished All-In with air WITHOUT using hive mind cheese.
2. Devil's Playground is the worst and most boring mission.
3. Coolest units in the campaign are Marauders, Reapers and Tychus Findlay.

Anyways, say what you will about Blizzard, but they really made a great game.

Also, I had A LOT of help from this post and deciding on upgrades.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/Alex007SC2 on 2024-06-02 22:29:13+00:00.

Hi Reddit,

ESL SC2 Masters Spring Finals have just wrapped up here at DreamHack Dallas - this was one of the smoothest event we've had in the ESL Pro Tour history and we hope you really enjoyed it!

On behalf of our StarCraft II team I would like to thank you guys - everyone who joined us at DreamHack Dallas and online - for being such an amazing and passionate community, it's been a pleasure bringing these events for the SC2 fans around the world.

As always, we will greatly appreciate you sharing thoughts about the broadcast and the event in general via this Reddit thread, social media and via our good-old feedback form. It might take up to 10-15 minutes to fill it out completely, but you are also more than welcome to just spend a minute on the first few pages and drop the rest.

FEEDBACK FORM LINK

Join us for the EPT World Championship happening later this year at the Esports World Cup 2024 - book some time off on August 14th - 18th to see to next StarCraft II World Champion being crowned in Riyadh!

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/Stellewind on 2024-06-02 23:04:46+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/starcraft by /u/Careless-Goat-3130 on 2024-06-02 22:12:34+00:00.

Like losing 4-0 to Serral twice is truly difficult to defend. Maru really needs to win a Esport world cup to be a GOAT contender again. The argument that zerg is better in the weekend tournaments just simply does not hold any water when Maru defeated Dark handily and Oliveira gave Serral the fight of his life in the last game.

Serral is the undisputed GOAT. You are entitled to your own opinion but you are not entitled to your own fact. And I am saying as a massive Terran fan boy.