herO vs. Maru - ESL SC2 Masters: Winter 2023 Finals - Knockout Stage

You're watching the ESL SC2 Masters: Winter 2023 Finals, broadcasting live from Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
The world's best StarCraft 2 players have gathered at DreamHack Atlanta to compete for a prize pool of $75,000 and the final international title of the year. We are halfway through the ESL Pro Tour 2023/2024 season, with two more stops after Atlanta: one in Katowice, Poland, and another in Dallas, Texas, USA later next year. The entire year of competition will culminate in the coming summer at the yet-to-be-revealed EPT World Championship event.
Tune in to watch the ESL SC2 Masters: Winter 2023 Finals from December 15-17!
ESL SC2 Pro Tour website:
pro.eslgaming....
Watch full VODs here:
/ eslarchives
Join in the discussion:
/ eslsc2
/ esl.sc2
Get your merch here:
shop.eslgaming...
#SC2 #ESL #EPT

[@tahmidt]

Holy fuck what a game this was! Had my heart rate through the stratosphere!

[@jurisligeris9989]

"..its nerve-racking for both players.." Maru looks like he's just about to fall asleep - for whole game.

[@user-ft7np6rb3r]

to build archons, when ghosts on the map: what a champion-move! 🤯

[@luckerooni1153]

what is this weird brass and drum version of O Come All Ye Faithful on a SC2 intro lmfao

[@juaneloal]

Maru looks very tired, without motivation.

[@menyaZavootMuzzy]

The worker pulls were too much, and I think the wrong move to make. If you worker pull, you better be ready to finish the game.

[@tigera6]

As a Maru fanboy myself, he looked very unprepared and rusty throughout this tournament, just like this game 5. Like his game sense and setup of the army are all quacked, losing a medivac full of units for nothing while he can just sacrifice them for more damage, losing that 3rd CC for free, and suddenly pulling workers to fight when he can buy more time, all of those things cost him the match. I am not sure how much he practice or study for this tournament but his game was slow, and his timing was off a lot of time. I really hope his team knows what going and fix it before IEM coming.

[@kng1122]

Jet lag maybe

[@tigera6]

@@kng1122 He didnt look this bad in Valencia and Atlanta last year, and he also did well in Katowice, so I dont buy the jetlag excuse. Coupled with how bad he looked in GSL recently with some other online tournament, its not entirely about jetlag. I really want to listen to him explaining this in an interview.

[@mEtil5656]

Yeah definitely didnt look like the maru we know. But i mean still he has dominated for like 5-10 years at this point, even if he would start to regress now its crazy what he has done in his career

[@mEtil5656]

​@kng1122 nah doubt it. Everyone but maybe the americans had to deal with jetlag and that didnt stop them from playing really well

[@tigera6]

@@mEtil5656 I dont think he has regressed as a whole, like this is his new norm, but rather hes just on a slump or he hasnt been practiced much. His macro game is still great, and his execution is still top-notch. But some of his decision are very questionable which indicate how he hasnt practiced or play the game for a long time.

[@Charlesdeluca]

terran bio is so op

[@attractivegd9531]

Remind me why they nerfed terran on the last patch?

[@2JoeStudios]

they didn't?

[@ZC.Andrew]

They nerfed the ghost. That's all.

[@PhlegmMaster]

AIM HIGH

[@user-xb4uw4nt3k]

Maru is getting much weaker than before

[@Ilokron16]

Мару уже не тот что раньше

[@Jaguar-lr7jq]

He is still the same actually maru is better than ever

[@00x0xx]

I agree. Maru is making way too many mistakes.