Maru's BIGGEST TACTICAL NUKE of the Year! (StarCraft 2)

Best-of-3 series of StarCraft 2 played on the new SC2 balance patch. This match is between Maru (Terran) and Classic (Protoss) and played in the round-of-8 of the GSL Code S season 1 of 2024.
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StarCraft 2 is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed and released by Blizzard Entertainment.
#StarCraft2 #SC2 #RTS
Kijkwijzer (Dutch viewer guide): 6, violence, fear
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[@Phi1618033]

That 13 second delay between the nuke drop and the gg is when Classic was probably seeing his entire life flash before his eyes.

[@liveinamber1307]

"It's at its thickest when it's just about to fire... the widow mine that is." Great! Now Blizzard will have to rename the mine's ability from "sentinel missiles" to "red rocket"...

[@Keln02]

The only thing that can beat battlecruisers on the clickbait scale Nukes.

[@joshuakim5240]

What a lot of people seem to be missing is how ingeniously placed that nuke was. Maru placed it right where an Archon was forming, and the big blue ball covered up the red dot at just the right angle where, without the viewer replay cam, it was almost impossible to spot. In other words, that Archon (or 2 HTs?) was/were (a) traitor(s)!

[@Vintification]

Actually the archons formed several seconds after the nuke was started. So lucky perhaps, but ingenious...

[@solandri69]

PiG replayed the nuke from Classic's POV. Maru launched it while two scans were going on, and the red of the scans helped make the red dot less conspicuous. After the scans ended, there were a few seconds where the dot was visible, but Maru moved his army forward to keep Classic's eyes focused on his army instead of where the red dot was. Then Classic pushed the archon ball over the dot while moving his army around. So a bit of clever timing, clever movement, and some luck.

[@AVAIong]

if you include the self-nuke Maru did, I'm pretty sure he's the only professional who was able to land game ending nuke against all 3 races.

[@DrakeyC]

Classic sitting on 5k resources and no upgrades in progress was painful.

[@FlokiTech]

He is saving his resources for the next game

[@DarknessIsThePath]

@@FlokiTechlmao

[@mikerosoft1009]

18:32 Beautiful lol

[@dt7197]

Video came out 13 min ago. How tf you so far in lol. Y you skippin

[@zachbergmann7916]

Lol "nonononono WAITWAITWAIT WAIT WAIT"

[@Frank_144]

@@zachbergmann7916 Lowko is the Punisher at night alright

[@jex1243]

@@dt7197 to see that beautiful nuke

[@bb-ce7qf]

I remember when my dad sat me down to talk about the widow mines and the bees. He too mentioned that they were thickest right before they shoot their load.

[@leonardol8158]

33:30 I have never seen Lowko so nervous. Lol

[@dralord1307]

Lowko "Its biggest right before it shoots" "It's only 10% bigger" "I didnt think I would notice a 10% improvement, but its noticeable" Hmmm interesting Lowko

[@Naraku-no-Hana-WE]

In the gsl round of 16 one of the players mentioned the round of 8 would be on the new patch. I don't recall who but it was one of the postmatch interviews in either group C or D. Anyhow the players must have already known, although it caught the English casters completely offguard.

[@michaelchateauneuf3297]

It was Hero if I recall correctly

[@Naraku-no-Hana-WE]

@@michaelchateauneuf3297 Yeah I was thinking either him or Cure, you're probably right.

[@Mysterio2243]

Can confirm, her0 was the one. Tasteless said "her0 sounded very sure that they will be playing on the new patch"

[@julonkrutor4649]

Now, lets be honest - we will never forget Solars nukes ^^

[@Random-op5xl]

I sure Solar will be saying to Classic, "Now you know how that feels"

[@xeruexe1624]

I'm sure Classic just doesn't want Solar to be all alone, what a good chap.

[@noahgelman4923]

33:00 No detection but ghosts have EMP

[@salsanacho]

I just loved seeing 80 supply just melt away instantaneously.

[@Intuitivewords]

Lowko please dedicate one of your videos to widow mine nerf, with a title "Widow mines: now their targeting rays are the thickest when they are about to fire!". thank you.

[@pandalover900]

Lowko with the thick line and 10% bigger double combo lol. Great vid as always

[@StrudelerOfTheTSociety]

The ghost stuck the landing! The most direct hit of the year!

[@Snordehartet]

A Marie Kondo reference was not what I was expecting in a Lowko video, but I'm all for it.

[@Mikivericks]

Love you, Lowko. Thank you for the video.

[@whisk5724]

New patch and nukes gone wild? Happy Easter!

[@Phi1618033]

This game gives Solar PTSD.

[@Great_Cambeno]

Solid cast

[@ArchangelJuicy]

Seeing that new widow mine lock-on is massive now

[@canebro1]

That battery overcharge in game was (I think) to give time for upgrades to finish.

[@quarantinezone2844]

It's at its thickest when it's about to fire.

[@Jcarroz]

That 2nd game with the DTs not being used gave me heart burn.

[@omuploii]

The fact that an interference matrix cannot be cast on a unit that is already under it is definitely a buff for Terran. Don't know what lowko is on about

[@arvinjancruz5175]

great game!

[@kommisar.]

Somewhere Solar is smiling.

[@THEFIRE360]

18:38 how many times did you replay this part? yes

[@anthonyrodriguez9820]

Now that's a thumbnail!!!!!!!!!!

[@Foetoid2k6]

I would pay only-fans levels of money to see Classics reaction

[@tphoeng8957]

ngl when I heard biggest nuke in SCII, I instantly assumed Solar to be the victim again

[@rexekim3397]

18:34

[@celestrius9197]

I didn't realize the invisible widow mine was just transferred to the drilling claws upgrade for some reason i was thinking they just made it visible while it's attack was on cool down. While that is s nerf it arguably is s nerf that just makes the upgrade more powerful so honestly thats pretty reasonable everything considered. If they decide the nerf is too severe they can always lower the upgrade time for drilling claws or something like that

[@rulerrobin]

Haven’t watched yet but I’m so excited to see what happens with zerg vs terran considering the widow and infestor changes

[@salime01]

The destruction power of the Nuke is beautiful. Wipe out almost 1/3 of protoss army

[@SilviaSaintGspot]

that nuke felt so satisfying not going to lie

[@staph8022]

the best part 18:45

[@uxerthekus]

Classic, with that amount of money, should've building Batteries to push forward because his air units were falling like crumble cheese. Then the vision is too hard against Terran in battle. Maru is too fast and Oracle aren't. Observers...with Scans it is impossible.

[@MisterMainiac]

You could almost call it "Protomech" :D

[@HaploBartow]

Man, that second game ending was so painful to watch.

[@YoungbloodEric]

The way I thought I was crazy when he said new maps and then said alcyone 😂

[@WeItenspinner]

18:45 Big big Oof.

[@AlinNightwing]

an innuendos drinking game

[@aaronblair9104]

Sorry lowko I saw this one live but soon as I saw it I knew you'd casting it

[@taitonreed254]

Maybe I’m wrong, but the raven change is a buff right? Let’s say there is a carrier and a colossus on top of each other, you cast the spell and the carrier gets matrixed. The change makes it impossible for the second matrix to hit the carrier again. Does it not work like that?

[@Cheshire9k]

At least now Solar can feel better about it.

[@goatfish480]

I still wish theyd nerf the ghoast against the zerg. The fact it counters all the late game zerg units is ridiculous.

[@giacomogotta2253]

I don't think GSL chose to play on the new patch. Don't they just play on whatever version is live on the server? Or do they have the option to play on a previous version?

[@rhyno1393]

Let's Gooo!

[@CriticalRealms]

Glory be the day

[@yeongno4488]

42:32 , I wouldn't say improvement - after all there's a lot to be said for the positioning, not to mention the new staying power it received

[@andreyfrantov1]

Man, those pylons are now OP.

[@Mysterio2243]

Her0 said in his winner interview in the week before that they would be playing the ro4 on the new patch.

[@PoppaCashGG]

at the 42:57 mark, what spell was cast against the medivacs?

[@disinfectedape1808]

High templars can cast feedback, which causes whatever energy a spellcaster has saved up to deal damage against themselves and use up that energy.

[@PoppaCashGG]

@@disinfectedape1808 thanks

[@rickb8423]

kinda reminds me of Startale_Squirtle vs IMMvp - Archon Toilet

[@eugeneponomarov7429]

Maru

[@wanaan]

Why does Brood Lord hits so much harder than Carrier?

[@grahamgaming3]

😮i mean it is true.

[@marcinp3608]

I LOVE how Lowko reacts as WHY U NOT END IT ? seeing whole map :D while this whole game is mid play :/ still nice to see pro going with noob reactions :D

[@DarkTemplar42]

I see big nuke I click

[@pmgrogersanderson9426]

Artosis Pylon

[@Lightwait321]

1:47 *Representative

[@korinokirin4511]

Did Lowko forget that EMP uncloaks dark templar?

[@user-ve9vx1hd3y]

Mostly Tier 1 with the 1 or 2 Tier 2 upgrades vs someone that's almost maxed out in upgrades! = Bad combo

[@g0dlygirl]

that nuke was DISGUSTING oh my god

[@spookyfoxpl]

18:32 - you're welcome

[@martykowal]

as a protoss player , this was frustrating to watch.

[@elgato9o]

sorry, sc2TV made a better coverage of that maru game. his micro control was on point early on

[@TrixterTheFemboy]

Games like these are why I say Protoss performing poorly in tournaments is due to comparatively bad players rather than being underpowered. It was just nonstop misplays and baffling decisions from Classic, it hurts my soul as a Protoss. not that I claim to be anywhere near as good lol, just saying we don't have pros as good as the premier ones the other races do.

[@marshallli3267]

39:24 What am I hearing? Is this still a StarCraft Channel ? Great joke though buddy 🤣🤣🤣

[@AbVoxNihil]

I think colossus need changes, they are not strong enough for the amount of counters they have. You either diminish the effect of those counters or you make them stronger but as it stands they are a barely 'ok' unit. vikings in game number one countered basically half the protoss army, both colossi and flying units, a marine/viking army counters essentially everything protoss has or can do, either out damage or out range.

[@xv9021]

To a nonpro player it seems like protoss would benefit far more from getting reavers back while removing colossus and disruptors. The viking counter is tough

[@joshuakim5240]

Dude have you seen how strong Colossi are at their role? 2-3 of them basically make all light ground units completely impossible to use, hence why they're priority targets for Armored anti-armor units used in tandem with light units. They suck vs non-light units because, quite a while back, it was shown that they completely overstepped above all ground attacking units to the point of all other ground-attack Toss units being irrelevant and never used in favor of just making more Colossi with some anti-air support. They have a role that they excel at, and doesn't overstep the role of other toss units as they are now. And it is a good role because most light units are pretty absurd at cheaply produced high damage output without things keeping them in check.

[@hivetech4903]

The game is not about counters when one player is obviously playing much worse than the other.

[@Raiptor90]

The vikings still over power 😢🤬

[@stjepanjina]

lool

[@monochromaticspider]

Things to take away from this series. Lowko didn't think he'd notice a 10% increase but it really does look bigger. Also, it is at its thickest right when it is about to fire.

[@jcisonutubee]

well, that was anticlimactic

[@andrewwood1364]

Classic just doesn't look good in this series. Hopefully just an off day.

[@eded9157]

Classic realize he was dead already so took the nuke just to lol gg...

[@Malacite]

Classic did NOT deserve to win game 2. Had Maru only seen the 5th base sooner it likely would have changed everything as you said because the Doom Drop likely would have been cancelled or diverted. Bro was playing with 🔥 this entire series and it eventually caught up with him.

[@badinperson6539]

Lowko is it possible that u cast a whole Tournament ? I rly only watch sc2 because of you and i would Love too See a result of a Tournament and the Journey of the Winner with your excellent Casting with less spoilers in the Thumbnail

[@MisuMiso-ul1ij]

Think line '-'

[@Candle45]

Early upload

[@lazuardikabut]

Nuke is now copyrighted by Maru

[@Paveway-chan]

About the first game I also think Classic's dogged insistence on building carriers and colossi, when all they were doing is going forward and getting ripped apart by mass viking, was a huge mistake. Invest that economy into more tempests and ground army and (disregarding the nuke...) I think it'd have gone a lot better. Seems like inflexibility in his decisionmaking there

[@anthonyp3452]

Spoiler Shield! Like this comment to make sure others aren’t spoiled by the top comment!

[@DENIS_Biomech]

It's all good. The correct race won 🏆 😂🎉

[@marshallli3267]

NUKE NUKE NUKE 🤪🤣🙈

[@MadMan-7978]

You’re actually so cool for this man

[@akiyamach]

You're the chat's version of a shield battery. (thanks!)

[@nicholasapicella5764]

Unfortunately the top few comments are cycled automatically now so a valiant but futile effort

[@goatmeal5241]

I'm sorry but why are almost all the top Protoss players so unpolished? It really hurts to watch, to see Zerg and Terran players so optimized and getting nerfs and the Protoss players all derping around so hard with basic mistakes asking for buffs until they win tournaments. Not MaxPax off the top of my head, I guess, but basically all the others. We need Reynor's Protoss to come back and shake them out of their torpor by showing them how strong the race actually is before they get more buffs. They're like a kid asking for dessert before they've finished their vegetables.

[@JavierMartinez-oe3qk]

😶‍🌫️

[@thewischmoop5513]

First

[@artemirrlazaris7406]

So the main problem here is, classic main army should be doing what its doing, but he also needs space for zealot run-bys and dark templar, he never has any means ot pus hthe army back. The cost per unit isn't working for him. So if your only playing protoss, you should make yourself a chart to look at during matchup quickly for allowing yourself to think faster with data, so How many tempest sshots to one shot a viking this way you can always double snipe a couple with more psi storms the trade is bad current. Collusus terrible his bio ball is so small, so swapping out to a cheaper stalker only swap out, since viings do trade better but stalkers can out run viking mobs easily and hte bio ball is pretty smal lwith no tanks. SO air isn't really a great choice. Disruptors are actually a better choice then the air, or 5-10 immortals would be better. THis woudl be before the bio ghost call. WOuld increasing the supply cost of ghosts nerf them a bit more I htink so ocnsidering how powerful it is against protoss and even zerg/ snipes. tz isn't a problem. I never saw a coutner attack made by classic, and his army is far to clumped up. More control groups. and definately a harder attack. He as minerals ahead, so he could of aggresively pushed and hten spent all the minerals with a zealot endeavour and ousted the terran, but its nevera good diea to defend in suc haway taht you are not atleast putting apm damage to hte palyer itself by attacking them, since maru seems pretty casual about the push and has relatively freetiem to do whateve,r again this is hte problem with protoss is the unit composition to cost ratio to attack, is not well balanced. Nuke was cool, but seeing the tiny red dot, is realyl hard. I think if your detector picks up dot, location, an icon is put on the mini map... SO nukes red dot is always visible, but then if its seen its broadcasted, regardless nukes are silly, dsiruptor ball would of worked better, or immortals... meh hte Tp fights are jsut so... oneside often unelss there is a really fatal mistake luck or skill issue. Much of hte means for protoss to relate coutner skills don't exist and the early protoss units are all pretty muc hcoutnered timing wise by terran. Protoss could use a few more types of units. Such as a flying gateway unit could be interesting so you have an option to warp in, a light craft, that does bonus to massive , or allow the building of interceptors, without hte carrier tehy act as a defense, I don't funny though... Girafe is basically a nerfed ground unit in conception as its asset of wlaking around over everythign also leans towards being shot be everything.. and its power level is not that great.. If it had elevation range benefits and splash benefits, IE attacking from a higher elevation increases range by 3 and laser splash, 2 units would be cool. Immortals in the long run are abetter investment simply because air untis cannot attack it making it invunerable to it, or a air unit is invunerable to marauders.. lol... / reapers... the girafe lacks that so in teh design of the girafe it needssomethign but hten it lacks spead and dones't have collision movement but gets confused with buildings... it needs a re work to its cost... It could be alot cheaper considering what it does.. lol or a give it an air attack, but meh... the other problem is protoss lacks units that shott up... Adepts could be modified to shoot up.. sentries shoot air but incredibly weak unit. Sentries have their own problems.. templars given an attack, created control problems for classic protoss players, but a larger range for templars so they hang out in teh back would help. so the overall protoss army composition and how it fits together jsut doesn't work, it works against logic and order. meaning that he way the units auto sort themselves cripples it compared to Zerg, ling as fodder and in mass correctly protect hierarchy of z, as with terran it operates simliarly.. where protoss, teh ranges and spell skill uses create often a depery army that you coudl say is much harder otcontorl, without groups and the units are typically slower and less responsive, so meh... but often its a skill issue ofpressure ot create moments of advantage. disruptors two shot turrets, so having two disruptors sniping buildings is free, if yo udon't lose it wit ha prism every cool down you can be wasting those buildings, and doing the check in, but hte vikings maybe jsut a soft retreat as aprism would probably be destroyed. I think once the viking count is x/y and you have bulk air, going heavier ground would be really effective in this situation as vikings are.. okayish... the overall units of terran are just better to teh over all untis of protoss. and zerg... is of its own nature and shouldn't ever lose... zerg skill is apm andcoutner control effectively... terran is well yeah.

[@GabaGhoul0]

TLDR; tempest and rupter supply costs too high. revert the immortal nerf. remove phoenix bonus vs light so they trade better into vikings (or nerf viking range)

[@jonathonspears7736]

Not a very good showing from Classic on this one. A lot of mistakes.

[@matthiasvancauteren3107]

why would you ever go skytoss vs terran. 14 vikings just shuts down your entire army with ease

[@Leagon1]

What is this match???? This feels like an American wrestling match of WWE. Paid actors acting like they are beating each other up!

[@medejae]

terran too OP and has too many options against Zerg and Protoss. complete cheat race at pro level. I'm a T player myself where P is too strong at casual levels

[@malekiththeeternityking5433]

Classic couldn't beat Maru yesterday, Terran still too strong Nerf Viking to 4 damage per shot

[@Big5ocks]

We now know: blizzard like em thicc!

[@Jimmyni-kk4em]

Toss lost again. Big shocker

[@amadeusczernymolinareyes932]

18:46