SC2 - Serral vs Maru - IEM Katowice 2022 - Quarterfinals

[@balazsfejes8817]

Game 4 was one of the most flawless zerg game against a terran (and this case the terran was Maru) I've ever seen, Serral is a monster.

[@magnuskrybet9131]

In the last game, how can you play defensively against banelings as Terran without widow mines.... Maru has 2/3 tank line against vipers, banes and lings and thats it. He just rushed to Ghosts nevermind whatever Serral is doing. What are Ghosts going to do in defense against banelings?

[@mbran031]

Serral is the hands-down most un-cheesable player in SC2. It's to the point where he explains and critiques the cheesers in his streams, showing he knows their plan better than they do.

[@rilindgashi8393]

I dont know man, always when i think that someone cheeses him out like Rouge not long time ago in a best of 7 in less than 30min but thats the charm of this game. It can goes in each way but i think Serral is the best SC2 player. Maru always underperform in offline tournaments.

[@amo9979]

Zvz is unlike the other matchups. Its similar to pre-core/battery PvP in that you have so little defensive advantage in the early game but larva also means you can hit a timing at just about any point in time. (not just after warpgate) Rouge will even hit super late timings that make little sense in GSL just because he knows they wont be expected. Sure anyone can get cheesed in ZvZ but Serral is clearly the least cheese-able of anyone if you look at his record.

[@songpark1150]

that's because zerg is the most optimized one as defensive race

[@Handle35667]

too bad he can't win a mirror match-up. so i think what you mean to say is zerg are imbalanced. serral himself is just an above average player and below average in the mirror match

[@thesoundofsilence77]

@@Handle35667 he literally won the finals in a ZvZ matchup lmfao. no brain comment

[@louel9272]

That last game Serral was like Amon's zerg forces and Maru was like the final Protoss survivors in the In Utter Darkness campaign

[@Zamiroh]

That creep spread on the last map was insane!!!

[@benwasden8107]

I never understand why the Terran Players don't fake moving out and go back in there to eliminate the creep that Serral instantly re-drops? As the Queen's re-spreading the creep would be lower on energy having just done that??? I do believe if you can eliminate Serral's creep you can eliminate Serral and that's why he really stays on top of his creep spread.

[@Zamiroh]

@@benwasden8107 I agree getting rid of creep should be a big priority... however serral is too quick. He will keep reapplying and the tumors are only 25 energy. It's why top zergs have a high number of queens. Plus unharassed the zerg is free to drone up to whatever they want plus have frequent run buys with Ling bans etc.

[@Qladstone]

It took 12 years to get to this point!

[@SadFace201]

@@Zamiroh That's why Ben Wasden was talking about fake backing. Serral seems to consistently reapply tumors after Terrans are backing out from a scan; if the Terran just moves forward, they will catch all the queens trying to put tumors back down. This would significantly delay creep spread since the Zerg would need to rebuild them.

[@Xgourouneitor]

@@benwasden8107 trading helions for tumors is not a good trade.

[@ZC.Andrew]

Game 3 was LIT: one of the best TvZ's i've seen in a long time. WP both players. Serral is on fire.

[@RoboticDragon]

Its really amazing how everybody is so fast, and so smart with builds and counters and know exactly what is seemingly happening at every step, even several steps down the road, game two was a great example of that.

[@willorwell]

Serral is OP.

[@JM-rl6bq]

That creep spread is wild in game 4.

[@parduskotiya]

I'd like to say how good the game observer was here. They kept up with the action smoothly and promptly but what I noticed was their reaction to the commentators. The commentators would talk about the amount of Thors and a second later the unit tab would pop up, dead drones and a few seconds later the income advantage graph, etc.

[@andrewroyle2847]

20:57 The way is open, Zombie! THE WAY IS OPEN THE WAY IS OPEN! XD I love that line.

[@zuruckancarlyle6197]

When Serral v Maru things seem go easy, no one else can do it like Serral.

[@user-ry3um7ti6p]

the only zerg requirement to win is just not to suck too much. toss or terran must be like 10 times better then zerg player skill wise since HOTS after all other races got nerfed by retarded blizz

[@mikelpetierre2004]

Win when it matters. Serral still the GOAT!

[@user-ry3um7ti6p]

he never was and never will be. hes just a patchzerg playing with easiest race

[@ebenaceto9497]

15:37 might be the first time I've ever seen Serral smile after winning a game

[@NoNoGoDie]

Serral and Maru are the GOAT of SC2! They will trow win and lost when they fight, but when thouse two are on the map, dosent metter who win !

[@neverbeenthere2906]

My goddnes that commentary is legendary. God bless You, one continous multiorgasm throughout the whole champ. Outstanding.

[@mortiss6]

Ghost are op as fuck...

[@ditch_magnet]

they really are nuts at the top level, they beat everything maru and clem make it look way easier than it really is, though, and it's balanced against terran needing to invest a lot to get them out and zerg having an easier time running over the map if terran doesn't contain them. It's like the casters said, at the top level, if clem or maru get to lategame and get ghosts out in any number with proper support behind them, the top level zergs just can't break them.

[@pahis1248]

What does this three dots mean? kappa or XD or xD or ...

[@atrudokht]

nah, terran's spell casters aren't as good as zerg's

[@N0noy1989]

So many people thinking Zerg is op because of the baneling flood. Not anyone can do that vs Maru. Reynor can't. Rogue can't. Dark can't. The three other zerg gods are bodied by Maru. And when Serral plays, it's not the skill but the A-move? You people talking A-move with the most APM intensive race? You're not going to A-move anything if you can't make the economy for it. See Serral's defense. You see any drone dying? Compare that to other top zergs early game. Don't make dumb comments, people. You're saying zerg is OP when it's the strongest player using it? The hell? Comment on a TvZ where players are of equal skill if you want to make a justifiable balance complaint.

[@teddanville6996]

if Maru is not of equal skill with Serral then you're being too bias for Serral. Maru has been dominating the international scene for the pass 4 months. His head to head vs Serral is basically equal, if not ahead. Point is, lings and banes are too good of a unit vs bio, and Zerg is just too advantagous vs Terran anyway. I've seen Zerg can defend with lower army supply and behind in upgrade (see Reynor vs Heromarine 3rd game where Heromarine is 2-0 ahead), since baneling is a very efficient unit against Terran as a whole, and Queens are just too good of a unit. Now back to the baneling flood in the last game. I don't see how that attack is micro intensive, and i don't see how Maru can defend against it at all, unless he has like 7,8 tanks in a concave ready to blow up all of those lings moving in, or Serral walk into 4-5 widow mines. Even if Maru did have 7 tanks there, Serral can just rotate to another position to attack, and tanks cannot move as quickly. Yes, Serral has a bigger economy, but the army supply of him and Maru is basically the same at that point, so why is it that he ran over Maru so easily? Because lings and banes are too good.

[@brnpeter6]

ok putin

[@st9148]

nahhh dude fuk off there is nothing TERRAN can do against queens... look at game 4... zerg is imba... queens are too strong, creep tumors are free... banelings are too fast

[@Natsukashy]

What are you talking about? Maru loses quite often to the top zergs in the dumbest possible way's. Samples? Watch Maru vs Dark in WTL not long ago. Dark nydused outside of marus base with queens and mass roach completly destroying him and even wanting to build a manner hatch in Marus natural. Games where Maru was pressuring the whole game and was far ahead and then loosing because ONE nydus pops off in the main base and 10 invisible high dps siege units are on top of his production. Games where Rogue in a finals just playing roach all ins again and again. And we are talking about Maru not the other "top" terrans which accomplished nothing in the last years (except TY). I don't want to complain about balance. I think the races are in a quite balanced state. You can argue if its easier for zerg to win if they get ahead (because you can deny enemies mining with blowing up pf's again and again or just take the whole map) but maybe its fine. But In my opinion the map pool is heavily zerg favored and serral cheesed on the only terran favored map (blackburn). Pride of Altaris is a joke especially.

[@JC-gj9fc]

"Don't make dumb comments, people." Take some of your own advice. No one respects your analysis same as anyone else's. If you aren't a SC2 pro you aren't qualified to talk.

[@jdubs604]

Wow I had Maru going in as a favorite. Serral deserved it though, he took risks and got paid. Congratz!

[@Qladstone]

When I see a zerg caring so much about creep spread, the zerg deserves to win.

[@prestonparra5875]

Damn zombie grub's casting has become top tier. Wp.

[@supayota7265]

Power Overwhelming - Serral

[@goteborg7744]

PiG's casting is great! Funny how his language completely changed compared to the games he casts on his own channel. Suddenly, brood lords don't 'drop their babies' anymore x)

[@benwasden8107]

He called Serral a Finnish freak which raised my eyebrow! But I think it was meant as a compliment to his skill level ha! I don't remember hearing PiG and ZombieGrub casting together before, but the level of energy and passion they both have for the game casting this match up, it was a good watch.

[@goteborg7744]

@@benwasden8107 I think the first time I heard of Zombiegrub was actually from PiGs channel, so I'm sure that they were already familiar with each other. And yeah, that might have been the "worst" language he used during the whole cast

[@samuelkim3730]

Godrral I love his play

[@dgasg4304]

well serral and raynar surely poking the beasts of sc2, but for how long?

[@teddanville6996]

doesn't matter how long, as long as they went god mode during the most important tournament of the year.

[@chetbiggumz5947]

Lol don’t you remember the year where serral didn’t drop a map??

[@dgasg4304]

@@chetbiggumz5947 oh yeah i almost forgot 2018 right?

[@tungnse]

there's too much fanboyism in this comment so I'll input my own, but it bases on fact: not long, just also took the world championship after a few days, yeah beasts. This is what I call "Maru's choking", he did well in other tourneys and then failed when it matters the most.

[@AlexRamos-ep8zz]

@@tungnse He failed against Serral. That's understandable.

[@Qichar]

My prayers for Maru vs. Serral were answered. I have no requests of the StarCraft II powers-that-be.

[@ZillaTheTegu]

This might be a dumb question, but why do Terrans build Planetary Fortresses against Zerg? Wouldnt a Command Center be better. For when a million Banelings come attack, you just lift off the CC so it cant be blown up.

[@hoorash]

Then zerglings will come attack you instead of banelings. Fortress is the only way to keep you from getting harrassed by few zerglings. And it also forces zerg to waste banelings which is very cost efficient for terran.

[@tambaz2276]

blowing up a PF with banelings is expensive, killing a mineral line with zerglings is cheap. Also, if you take a fight near that base then the PF is a huge help with its HP, armor and splash damage

[@jamespressman1202]

Maru choking in Lan playoffs but well done getting there. Hahaha

[@oluckyasian24]

Art of survival - Serral final edition v.5 (original)

[@AdmiralBison]

That creep spread in game 4 was just disgusting, it's right at his door step. Maru is like what the hell?! 😋

[@ricefield2596]

43:59 LOOOOOOOLLL

[@Gol_D_Rog3r]

Maybe I should make some more banelings

[@DerAleksey]

Настоящий блокбастер! Мощнейшее противоборствие в третьей катке, атака - защита! Но дальше Serral включает вторую на 97 рабочих.

[@Natsukashy]

01:02:40 - "All it took was an undefended right side base" *me scrolling back to **01:02:20* - Wait... there are 3 siege tanks, maroders, hellbats, marines, ghosts?? But i guess siege tanks are useless, as soon as vipers are out.

[@Jose0Pedro]

At 01:02:20 siege tanks were completely exposed. Marauders, hellbats and marines were behind the tanks. Serral caught Maru unprepared

[@ditch_magnet]

and vipers are useless once ghosts are out.

[@Xgourouneitor]

Jesus that last game. Maru lost to basically just creep. He literally had to scan his own map quarter for creep tumors.

[@fluffydbeast7557]

”Finnish freak” xD top quality commentator

[@noxnakeable]

Please nerf Serral

[@keep_walking_on_grass]

battle cruisers are nearly invincible in numbers >4. They tank masses of damage before they get low on hitpoints. but even when they get almost killed - which takes about 20+ corrupters - they warp away and back to their base before getting killed. and getting repaired. 1 yamato on the other hand kills an entire Muta flock of 20 Mutas. 4 thors if can kill 20 Mutas in notime as well. ghosts 1 shot a swarmhost and infestor army. 1 shot! if this is not imba, I don't know what else would be. Serral wins against most of his opponents anyways because he plays as close to perfect as it gets.

[@Bryan-mw4en]

21:28 lmao serral is shaking here

[@Zomana9]

I shake playing a ladder game, I can't imagine playing a game live against one of the best players (and being able to stand up to them). Also probably a decent chunk of money on the line.

[@Zeuts85]

Fantastic series. The only downside was Zombiegrub. Her fake over-hype is so hard to listen to.

[@WylliamJudd]

Who are the announcers?

[@thedeadbaby]

kind of feel sorry for maru. The crowd only claps when serral does well. When maru kills 7 swarhmost with bc with no losses crowd is quiet.

[@ZC.Andrew]

It seems to be the same on KZbin. Serral is preferred because.... he's not Koran? I guess? Nonetheless that lack of support is huge.

[@bostonholland3704]

@@ZC.Andrew Its a European city, who watch the European tournaments. Serral is literally on his home ground, obviously the crowd is going to be in his favour. That besides, this is the english cast of the game, I'd imagine that if you went to the Korean cast, most of Maru's fans would be there.

[@MrAndromedean]

yeah, watch the crowd response to Special or Skarlett during GSL. same vibe but in reverse.

[@nicholaswickman5591]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jajFamOpoauSoNE

[@scuttlebum]

Maru clearly not in his usual peak form, but gj anyway Serral.

[@ducpham88]

how scary zerg is ?

[@igit_7296]

Great effort by Maru, even taking a map off a player like Serral is kind of a victory. Maru showed fighting spirit.

[@ZC.Andrew]

They are quite equal. Maru got stomped here, but these two have a long history of slapping each other senseless. I'm not sure of the tournament numbers but I suspect they're 50/50 overall, or somewhere close to it.

[@igit_7296]

@@ZC.Andrew they are pretty close, but not equal.

[@bostonholland3704]

@@ZC.Andrew I think its 6-3 for matches in serrals favour. 15-13 for maps, again obviously in Serrals favour.

[@ZC.Andrew]

@@bostonholland3704 ah OK. I stand corrected then. Thank you

[@bostonholland3704]

@@ZC.Andrew Its still a really impressive scoreline, especially the map score, it implies that its way closer than the Match score actually says. It looks a bit rougher after this match, but them's the breaks.

[@aaronstaight4586]

What is in his water!!!

[@andywang6918]

Is there a reason Mary doesn’t use widowmine in last game? Serral we’re all lings and banes

[@ditch_magnet]

serral will just send a single zergling ahead to pop them after he sees the first one come out, and maru didnt have drilling claws. But at this level widow mines are best used to either harass mineral lines or siege forward on the zerg, and you cant siege forward if you can't support your widow mines.

[@aj2228]

The map is just too big

[@Youtubestolemyname99999]

Lol at maru hair

[@DmytroBogdan]

Casters just love to spoil previous matches score from minute one.

[@whatevermeh776]

Flavor missing

[@st9148]

WE NEED A PETITION THAT YOU CANT LAND OR BUILD ON TOP OF SOMETHING THATS UNDERGROUND... single zergling buried should not stop a giant building from landing...

[@stephenwilliams1091]

if realism matters so much, buildings can’t fly

[@johnmellan1732]

@@stephenwilliams1091 Or to go a step further, remove everything in the game. Realism.

[@smartbbrain]

no changes coming to the game anytime soon. Maybe hopeful if microsoft buyout makes changes. but until then this game is on life support.

[@ZC.Andrew]

@@smartbbrain Lol your comment didn't age well hahahahaha. I don't blame you though. I felt the same way.

[@dubstepbanane6277]

@@ZC.Andrew what happened?

[@Bradgilliswhammyman]

should be a tech upgrade for terrans and protoss called Acidic Shielding. It would be able to withstand 3 baneling attacks before the main armor is damaged. Would make units more defensible against baneling floods.... That or nerf baneling damage by 40 percent

[@tungnse]

This is LAN now so no butthurt can blame "latency" anymore. Serral is the GOAT. Edit: Well I forgot them terran bronze can still blame baneling OP. Guess we can't reason with ignorant blamers anyway.

[@Kevin578]

starcraft 2 has no lan. they're both playing over the internet

[@fj418]

might as well change the name of the game from Starcraft to Zergcraft

[@apeist]

Sadly, Maru did not show up in form this tournament. Wonder if we'll ever get to see this matchup with both players at 100% in a big offline event? Questionable, since SC2 is in its twilight phase.

[@juanversion3922]

I hope that serral clem reynor join gsl in korea

[@pahis1248]

höpö höpö

[@MrSoulpolo]

Zerg!

[@potushaslanded6549]

A-move 100 banelings , it’s an art.

[@N0noy1989]

A-move? You talking about Protoss, mate? You even know the skills needed to get to that game state vs Maru? Rogue can't do it. Reynor can't do it. Reynor only won vs Maru in the group stages because Maru made a big mistake. But here, you'll see Serral just trashing Maru. Why the dumb comment when the strongest player is playing?

[@nicolasmasson7573]

@@N0noy1989 my man

[@tungnse]

@@N0noy1989 what is more disgusting is that there are at least 7 idiots upvoted an ignorant comment. it's not hard to find terran butthurts in every starcraft youtube video

[@ZC.Andrew]

@@N0noy1989 Protoss is not a-move either. None of these pro's are a-moving anything. They're waaaaaaaay too good for that. In the murky lower leagues, if you want to pick the most a-move brainless units.... It's a tough call between Chargelots and Ling/Bane.

[@balazsfejes8817]

@@ZC.Andrew Protoss is a-moving, even pros admit it, protoss army control is the easiest. While you are warping 15+ zealots in the enemy's main, you dont have to control the zealots they will do dmg, but you always have to micro ling/bane to do some dmg. (same with terran bio, you have to control your marines after a drop or they dont do shit)

[@doublecrossedswine112]

Korea getting dropped off

[@howie5697]

Casters stay focused on this game, please?

[@samuelalbertoancallealcoce326]

all Zerg pro players strategy: zerlings and banelings...

[@likemy]

as opposed to... marines and medivacs?

[@samuelalbertoancallealcoce326]

@@likemy cost effectiveness units are different and are valued differently. Banelings are not as efficient as marines.

[@maskedmd1769]

Zerg is overpowered

[@howlingdin9332]

No, just the top-level zerg players.

[@NanoTek727]

finland pidoras player

[@louel9272]

Well I'd rather have zombiegrub than feardragon that one is 🤮

[@bclayton9539]

Everyone who said maru is the goat 🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@phunkym8]

god this is the perfect example of hype casting and i hate it. you can really only watch and listen to hsc where actual players are casting each others games without bs

[@StrigWilson]

Hsc?

[@demonkoryu]

@@StrigWilson Home Story Cup

[@ditch_magnet]

god forbid the casting of an hour-long series has some color in it

[@crazydog266]

It got to the point that you can just spam a ton of banelings and still win against the best terrain player.

[@aj2228]

Large maps favor Zerg, and these maps are just enormous.

[@fundoo1526]

I am a terran player and like Maru but your anti-Serral commenting style is unbearable. I am glad that Serral won.

[@ditch_magnet]

i didn't think the casting was anti-serral

[@fundoo1526]

@@ditch_magnet if you watch it again and pay attention, you will see that female caster's almost every positive comment for serral ends with a "but" and then a follow on negative statement. I have seen other videos of her casting and this is a quite noticeable pattern for her.

[@balazsfejes8817]

@@fundoo1526 Well ZG's main is terran, Pig's main is zerg, maybe that's why, nothing wrong with that imo.

[@diegogin935]

All Zergs cant play late game vs Maru 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@atrudokht]

except Serral

[@fredericbouchardwong4596]

Pig is great, but zombiegrub, languishes, in my opinion, just not the same level of caster, please change. Her casting, 'good-bye, good-bye, good-bye, good-bye, good-bye', like, wtf? Can we get someone that doesn't speak baby language in the biggest cast of the year? Ridiculous amateurish play by play commentary, in my opinion. At 43:18 . Thank you

[@johnmellan1732]

Gayboy lol

[@enderend1551]

She’s a diversity hire.

[@ditch_magnet]

what are you on about

[@johnmellan1732]

@@ditch_magnet His a confused individual, I mean check his name. European and ends in Wong lol

[@andrejtippner]

Thank you, so true. Zombiegrub is the worst and most annoying caster out there. She talks on and on and on and doesn't care if amazing shit is happening in the game. She is not only bad at casting itself (she is only talking, thats not casting) but also annoying in the way she does it.

[@andrejtippner]

Please stop Zombiegrub from casting good games.

[@fredvomjupiter8849]

Looks ez....

[@coastfan24]

I’m sorry but I cannot listen to anything that zombiegrub casts

[@ditch_magnet]

sounds like a you problem

[@coastfan24]

@@ditch_magnet she’s shit tier

[@magi5587]

Yes she is awful, this forced over hyped commentary is grating and becomes more apparent when paired with a more skilled caster. I understand that she copies this fear dragon style of fake hype casting to compensate for her deep insecurity's but it just comes across as being fake and cringe, better to build confidence by going to the gym.

[@balazsfejes8817]

@@magi5587ZG and PiG probably the best casters out there. There was no overhype, freaking Serral and Maru was playing.

[@user-ry3um7ti6p]

zerg is just EZ mode since HOTS. no suprise here. "dominating zerg" what a sick joke. zerg is basicly what Terran was at WOL launch before all the nerfs. back then only the very best of zerg players could outplay semi-bad terrans that after HOTS just retired from the game or switched to zerg. no wonder SC2 died

[@keep_walking_on_grass]

Maru looks like a learning kid is playing against a master. Serral plays on a different skill level.that is the only reason why he wins. Terran is so imbalanced, it is a miracle that Serral wins anyways. just watch game 3 and tell me, terran is not overpowered. There is no need to argue about that. it is more than obvious.

[@keep_walking_on_grass]

And then, Clem vs Serral 8:0. Clem 8 wins, Serral 0 wins. Zerg EZ mode.. Jesus.

[@SkarabCZ]

every Zerg vs. Terran game so far: zerglings + banelings + a-move = IWIN *clap clap* the "best" RTS in the world. lol

[@broome090]

Lol the forecast shows salt showers

[@kreterakete]

Her voice is a nightmare. Do u agree?

[@johnmellan1732]

No, not really. A nightmare? Lol grow up.

[@teddanville6996]

actually she cast pretty well and her voice is fine.

[@howlingdin9332]

Her voice is fine. People bothered by it are just sensitive.

[@CurufinweeFeanor]

Rotterdams voice is a nightmare.... But Zombiegrub and Pig and Rotti and Wardi could take a note from Tasteless casting, as in how to entertain (although it pains me to listen to Tasteless trying to analyze the game, and every minute saying "idk whats gona happen")

[@ZC.Andrew]

You have some pretty pathetic nightmares my friend

[@ladybearkuma]

Z IMBA幾年了？ 暴雪根本呵呵

[@oneofyus3799]

This applause sound effect is embarrassingly stupid. Disgusting

[@N0noy1989]

What sound effect you talking about? That's a live audience. It's only a small group because of covid, and they can't exactly cheer, so that's why it sounds like that. Your brain okay?

[@heikkipalola6760]

They even showed the audience clapping and it sounds exactly like the ”sound effect” you hear during the game. It does sound a bit weird but i think its because of some other issue, its highly unlikely that its fake.

[@ditch_magnet]

that's not canned, it's live. you can even hear people whistling or shouting stuff out, and you can hear some people booing when maru's name is announced at the beginning of matches

[@atrudokht]

I bet you're the one who cannot distinguish between live or lip-sync singers, must be zoomer

[@ezzokenan]

i am sorry I don't mean to disrespect the game or the players but due to my 20 years playing aoe1/ROR on high lvl this game looks just too slow for me... micro ....etc cuz playin aoe is a way harder than this game to be honest it will take u at least 10 years to be elite or to master the game, want prove am wrong u can go watch some viets or Chinese 3v3 videos or u can even come test by urself u will see that there is no a single second u can waste in the game tempo... speed ...economy ...strategy ....etc.... a spêed that even ur eyes will hurt u from Well, i like this game i should start to play as an alternative for AOE am done after 20 years of slaying noobs for nothing! Microsoft never invest in the game