Serral vs. Dark - IEM SC2 Katowice 2024 - Semifinals

You're watching Intel Extreme Masters SC2 Katowice 2024, broadcasting live from Katowice, Poland
StarCraft II once again returns to Katowice, to one of the most venerated venues in the history of esports.
Twenty-four of the world's best players have gathered to compete for a prestigious IEM trophy and the lion's share of the $500,000 prize pool.
This will also be the penultimate stop of the ESL Pro Tour Season 2023/24, as we're nearing the record-breaking championship event in Riyadh later this year.
Who will be victorious in front of the ever-so-passionate Polish crowd? Join us and find out!
Tune in to watch IEM SC2 Katowice 2024 from February 8-11!
ESL SC2 Pro Tour website:
pro.eslgaming.com/tour/sc2/
Watch full VODs here:
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Join in the discussion:
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Get your merch here:
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#SC2 #ESL #EPT

[@lelouchvibritannia7809]

Congrats Dark for being the ONLY player to make Serral bleed

[@fickitonetime]

That was a super close series, you can tell this game meant a lot to both players.

[@JaapvanderVelde]

Serral would never come out and say it, but his secret personal goal is to win Katowice untouched

[@mistervanderveer]

​@@JaapvanderVeldeInderdaad. ;) He's currently so strong he needs to invent new challenges just to keep it interesting for himself. Hence he's always disappointed even though he wins (the typical Serral headshake after winning decisively).

[@jacksonyan7346]

@@JaapvanderVelde lol he has beaten the game so many times and now he is doing challenge runs

[@JaapvanderVelde]

@@jacksonyan7346 SC2 Katowice Done Quick, a 100% glitchless marathon speedrun.

[@Michael-io7bu]

I always loved competitive sports and games playing against the best in my bracket , but I can't imagine how scary it is to hear "Serral is in top form today".

[@Zecuto]

Boss music starts playing, and this one is not going down.

[@redcreyes]

​@@Zecuto and it's the Safer Sephiroth theme from FF7.

[@theculturedgentleman3699]

Hate when these two face off because they are my favorite players. Looking forward to the Finals!

[@elricdemorkhaim]

Serral is an absolutely amazing player.

[@cl8804]

GO, JAPS woooooo

[@MrMillefail]

Game 3 was clearly build against Dark specifically. Good prep.

[@VeryBadPlayerTV]

Game 4 the push at around 39 minutes maybe 38 where serral only builds 3 spines i thought at the start. damn should have spread them a bit more together and maybe made a couple more honestly. I thought he had lost for sure but apparently he just knew he could hold this. Kinda wild. and then he won the game?? holy shit what a legend.

[@aaronbuffalo7769]

pulling the drones was crucial to the win opposed to raggy's all in/timing

[@cbustillos500]

Amazing series. ZVZ is very underrated. Amazing job Serral

[@courtesylicking9312]

Serral hasnt gone away in so many years

[@cjfletcher325]

YESSS Serral! I normally hate watching ZVZ but that was epic

[@yutinggamma]

lingbane vs lingbane is intense AF lol

[@Upsdriver234]

What is a good counter?

[@yutinggamma]

@@Upsdriver234 as zerg? You can wall off and be defensive with roaches and queens if you don't want to do that lingbane dance

[@chesh05]

@@yutinggamma "As Zerg?" Do you know any other lingbane vs lingbane builds that the rest of us don't?!? LMFAO

[@yutinggamma]

@@chesh05 What are you saying? He asked is there a good counter. What would it mean to ask "is there a good counter to lingbane vs lingbane"? You read it as "is there a good counter to lingbane". As what race? ZvT? ZvZ? ZvP? If he's already going lingbane then why even ask. Use your brain once in a while?

[@WatcherofRealmsDemon-qc7zs]

@@yutinggamma that's how I read it too. I just spam roach, less micro lol

[@redwing999]

44:20 THE VIP CORROSIVE BILES OF THE DAY!

[@mistervanderveer]

Serral is an absolute beast. There's so many of little details like that that just turn the tables completely.

[@JoelWard1]

Right at the very end of the video, by lip-reading I'm quite certain Serral mutters "helvetin hyvä" which roughly translates to "bloody good"!

[@thackthack177]

Would be nice if you guys added a 30 minute to an hour end screen so when I watch on my phone and accidentally tilt it or something I don’t know the results of the game based on how much time is left in the video

[@ludvigericson6930]

MFs can’t even cut the vod correctly, never going to happen.

[@JaapvanderVelde]

Haha I love the observer tracing the logos during the opening seconds.

[@Zamiroh]

Great series!

[@DeepThinker193]

I can feel literally the savagery coming through the screen.

[@ConnoisseurOfExistence]

That was intense!

[@fredriklosman3222]

nice work

[@bboyjmillz-g2g]

Thumbs Up for the Victory!!! Lets go Dark!! loll GG.

[@MZcrysman]

This is an e-sports equivalent to figure skating! What a mastery...

[@matuspetrus]

Just imagine playing like this to 6 min... most of us would be dead at 4:30

[@rodentrodent7836]

Dark is really cute tbh ❤❤❤

[@florin.lupascu]

Serral is unique in SC2 history of players... I would bet the only talent similar to his was Life, but Life as we know had work ethic issues

[@mistervanderveer]

Agreed. I think, by now, it's safe to say Serral is SC2's Flash.

[@florin.lupascu]

Very much ndeed! With this IEM K filnal between Serral and Maru the goat dispute is settled as well.@@mistervanderveer

[@ZCasavant]

​@@mistervanderveerFlash is as of yet unmatched in his win record. Serral is the best in SC2 I think but not even close to Flash .... yet.

[@Leishtek]

IDK how but Serral only gets stronger and stronger during the course of a series and if you haven't won by game 3 or 4 it's pretty much over for you.

[@Efemral]

45:08 that's the most emotion I've seen from Dark

[@medicinemandan271]

Don’t see so much emotion out of dark when he loses normally. Serral had EVERYONE stressing this tournament 😂

[@phutureproof]

does anyone else experience tiny gaps in the audio for these casts?

[@stefanstancu636]

Serral is so good, other players are happy just to scratch him a little

[@benjamineidam]

Serral!!

[@thoff5870]

Hey question I don't really play just watch does both sides get the benefit of each others creep? Thanks

[@forreal5331]

yes

[@cokehxc1]

uff tremenda partida viejo! se la puso dificil a serral

[@onmyj0b__]

I love AIM HIGH view, u should show it more.

[@tyrellwreleck4226]

Better than the finals

[@kurzackd]

42:58 -- *"A perfect moment for a spire..."* ...After just having lost your entire army in an all-in push that put you economically behind ?! LOL. Nah, man. It's time for building units for defence and trying to make up the economic disadvantage, in preparation for a counter-attack... ...which, as we saw, is *EXACTLY* what Serral did... :P .

[@ZCasavant]

He knows he can't make enough units to defend so maybe the Spire will catch him off guard??? I dunno, he was probably screwed no matter what he did.

[@kosherun]

Lowko! 😍

[@Melanrick]

I have a noob question here... Why even in the beginning of the game they are using the keyboard in a frantic manner? Like, what are they pressing? Are those macros?

[@alexanderjimenez4475]

serral GOAT

[@Braincho]

Who are those commentators? ( you can put this information in the video description as well )

[@forreal5331]

Lowko & Wardi

[@facundopirola1729]

Was that Lowko?

[@snylekkie]

How do they have this skin

[@o8livion]

LOKOOOOO =)

[@llllloolllll]

My god Serral

[@yurihung9244]

finally serral loses the first match in the entire series

[@philongpham3886]

The first and only match. He's a beast

[@wojtek5207]

First łosoś ,becose he need to face hes Own Zerg medicine

[@quackquack529]

He only lost 1 map . 1 fucking map in the entire tourney, That guy is a beast . He even makes Maru and Clem ordinary.

[@ryanspinoza6586]

Interesting how that one race that Serral could actually lose to at any given era of StarCraft 2 is another Zerg. Normally, a person who masters their race or avatar knows it best so it should technically make them strong against mirror matchup as it's actually 100% fair and balanced.

[@ZCasavant]

He occasionally has issues in TvZ too, like in the Dreamhack finals 2 months ago. His ZvZ has become terrifying compared to where he was a few years ago though. No longer can anyone say his ZvZ is weakness.

[@dotathewot390]

Could see dark not having it at last, before gg last game😂

[@Frontline_view_kaiser]

Man Game 2 ended way too soon

[@wehabagde8159]

Hi Lowko

[@LOLHoneybadger]

Dark had Map 2 won if he kept the pressure on with his Roach push when reinforcements arrived, Serral didn't pull drones for nothing, he knew it was getting desperate.

[@themavrandbrickashaw5511]

You’re wrong. Serral had a worker lead and defender’s advantage with less than 10 army supply difference. Quicker +2. If Dark hadn’t retreated he would have lost all his roaches at the front, and once he retreated, getting back up the ramp against similar supply was impossible

[@michaelsshirt8046]

It's a shame Rogue retired, he was probably the only Zerg comparable to Serral

[@foxling]

Interesting accent, where is the non-wardi guy from? 😃

[@TheBinSubtleIsSubtle]

Dutch, he's Lowko

[@mistervanderveer]

Rotti and Lowko are both Dutch. :NL:

[@colinstringer561]

Don't forget Harstem

[@ESLArchives]

Subscribe to our channel: kzbin.info/door/XQexglLCaJyTImYLmSO9Ng

[@tyrellwreleck4226]

Game 3, Dark is winning if he splits his army and take out Serrals main. If Serral trade bases, Dark will clear all the buildings first because of the fast lings.

[@themavrandbrickashaw5511]

He literally did that and lost

[@tyrellwreleck4226]

​@@themavrandbrickashaw5511 no he did not. Watch it again, he tried to beat Serral's army

[@themavrandbrickashaw5511]

@@tyrellwreleck4226 Sorry you're right, I was thinking of game 2. I wonder if he would have been able to keep up with roach speed though

[@Jaguar-lr7jq]

Blizzard need to nerf serral or might as well buff the other races to be able to compete with serral

[@PeekabooEUDK]

2nd game - He couldnt build anything but swarmhosts :D

[@Seira5888]

darkはザーグの中で最強だ！

[@nuts6348]

와 령우 잘했는데 아쉽네

[@theeraphatsunthornwit6266]

I am not watching zerg vs zerg . Just want to see if he 3 0 dark

[@hyper_channel]

Dark best mexican zerg

[@zottffss]

Dark was the only player to beat a game on Serral. Let that sink in.

[@sansrival933]

I really wnjoy watching serral dominate sc2 but these comments that zerg is op makes it less,i dont play the game but is zerg really that op?

[@marcelbenner993]

If you take Serral out of the equation, the Terran and Zerg winrates are pretty similar. Protoss lost many players to military service or retirement, hence that race's win rate dropped a lot. But don't feel discouraged.. simply go to a game where Zerg loses and hear people complain about Widow Mines, Mules, Cyclones or Ghosts.

[@ditch_magnet]

no, zerg is not OP. Serral wins his games by studying his opponents' builds and timings and meticulously breaking down his own. Everyone is doing this, but he is preparing better than his opponents. He plays the map pools well, and is good at hiding his build orders when he does decide to go non-standard. He has less pressure to play non-standard because he is confident he will win most matchups if both players go standard, and this gives him an edge in preparation. Serral's APM and fine unit control actually tends to be worse than many of the other top level players. In standard play, Serral wins through superior multitasking and intelligent decisions about how to ration his own APM and tax the micro and map awareness of his opponents to leverage small leads that he maintains throughout the game. He has an excellent eye for map position, is rigorous about scouting and makes snap decisions very well. I also privately believe that Serral is doing a better job than other players at keeping his pocket builds out of sight so that they can't be studied, even though his execution is worse with these builds - they often get shut down after a crucial mis-micro from him. He struggles mostly against players like dark who tax his micro and play unpredictably, and against younger and faster terran players like Clem who can keep up with him and force him to play in a way that puts him on a timer.

[@sansrival933]

@@marcelbenner993 i see,thats why i dont see that much protos, serral is so good playing this game, makes me wish that sc2 was popular here in our country,

[@sansrival933]

@@ditch_magnet wow thanks for a very detailed reply, his gameplay is amazing to watch i dont completely understand the game but the way he controls his units is unbelievable and his preparation is 1 - 2 times ahead of his opponent, Tho theres tournament that i think he played poorly he was against a popular fellow eu player cant remember his name XD i hate seeing him lose lol

[@marcelbenner993]

@@sansrival933 Probably against Reynor or Clem. He got pretty destroyed by Clem when they last met before IEM Katowice, but he was sick on that day and couldn't perform at his best. I was also pretty concerned when Bunny forgot Combat Shields in his game versus Clem, ultimately lost because of it and Clem advanced to face Serral in the quarter finals at IEM. The only opponent I was fearing for Serral was Clem... but holy moly did Serral smoke him this time. At times I felt bad for Clem, especially when he reacted to the second last fungal... it was heart wrenching how Serral dominated him.

[@nmlsaiya]

Dark is my fav player.. hate to see him lose against this humanoid robot machine.... is like a computer AI playing.. so broken

[@kirldrav]

Let the zergs kill each other!

[@worduser899]

I really don't enjoy Wardi's commentary. It almost sounds like he's slurring a little bit and it's somewhat making me lose focus on the game. Sigh.

[@macatholomew]

Serral, can you play anything else other than zerg and actually win? Im sorry but i cant call him the best starcraft player if he only uses zerg. Hes the best zerg player, thats for sure.

[@ZCasavant]

To expand on Winter's quote: Serral might be the best Zerg, but Dark is the MOST Zerg. 😂

[@user-wt4ld4fx2s]

zerg op

[@mistervanderveer]

Wrong. Serral OP!

[@TTHHJJ123]

remember that serral is carried by zerg, not by his skill. against koreans he would lose, especially mirror matches.

[@mikechan2942]

any zerg has a better chance to win against serral than any terran/toss. Zerg is imba

[@krajekdev]

It is just serral that is imba :D.

[@caprisoda9106]

That's why his last defeats were against maru, clem (2x), classic. I think you have no plan.

[@wedgeantilles8575]

ZvZ is more chaotic, that's why it is easier to loose a match. You can very easily misread a ZvZ and loose to a Roach attack.

[@aaronbuffalo7769]

@@wedgeantilles8575 serral's RvR is faultless, you are basically never going to win against it, hence his only loss was most volatile mirror in of ling bane.

[@dylanfalk3243]

God I want Serral to lose

[@mistervanderveer]

Your wish came through. 20-1.

[@ravondal1958]

First person view (seizure producing), many times it feels like my nose is touching the creep, BLAH. The commenters "advising" or "criticizing" the top players in the world...........what is their standing? Save me a laugh, please. Just comment the game. Personally, I do not have need for your hype, spin and opinion, for that I would like to see you reach the top ranking in the world. Down vote from me.

[@mcblanc900]

Xdddddddddddd

[@connor8614]

The casters do that for the benefit of the audience, you absolute melt. Both Lowko and Wardi are acutely more aware of the skill differential between themselves and the pros they are casting than you will ever be. When they say things like "I don't think that's the right move" it is to give insight to those in the audience that aren't, themselves, professional players; god forbid, there might even be some viewers who don't play at all! They don't say things in a boastful or arrogant way, that you do not understand that is indicative of your own deficiencies. It's a down vote from me (for you).

[@user-dd5wp7iw7x]

haters gonna hate, casters gonna "comment")

[@user-dd5wp7iw7x]

instead of down vote: to be fair for a mere watcher not playing the Game these guys are very helpful. if they start to "just comment" you will probably complain of their voices or thick accents? no offence)

[@wedgeantilles8575]

Of course you can be a critic without having to be better at something. If a player makes a mistake, casters are supposed to talk about it. That IS commenting the game. Should they say: "Oh Buyn didn't reasearch combat shields 10 minutes into the game, what an amazing move"? You can always turn of the sound and just watch the game without commentator. After all, you are not intersted in their critics, in their opinions or in anything they tell - what exactly should they talk about? "Serral is building 10 roaches. Serral is moving across the map. Serral is attacking Dark. Dark is making Roaches. Dark is defending. Serral won the fight."