Serral vs Maru - $500,000 StarCraft 2 GRAND FINALS | IEM Katowice 2024

StarCraft 2 $500,000 Tournament - Serral vs Maru - IEM Katowice SC2 2024 GRAND FINALS - Terran vs Zerg - Maru takes on Serral in a legendary series to determine the greatest StarCraft 2 player of all time.
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StarCraft 2 $500,000 Tournament - IEM Katowice SC2 2024 GRAND FINALS - Serral (Zerg) vs Maru (Terran) - Best of 7
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Starcraft 2 is a Science Fiction Real Time Strategy & Tactics game by Blizzard Entertainment. Download and play free at www.starcraft2...
--
Winterstarcraft, Starcraft 2 2024, SC2 2024
#Starcraft2 #SC2 #RTS

[@Mokinono45]

This is my superbowl!

[@djryken]

Omg yes was thinking same thing, this is my sport!

[@MrJohnBBQ]

That’s exactly what I was doing today during the sportsball. 😂

[@billywilly1035]

Same 😂

[@tank5183]

Same well said :)

[@David-u5w2r]

Ah, yes. The superb owl, celebrated on the lunar New Year.

[@JackSparrow-gn1zn]

Dark's the only one who managed to take a map from Serral this whole tournament.

[@SlayuhM]

Ayyy, next time put SPOILER ALERT.

[@taoon8327]

@@AntiDoctor-cx2jd Dark makes miracles happen with nothing but a Roach/Rav maxout and a dream

[@YuNherd]

winter also winnin like the grand finals with that 200k subs, congrats.

[@broome090]

That tap out in game two, even as a Zerg main and a Serral fan boy, actually made me sad irl for Maru. Both of these players are legendary.

[@tranquochung1995]

Mee too, Maru fought so hard

[@Jaguar-lr7jq]

@@tranquochung1995but still got 4-0ed 😢

[@Numenorean921]

Game 2 broke him, you can tell maru was full on tilted after that

[@broome090]

@@Jaguar-lr7jq I think Dark was the only one in the whole tournament to win a map against Serral.

[@bottlewishez7889]

I found it so funny when Maru laughed to himself after Serral landed one of his unending Fungals in Game 2.

[@ClearAlera]

Winter- grats on your best year yet. You've put in a lot of effort for a long time and your sub count is no mistake. Love the humor, soundboards, memes, and queen impersonations, and game knowledge you've built up over the years. You're one of my two favorite solo casters (alongside Harstem). Just curious - is it possible you'd ever co-cast with someone else during big live events?

[@WinterStarcraft]

It would be cool to cast live at events occasionally, but it is a ton of work on all sides of the camera.There are already plenty of great casters experienced with live events & production - I try to bring something a bit more business casual here on youtube

[@ClearAlera]

@@WinterStarcraft Understandable! Someone would have to pay the travel fees for Jimmy too, adding further complication. I will continue to enjoy your videos on KZbin then :)

[@OmicronAwesome]

@@WinterStarcraft I prefer it this way. Just your genuine reactions and not trying to meet anyone's expectations. Keep it up!

[@XabiBello]

@@WinterStarcraft You did great in Atlanta! This IEM I enjoyed the C-stream with Harstem and Lambo more than the A or B streams, feels less rigid, more casual as you say.

[@SipuliSiili]

@@WinterStarcraft I prefer your casts over the official ones. You dont over do it with yelling and your humour is 5/5. 😊

[@redwings13400]

I was exhausted after game 2, so I can only imagine how Maru felt after that. Serral just looked unbeatable here. His infestor play seems to have only gotten better over time, they're like sharks, always waiting to strike.

[@growtocycle6992]

Serral can get over run with hyper aggressive early plays, but Mari doesn't really do that except proxies...

[@Joh00226]

Also called cheese

[@gabriel.hongkong]

@@growtocycle6992 Even with the hyper aggressive early game, it's difficult to fully break Serral.

[@RCG3.]

Well that's probably why they now nerfed infestors lol easier to see burrowed and they can't see as far burrowed

[@aussteigen]

Serral looked untouchable. Just Dark took 1 map

[@SoulWhite]

Serral is like, "I guess I could use a new car, I'll take the money this time." lol.

[@marcelbenner993]

0:55 On this GOAT debate: - There is a player who achieved the Triple Crown twice, which only 2 other players achieved. - There is a player who has the highest win rate vs Korean players in 5 years out of 13 StarCraft2 years (2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023). - There is a player who won the world championship twice (most wins among two others) - There is a player who holds the longest winning streak against at least Top 100 players (47 consecutive wins) - There is a player who holds the longest winning streak against top Koreans (19 consecutive wins; 2nd place the same player with 18 consecutive wins) - There is a player who achieved an over 90% match win rate in a year (2023) overall - which no one else ever achieved - There is a player who achieved an over 73% (73,24%) game win rate in a year (2023) vs Koreans - which no one else ever achieved (closest is Serral with 69,86% in 2018 and Maru’s 69,44% also in 2023). - There is a player who achieved an over 85% (!!!!) match win rate in three years (2018, 2020, 2023) vs Koreans. The next best other player being Maru with 78% in 2023 and herO with 74% in 2017. - There is a player who has by far the most Premier Tournaments wins with top Korean Participation (16) and overall (25) - There is a player who has NO negative win rate vs ANY pro player since his first Premier Tournament win in 2015 which he played on a regular basis (at least 10 games) - which no one else ever achieved Here are these player’s records against these top Koreans (wins:Korean player wins: draws): vs Maru: 13:4:2 vs Dark: 8:5:1 vs GuMiho: 10:4:0 vs Solar: 16:7:1 vs Cure: 17:3:0 vs ByuN: 12:5:0 vs Classic: 8:2:0 vs Bunny: 9:2:0 vs stats: 9:4:0 vs soO: 8:4:0 vs Innovation: 16:8:0 vs Rogue: 8:7:0 vs Trap: 14:3:0 vs Zest: 10:5:0 And here the records vs some top world players : vs Reynor: 31:16:0 vs MaxPax: 18:4:0 vs Heromarine: 26:4:0 That player has been so dominant since his rise to the top in 2018 in Seoul that he won more tournaments - with participation of the best Koreans in the world - in 6 years of playing StarCraft 2 than all players who have been present among the top players for much longer. That player is Serral. I have no idea how anyone can deny that Serral is the GOAT of StarCraft 2. Not one player comes even close to such a dominance over such a long period of time while at the same time amassing more important trophies in less time than anyone else. Serral's win rate vs his weakest matchup (Zerg) is higher than most pro's overall win rates. To anyone arguing flash = SC2 GOAT: Flash never had win rates that even come close to Serral's and had lower win rates than Innovation at time. He also was only present in SC2 for around 2 years. He definitely is the SC GOAT though. To anyone arguing Innovation/Maru: These two both failed to show up on the really big stages. Maru only ever got a 2nd place at Worlds with his 2023 defeat against Oliveira. He didn’t do what sOs, ROgue or Serral did: Go to a big stage, where the best of the world compete and win. The same is true for Innovation. Both Maru and him falter when competition from outside of Korea is present/when the big stage calls. Also both have lower win rates vs the top players and less achievements. To anyone arguing sOs: sOs, who is a 2 time world champion, only has 5 premier tournament wins. If you consider Rogue and Serral, who also are in the debate, sOs falls short. The same holds true as for Innovation and Maru. Less achievements, less dominance. Rogue has won 11 premier tournaments from 2017 to 2022. He, as well as Serral, won 2 Worlds. Now let’s bring Serral into the equation. Out of his 25 premier tournament wins which span from 2018 to 2023, 16 are with top Korean participation, Serral won 2 World Championships. Him and Rogue in my opinion are the only two players who are consistent and showed up when the best of the world are present. They have achieved similar high end feats. BUT: Serral has way more Premier Tournament wins (with top Korean participation and yet even more without) and was more dominant in his win rates and records versus other Korean players. To people arguing that Serral never won a GSL. So what? He played the best of the best from GSL and defeated them time and again (see record vs these players and overall win rate vs Koreans above). Does anyone seriously believe Serral would not have won the GSL if he was born Korean? And at the same taking Premier titles away from players who now claim them? If anything, Serral's dominance would have been EVEN MORE apparent. Plus Serral even went to Korea twice and both times won the GSL vs Worlds where the best of the GSL participated. That argument sounds a little bit like this: Real Madrid (Serral) who defeated all Premier League teams (Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool etc.) in the Champions League (GSL vs World, World Championship, etc.) is not better than Liverpool because it never played in the Premier League. The argument is absurd. The Premier League (Korea) sends its best teams (Maru, Dark, Rogue) to the Champions League (GSL vs World, World Championship, etc.) and these best teams get beaten by Madrid (Serral). No one in their right mind would argue that Madrid isn’t the best team in the world, simply because it didn't play versus Wolverhampton. Anyways, these are my thoughts. Share statistics, if you disagree.

[@ashtonsmith9682]

Serral plays the cheater race. Thats why we deny it. Maru was winning back to back GSL when no terran was winning anything.

[@marcelbenner993]

@@ashtonsmith9682 Anyone who claims Zerg is OP or imba based on Serral's performance has no idea what a statistical outlier is. In statistics, you always cut off results ,that are too far removed from the average or mean. For example: If you want to know the average temperature of objects in a kitchen with 50 objects in it and you can't measure all of them, you pick 10 at random. 9 of them are between 20° and 22° C, and one is at 200° C. If you don't recognize that this one hot object is a stove, you'll get a completely wrong impression about the average temp in that room - you'd think that the room was on fire, when in fact it's not. So you cut out the outlier - the stove - to get a more accurate result. Serral is just that - the stove in the kitchen, and he's literally on fire. Every other Zerg is not that good and numbers show it. Balance is a question of averages. And you can't find the average, if you base your statistics on outliers. On average, Zerg wins less than Terran, and Protoss wins even less than that. Further: Look at 2023 Premier tournaments. Terran won 4 out of 10, Zerg - excluding Serral - 2, Serral won 4. There were 2 TvT finals, no ZvZ. And if Serral wasn’t there, Clem would have slapped every other Zerg in Katowice and we’d have yet another TvT final. Again: Statistical outlier. He simply makes Zerg look that way and no one else can. Hence, if you remove Serral from the equation, Zerg’s win rates drop insanely.

[@firestarter000001]

I agree in general. The whole "Serral hasnt won any GSL" argument is silly, like you said, he has won many tournaments where all top Koreans participited. One thing about this whole Goat debate: i think its very relative. Each of this players was in a timeframe, when there was different opposition, different level of play.. Each of players like Maru, Rogue, even Neeb, was legendary.

[@firestarter000001]

@@ashtonsmith9682 I would agree if Serral would only be wining during the winFestor and ggLords era. But its simply untrue. Regardless of balance, Serral is the GOAT. And for me Terrans are more imba hten Zerg atm:)

[@ashtonsmith9682]

@@marcelbenner993 Other zerg players are also playing well tho? Reynor and dark are no slouches. Dark is an even more unique outlier according to your stats. He plays Zerg completely wrong like a gold league player and still puts up good results consistently beating the best terrans and tosses.

[@fpSmoker]

Now this is my kind of SuperBowl.

[@orangepearlf40]

Agreed, sc2 isnt rigged.

[@weemz]

Congrats on 200k! I remember about 10 years ago, watching your stream and asking in chat what you like to do outside of SC2. You got kind of annoyed and said "your mom" and then talked about how it was a stupid question. Been a fan ever since :D

[@caleroification]

CONGRATS ON 200K SUBS!!!

[@jason1238]

Very Entertaining. I love the Granny Queen voices when their moments come up. Flipping funny.

[@bigrayy]

One hour into the match when you made your thanks to the viewers, it hit different this time! Thank YOU man, you deserve it. Constantly deliver, funny, informative. Been watching you for years. Stay on it man! Congrats on 200k!!!❤

[@Drong13]

Watched it online but still wanted to see your commentary! Gratz to 200k, keep it up

[@xidjazulix]

"taking our good blue mineral jobs" rofl that was way funnier than it should have been

[@Joyexer]

The 2nd map was absolutely insane... Brilliant series!

[@JSs586]

36:29 Maru's triple scan at his own doorstep is really the PTSD from the last fight where one Infestor landed fungal on 7-8 ghosts and wiped them out

[@2nerC9]

Game 2 was the most fun match I have watched in a while. Wished Maru won that one that would've been epic.

[@BoxCox]

I'll go ahead and say it. This was definitely the IEM Katowice of the year.

[@mikecicciari845]

Serral makes zerg look so cinematic, it feels like how the zerg would actually operate

[@mood-pp4bd]

35:16 excellent 'The Expanse' reference

[@garryarganis5801]

people kept saying "we want a serral vs maru finals where both give their 100%" well, i finally came to the logical conclusion of if serral is playing at 100% he wont let you play at 100%. maru is great, but serral is just on a whole next level when he is playing at max capacity.

[@MyriadColorsCM]

To be fair, Game 2 was really close, I could see Serral losing that game.

[@RyanMoreau]

@@MyriadColorsCM Its just because Zerg is overpowered

[@thertcll]

​@@RyanMoreaunothing to do with the fact serral's win rate is over 90% and the next closest Zerg, Dark, is 65%. Right?

[@enriquegarciacota3914]

@@RyanMoreaucopium is overpowered

[@loth4015]

@@thertcll No Zerg is overpowered! Unbelievable

[@aidanholden0]

I love what you do Winter, it's so brilliant. Your commentary, the way you know the game and the different layers, and show that to us. At 56:44 you call the game - 'Maru's given up'. Then at 57:11, Maru GG's. To which you respond 'oh Maru' and then cry. What a fucking beautiful thing to see in my 'I like watching SC2 commentary', the depth of your understanding of the game and then just how much you care about the players. Love your work man. Thank you

[@TheFabel1337]

I have enjoyed it BIG TIME. So thank you for your extra focus on YT. I just hope you feel its worth it, and that you keep it up. Love your puns, your speedy and very insightful commentating. Honestly you are the reason I watch SC2.

[@miscellaneousmanta3288]

I already know this game is going to be a banger 🎉

[@axelmolina1031]

@winterstarcraft this is the perfect definition of king of battles fight..

[@scottmills4164]

Well i have a lot to say. First off, great cast. Congratulations on 200k subscribers. I would love to see a celebration with Harstem and Lowko joining you for a cast. But i want them to bring soundboards and some of the silliness you provide. Sounds fun to me. Lol. I was super happy to see Maru make the finals. I think maybe he did beyter against Serral than Clem? What does everyone think? That second match was crazy! Longer than some movies I've seen. So what's left for Serral. Continuous dominance. What else can he achieve? How about a title with Protoss! Prove you are the greatest!

[@shyndashu]

Man I used to be a rank 1 Masters Zerg player. I didnt realize prize pools were still pretty big. I wouldn't be able to hang today, but it's fun seeing a championship game again.

[@louisdrouard9211]

Love to see Terran complaining about Zerg while they have been dominating tournament and WR for the past X years. At least Protoss have a valid point

[@hivetech4903]

What? Protoss has had the strongest win-rate for months at pro level. Did you not check the official Balance Report on aligulac before you typed that garbage? 😂

[@mihairo83]

The GOAT. The debate is over. Thank you Winter for making our days a bit better. Sincere congratulations for reaching 200k subscribers! I hope we see you reach 300k next year.

[@miniwaern]

at minute 27;00 in-game timer (43:40) Maru starts fighting Serral having only twenty+ workers for another 13 minutes before giving up at (57:00) ... (meanwhile you're screaming "Zerg OP")

[@Rooki3_]

Serral is a genius, he loses tournaments to win the big cash ones so Zerg doesn’t get nerfed.

[@hunterghost1494]

LOL, he won 4 out of 7 Premiere tournaments and about 50% of major ones He was in, in 2023. He mostly lost to the later winners of the tournaments or zergs, which is his worst matchup (still better then everybody else but still). I don't think He looses on purpose otherwise He would not have such a ridiculous winrate of tournaments. He is just near perfect pretty much all the time. Not Zerg is OP but Serral.

[@serral1632]

Yeah

[@hivetech4903]

Lol, balance is calculated from hundreds of tournament games, makes zero difference if Serral loses a few. Zerg is the weakest race at pro level for the last 5 months, so expect a buff that affects PvZ next patch if the trend continues.

[@hunterghost1494]

@@hivetech4903 is that Ironie or did you mean protoss needs a buff, because except for Serral, TvZ is pretty balanced and the only race that is struggling is protoss, both in PvZ and PvT.

[@cavemantero]

@@hunterghost1494 TvZ isn't really balanced...to play TvZ at that level your arm has to fall off after the tourney's like Clem's did and that was only dropping 2 games...one each to Serral and Dark. Its goddamned insane that they haven't deleted the baneling yet.

[@ablade2382]

Zerg isn't OP. Serral is just an absolute anomaly. I'll put money on the line that he could win with any race. Best player in SC2 history by a mile. Anyone who thinks otherwise isn't paying attention. That said, please give our Protoss players some love. I don't even play Toss and I can see that there is something wrong at the highest level.

[@andrewferguson6901]

I wanna see serral learn terran from TY

[@bp6421]

To be fair they balance the game based on the top. Terrans took nerfs many times because 2-3 guys could micro reapers and units so well that the entire race paid the price

[@ashtonsmith9682]

Serral isn’t an anomaly. Rogue already did what Serral is doing way before Serral was relevant. Zerg just has more tools than every other race. Best scouting. Immunity to timing attacks. Best spell casters. Best eco. Being able to easily macro without risk of dying is the biggest advantage Zerg has.

[@Urod_s_Sakhalina]

​@@ashtonsmith9682😂😂😂 wake up you ur sleeping

[@OSU2010]

@@Urod_s_Sakhalinayour delusional that race is OP

[@laureloneiros1500]

Really funny how Protoss massing 8~12 disruptors was considered so op they practically nerfed it out of existence, but you still get 20~30 ghosts running around and considered meta

[@loth4015]

Ghosts got nerfed aswell, which is why Maru got 0 wins vs Serral. This is of course, still too much for you. You want Maru to have -4 wins

[@hunterghost1494]

Disruptors outright kill most units and multiple at the same time at that and only have a cooldown, while ghosts can only kill with snipe but that is enery based and can be prevented. But Protoss needs some buffsto be compatative, but not a buff to disruptors, they are still good enough to turn games around with the right hits. I just don't know what would achieve Protoss compatativeness without the destruction of the balance of the other matchups

[@elgar7252]

Gotta love people coping about Terran ghosts when Maru went 0-4 against a Zerg running around with burrowed Infestors.

[@destrik4115]

​@@elgar7252not sure if even serral can get infestors nerfed a third time

[@JRe63]

Zerg spellcasting is ridiculous IMO, apart from the fact that you still need a skilled person to pull it off like Serral did.

[@madatarchives8725]

Been watching you for years man really glad you are sticking with it Starcraft is just nostalgic.

[@sharpie11112]

I just started watching right when you began in 2023, and I was hooked right away! Always makes my day better - thank you Winter and well deserved 200k!

[@RodovalPTY]

I haven't play SC2 in like 6 years but I'm always down to watch top matches like this.

[@miniwaern]

1:21:40 Serral defends this all-inn from Maru while coordinating a perfect counter-attack so uncalled for that even we missed it killing a base and 20+ workers.

[@WinterStarcraft]

first

[@Smiffls]

Eyyy... Not fair Mr. Winter give us a chance at least :P

[@SpartanEagle7]

well played

[@PeregrineChurch]

congrats on 200k! you deserve it

[@MrFirefox322]

highkey i would buy a textbook on each of the aces written by the leading players of each that would be sick af

[@roncho]

Serral is.the magnus carlsen of sc2

[@slavengineering8344]

Spoilers: Game 2 was a banger, but you could see it broke Maru mentally. I'm surprised how long it took Serral to break him though. Game 1 felt relentless from Serral, like a snake strangling its victim. The oppressive presence of creep everywhere was so impressive to watch. It was all well under control tbh. Game 3 I liked the "just go and fucking kill him" energy, especially after the drawn out game full of Maru's suffering. Im surprised Maru didn't go for his trademark tilt proxy 2rax, especially after game 2. Game 4 was like straight out of hero's nightmares - endless zergling runbys everywhere

[@mrherrada797]

your game1 description was poetic af

[@Krasses]

I suppose Serral would be more energetic each game when 150k is dangling in front of his eyes.

[@2639theboss]

Game 2 was basically proof that Terran needs to be nerfed. Serral outplayed him the entire game, was literally trading even for the vast majority of it while completely controlling the map, he was controlling five or six burrowed infesters and three armies separately but he literally just couldnt win because pushing into mass ghosts is impossible.

[@hunterghost1494]

@@2639theboss Maru played incredible that game, a more resource efficent terran (10k difference is common in late game) is the way that matchup was designed, Zerg always should be up one base or more. Serral destroyed Maru in every other game without a problem. Yes Serral is near perfect but in game two Maru was too, that was the reason it was such a close game. In the other Maru was not near perfect and that was enough to make it a onesided serie. Take Serral out of the equation and i think TvZ is pretty good balance wise for the Pro level. Lower level is another thing, but to balance a game for al level equaly is most likely impossible. The only race that is underpowered/ not stable enough in Pro level is Protoss.

[@Mglunafh]

In the game 1 Serral screwed up Maru's plans right from the start and then was asserting dominance with the overlord'n'queens creep-spreading trio

[@MrNeCr01]

Game 2 Maru was probably looking at it like "A true sportsman plays for the win, and I have no chance of doing that anymore. Delaying this game for 10 minutes so my opponent can find the best opening to kill me is just bad manners".

[@TheJohtaja]

18:55 Adding to the map notes, however, that Radhuset is a zerg map, in as much as it's one of Serral's picks in the match (and e.g. like Hecate was Maru's).

[@pixielilla7369]

I don’t really get why Radhuset is a Zerg map… At the time of writing, according to liquidpedia, TvZ is 50.8% Terran winrate on Radhuset… In PvZ it may be Zerg favored, but in TvZ it’s about equal if not Terran favored. I think Winter is more accurate saying it’s late game favored which for most Terran is an advantage to Terran but to the likes of Serral and Dark that makes it better for them.

[@genesises]

@@pixielilla7369because serral said it is! (also its very open with many entrances to your bases) and afaik it was maru's pick (i think they said this in the tournament cast).

[@TheJohtaja]

@@genesises In the tournament cast they specifically said Radhuset was Serral's pick. Hecate was Maru's. That's how the series' picks started out.

[@faridmk3707]

Serral is the GOAT. Highest MMR in history of SC2, most wins, and he did it as a zerg too.

[@jacobreichert836]

which is by far the strongest race in pro play for...years?

[@faridmk3707]

@@jacobreichert836 Maru's 7 championship wins present a strong argument for terran being the ultimate race. Until Serral did what he did this game.

[@Humanaut.]

How many times have all these players been "introduced" and re-re-reintroduced to us?

[@youtheneyes]

HOLY SHIT Congrats on 200k Subs!!!!!!!!! What a game to cast!

[@williamking331]

Fantastic games out from Maru and Serrel! Maru fought hard! GG!

[@skiptoacceptancemdarlin]

There hasn’t been a StarCraft 2 competition for money in 20 years. What are you even doing?

[@SirChristian100]

I really enjoy your casting on games. I only watch you right now, I have something to smile in every single one of your videos

[@MarceloVillarrealR]

I hope you're doing just fine sir, keep doing your thing. Much love, brother.

[@stalinstylez4034]

Well today was one of the shittiest days of my entire life and this video was the first thing that put me in a good mood today, it was so exciting! Thanks for the upload and the commentary, Mr. Winter you are a true friend haha and I love it when you talk as a Zerg queen 🤣🤣 Btw I’m from Germany, my English is not so good and I have trouble understanding some English videos but your way of talking is so clean that I understand everything without using my brain 😅

[@mistervanderveer]

Wait, what? That first sentence makes no sense and how is it relevant to this video lol. Anyway, hope youre doing fine mate.

[@stalinstylez4034]

@@mistervanderveer It makes no sense either, it was just an explanation for why my day sucked and that the video distracted me from it. I could have made it shorter but whatever

[@JCMiniPainting]

Super random, but when you quick maths the remaining minerals on the map at 53:00, you guestimate about 40k minerals left over, which iirc is exactly how much you get with the SC1 cheat code "show me the money".

[@1step2many35]

gg on the 200k subs

[@iantru9929]

i dont know why maru couldnt just build a couple ravens and put them with his most important unit, the ghost

[@spicytunah8043]

Game 2 was a WILD ride.

[@1bentom1]

Excellent commentary as always!

[@omnimoeish]

Even when Maru had really strong starts it just delayed Serral winning. I'm so happy there's still this kind of money being thrown around for SC2 winnings. It is kind of sad it goes to like the same 5 players over and over but those players really are insane. Also the fact that protosses are almost completely uncompetitive at this point is pretty much what I thought would happen when I first saw the last patch notes. They nerfed protoss again just like they inexplicably have the last 17 patches even though there's been no reason to.

[@nickp3173]

Cant believe sc2 still playing for this much money! INSANE!!!!

[@kudohlol9379]

Unreal, thanks for the cast, you are my favorite caster, watch almost all your videos, and always leave a like, should probably give my prime to you 100%.

[@mumblecake251]

Do you think that they will eventually go down the route they did go with Flash in SC1, as in "nerf Serral"? For people who are unaware. Flash was so dominant that the Korean leagues decided to effectively "nerf" Flash by creating a map pool which was rather hostile towards terran. Funnily enough Flash was the only terran that could somehow deal with it. While he didn't win the tournament he still went very deep. Wonder if we might see something like that happen in SC2.

[@KingOfNebbishes]

They have been for two years.

[@MrSuckeragi]

Awesome game, as a zerg in broodwar but never really got into SC2, these games are still fun to watch :) Serral is something else!

[@LucianDevine]

Game 2 ending, 100% agree that it was the vipers. He was willing to dig in his heels and fight to the bitter end, but in the face of abduct plus everything else, he would rather save his mental energy for the rest of the series.

[@RCG3.]

imagine fighting someone so good you just tap out even though you do have a chance. Serral is in Maru's head in this one

[@Npc-Mob]

This whole tournament looked like Serral just came, took his 500 grand and played some StarCraft II.

[@TheSword2212]

Well that money is the prize pool

[@CultOfMonika]

Serral is cyber bullying at this point and i love it. I hope he keeps becoming better in ZvZ

[@coreybeckett736]

Hi Winter, just want to say that your uploads improve my day, thank you for what you do.

[@Seisure33]

Hecate is a gorgeous map. seral looks so much better than before...he was already scary, but now...damn

[@nutzeeer]

You arent just commentating you are being smart about it. Keep doing what makes you you!

[@TheProswagonist]

Serral: "I don't play better on lan. I play the same. Everyone else just plays worse."

[@AndreaDelRiva]

Blizzard can't balance Serral, is not about race.

[@getoffthegames89]

Haters will say Zerg op, but serral is op

[@dotathewot390]

Sir winter, your prediction before you repost it, was came true❤, serral are the goat

[@AustiuNoMatterWho]

Can I just say you are the most informative and entertaining of all the Casters I've watched including the pros

[@OGuardadorDeRebanhos]

Hey, about the thanks and all, I don't play sc2 anymore but I've played for a while and following you was enough to give me great moments and a plat 2 with the great roach hydra. So, thanks for you as well, I surely can recommend, it made my road easier and funnier. Cheers.

[@ashtonsmith9682]

Best eco. immunity to cheese and timings. Best vision until ultra late game. Best spellcasters. Best unit synergy. always up 1-3 bases. Yeah serral is good. But zerg is even better.

[@cousinpatsey2471]

Everything you described is a trait of Serral, not Zerg.

[@TheSword2212]

Terran better then zerg

[@Phoenix-zu6on]

"that which doesnt kil you leaves you with a massive repair bill and a lot of emotional trauma" i need that on a t shirt

[@spethcial]

Your content got me into SC2. Here's to another 200k.

[@Nil-js4bf]

Serral is amazing. That said, as a Terran enjoyer, I think burrowed infestors are stupid. At least make them more visible than DTs given that they're so much more potent.

[@excesssum]

What an absolute domination by Serral! As much as i admire him for what he has done and achieved, i still wish Maru would've taken a map or two in this series to make it more exciting. Nevertheless, gg to both players! :)

[@malvokaquila6768]

As someone who can't be bothered to get gud I enjoy watching the best players in the world. Your commentary is quite entertaining as well. Brenda* GET OFF MY CREEP!

[@Polter6eist]

The nerves of steel they had in game 2, to even consider a draw!?!

[@Alloran]

And, once again, Serral shows the world how zerg is played to maximum effect. He's just too good. Maru has now played a couple of series against the Overlord of Zerg and come away looking like he can't compete against him. And it's friggin Maru, he's an incredible player, but he can't get his legs under him in these matches.

[@dylanhunt3855]

Winter, thank you for your work. You are by far the most entertaining SC2 caster. Cheers!

[@Ep0pteia]

A bitter series for Maru. Serral made him look easy.

[@lurpwgn]

Once Serral had any momentum he just didn't let off the gas.

[@michaelwoodby5261]

Serral needed Ricky and the boys in game two.

[@undertyped1]

Serral is the Flash of Sc2

[@raestlin86]

in the last game, Serral opens the mineral line for Maru's base around 9:40. Wonder why Maru never blocked the hole

[@ze_kenn]

56:46 Maru could've mined the minerals from those rocks, around 2k minerals there. Maru lost to itself, unfortunately he tilts a lot

[@plopsplipspladoodle]

WOOOOO!!! now cast the one where he crushes clem!

[@sirtalkalotdoolittle]

Maru's decision at the end of game 2 is both understandable and unforgivable.

[@flannelmann]

Maru probably couldn't see it coming

[@garethmichaeljones]

lol winter just shocked @57 mins

[@JSiuDev]

Serral micro is really really crazy!!

[@1Firstliner]

Dude I love your cast I always contribute with the likes Jimmy ask you hahahaha, greetings from Mexico, SC2 player since 2010, re-learning the game since 4 months ago, love clem games! ggs gl hf!

[@taykex3483]

The way workers died, It's almost like hero played for maru in game 3.

[@ElysaraCh]

Honestly I think it's ridiculous how many tools Zerg has to deal with basically any opposing unit composition, between fungal, neural parasite, blinding cloud, abduct, microbial shroud. and then having the flat-out best & hardest to beat end game sieging composition in the game with Brood Lords, whose only "counter" consistently ends up being just NOT FIGHTING THEM EVER. There's a lot of inherent problems in how many redundant answers Zerg has to basically everything under the sun, where both Terrans and Protoss are essentially forced into very specific unit choices to deal with situations. It's ironic that the race that's the best at replacing an army and acting like their units are expendable also has the least need to tech switch and adapt. That's how I imagine Zerg SHOULD have to play but instead they just don't. I think either the Infestor or Viper should just flat-out be deleted from the game tbh.

[@MrJohnBBQ]

Each of those spells has their specific use and they are largely related to zerg’s army composition, which in turn is largely reactive to what the opponent has on the field. Vipers + hydra/lurker/ravager. Infestors + ling/bane/ultras/broods. Sure, if you’re Serral you can probably make any composition work, but he’s in his own league.

[@moneygrab610]

Terrans have the same compositional issue. It’s Marine-Marauder with an all-purpose spellcaster in the Ghost. Then you get to pick a support unit in Widow Mines or Tanks. The only thing that ever really changes is the ratio of each component. Zerg has Ling-Bane with a spellcaster, and their main tech is whatever is needed to deal with opponent’s mid-game. These are both standard armies that are fundamentally built for every situation, and the core units of each are low-tier and easily replaceable. There is not a whole ton of drastic tech switching for Terran or Zerg, who again, only really change their support units and ratios. Now Protoss actually has a valid complaint because they do have to carefully choose their tech, and other units simply won’t do. Colossi are not the same as Storm, which functions much differently than a Disruptor. To pretend that this decision is the same as choosing Tanks or Widow Mines to counter Zergling is wild though. You could have a game with very specific counters like AOE2, where engaging into counter units is incredibly cost-inefficient, thus requiring you to play the game of cyclical out-countering your opponents. But SC2 is fast-paced the the battles are not as tactical, so having a core army that does well in most situations serves players well.

[@robsylian]

Old, tired argument. You may have had a point when Zerg had infested marines but those days are long gone. Let’s look at how many Zerg make the top 20 in each region’s GM ladder: NA: 6 zergs/20 Europe: 3 zergs/20 Asia: 4 zergs/20 (+1 random) Not to mention the last 16 was filled with terran pros. At this point it’s not the race doing the damage, it’s the player. There’s so much micro involved in making any of the operations you mentioned work. It’s Serral that maximises those tools like no other; and when the race is nerfed, his ceiling rises.

[@2639theboss]

​@@moneygrab610Ghosts literally counter every single other spell caster. You dont need other spell casters because you have one that counters all mid to late game comps in all matchups. They also have mech, bio, and bio mech. Thats not a compositional issue. Thats having the best unit in the game.

[@kenn1116]

I felt like infestors are too strong but then I realized it’s just the fact they burrow that makes them too strong. Widow mines burrow but can’t move and have to wobble in plain view before setting up. Festors can just borrow and like a shark just swim the entire map undetected.And as we just saw serral had endless lings to throw at turrets used for detection. Ravens just too costly and use the same infrastructure as Medivacs to roll around with 4 of them at a time like overseers. Serrals is just too good tho.

[@Vici0us369]

The dream match to me would be Life Vs Serral to see who is the better zerg, but thats only if Life have been playing.

[@DigitalAscensionArt]

This is so depressing that this is still Star Craft 2. Where’s the love? We can’t get a 3??? 😒😢

[@BadgerAhsavarak]

the starcraft ghost got cancelled cut me deep...."The way of the Warrior!"