Quote:
Originally Posted by Archon_Wing
Though superior mechanics can overwhelm any creative plays. It's just that he can no longer overpower people at the pro level. Though I would say the value of creativity is overstated as most people are going to stick to the FOTM to win anyways. Or revolve around subverting the FOTM. But then again, tournament and ladder play are 2 different issues. I do think the stereotype of Idra as a ragemacrobot to be a bit overstated. It's easy to say he needs to learn and adapt, but in reality doing these things is beyond the realm of even good players. Hindsight is 20/20 when you're looking at a replay. Actually playing the fast paced game which allows so little time for reaction, much less strategy is another. This is in addition to that most of us simply don't understand the game on that level. It looks simple, sure. But the devil is in the details.
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Well sure, hes a GM zerg player so he is better than 99% of the players. But you said it yourself, hes no longer that good as a pro and that is the relevant skill group to compare him to. Idra is still pretty great at ladder afaik. I think the effect of creativity and flexibility is quite subtle in a game like starcraft, and really speaking only high diamond + players (1v1 only) really notice and see the significance of slight variations in build orders, at least while watching official match casts. If you watch any pro players stream, they go about things so quickly and (seemingly) mechanically that its easy to miss. However, if you watch a masters players stream ( for example, I sometimes watch Rekatans replays) you get an idea of just how many factors actually go into a high level game when theyre not executed perfectly. As you said, ladder play and tournament play are vastly different, and probably a lot more important in tournament play. Its not even about throwing your opponent off by going fast DT or a 6-pool, its about making small changes to your build against different players.