MarineKing - DongRaeGu: The Rivalry

kollin

United Kingdom8380 Posts

January 12 2013 18:57 GMT

The Marineking - DongRaeGu Rivalry

Prologue

Throughout the short life of Starcraft 2 we have seen many rivalries. From Naniwa - Nestea to a more recent Life - Leenock, inter player relationships have been fraught with taunting and potato chips (I'm looking at you Parting). One of the biggest rivalries we have had in the last year, has been the Marineking - DongRaeGu rivalry.

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Incredible picture from fusefuse, check out his blog here: www.teamliquid.net/blog/fuse

Marineking has two big rivalries within his time. The first of these rivalries was against fellow top Terran, Mvp. The second is against the the monster himself, DongRaeGu. In this blog, we shall be looking at the latter, and some of the truly epic games it has produced.

The Beginning

Unlike a lot of rivalries in Starcraft, this one first showed its face in a team league. The setting was GSTL May. The teams were MVP and Prime. It was the ace match, the score was 3:3 and everything was to play for. The powerhouse himself, Marineking faced off against the MVP rookie DRG, in DRG's first televised game. Despite the crowd, the commentators, and quite possibly the team expecting Marineking to take an easy win for himself and Prime, DRG disagreed and managed to take down Marineking, knocking Prime out of the tournament as well as giving us a glimpse of what was to come in the next year.

Marineking and DongRaeGu next butted heads in the Arena of Legends 1. It was an important match, as while both of them had been successful in team leagues and individual tournaments, but neither had their first big win yet. DongRaeGu was nearing his peak at this point, especially in ZvT, and was the favorite to take the victory. Despite all the doubts, Marineking simply crushed DongRaeGu 4-1, which really kicked off the rivalry as we know it today.

When the budding rivalry really kicked off was when they met in semifinals of the second AoL tournament. Once again, DRG was the favorite going in, and this time he delivered. He smacked Marineking around, winning 3-1 and really solidified his place as his place as the king of ZvT, aptly named 'The Terran Killer'.

The Rivalry Grows

Marineking and DRG met again in the finals of the FXOpen Invitational Series 5. This was where DRG gained the edge in their rivalry. The public opinion going into this was that they were fairly evenly matched, but DRG's muta control and multitasking was just on a different planet when compared to Marineking's. He absolutely demolished Marineking 4-0, gaining him the edge in their rivalry as he was 2-1 on series.

They met once again in the 2012 GSL Season 1 Round of 16, where Marineking lost to DRG 2-0 and was eventually knocked out of the group. DRG eventually went on to win the entire tournament.

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Deal with it

MLG - Titans Clash

Then one of the most important tournaments' of all for their rivalry came along. MLG Winter Arena. Marineking had stormed through the Winners Bracket of the tournament, dropping only one map to the multiple Code S players he faced. DRG had a harder route, getting knocked down to the Losers Bracket early and primarily having to fight his way through the players' Marineking disposed of. Eventually they met in the final, and in what could have been a slightly bittersweet end to a fantastic tournament of upsets and incredible play, Marineking beat DRG 4-3, after going down 2-1 but coming back on extended series to win his first LAN ever.

They met in 3 MLGs after that, Marineking winning the Winter Championship after destroying the (once again) favorite DRG 5-2. In the MLG Spring Arena 1, DRG would eke out a close 4-3 victory, and in the Spring Championship would beat Marineking 2-0, going onto the finals to beat Alicia and even the MLGs won score at 1 Arena and 1 Championship each.

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Marineking is overwhelmed by emotion after winning his first big LAN ever

Epilogue

Since we have had these incredible, tension filled matches both players have kind of slumped, which obviously reduces chances of a rematch. However, with both of them looking stronger and stronger as time goes on, maybe we can go back to the TvZ of 1 day ago, where marines and marauders were split, mutalisks were microed and crowds screamed themselves hoarse.

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If you wonderful people enjoyed this, please post which rivalry/player you want me to write about next!

neoghaleon55

United States7435 Posts

January 12 2013 20:04 GMT

I am sorry, but you not know the full story between these two.
they met waaaaaaaaay earlier than mlg arena 1

kollin

United Kingdom8380 Posts

January 12 2013 20:05 GMT

I think that was the first time they played in the finals of a big tournament, so it seemed logical to start off from there.

neoghaleon55

United States7435 Posts

January 12 2013 20:07 GMT

Deleted

neoghaleon55

United States7435 Posts

January 12 2013 20:08 GMT

On January 13 2013 05:05 kollin wrote:
I think that was the first time they played in the finals of a big tournament, so it seemed logical to start off from there.

I disagree. Doesn't have to be a big final to make it relevant. they've met in other finals before.
Also the FXO invitational 5 finals happened before MLG arena 1.

kollin

United Kingdom8380 Posts

January 12 2013 20:08 GMT

Ah OK, so essentially I missed out on the GSTL bit. OK thanks, I'll add something about that into my writeup with my own writing style. You might want to change that to a link btw as it's a fair long post. Also I'm pretty sure I did put FXO finals before MLG Arena 1.

Bagration

United States18282 Posts

January 12 2013 20:14 GMT

On January 13 2013 05:07 neoghaleon55 wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +

TommyP did an excellent write up earlier about these two. These are the previews/reviews for the OSL.

September 16th, 2012
Rivalry Renewed
by TommyP

Park Soo Ho. Lee Jung Hoon. You may know them better as (Z)

MVP_DongRaeGu and (T)

MarineKingPrime (MKP), respectively. These are two of the most respected names in Starcraft. They have dominated the competitive scene since early 2012 but their sworn rivalry started almost a year earlier. In the ace match between teams MVP and Prime in 2011 May GSTL, at the score of 3:3, DongRaeGu was sent out to stop the wrecking ball that was MarineKingPrime. With everything on the line, the untested DRG (his very first professional match) took down MKP, dissolving Team Prime's hopes for the championship that season, and began one of the longest, most epic rivalries in E-Sports history.

It would not be long after their first meeting that DongRaeGu would face MarineKing again. During the first GomTV Arena of Legends, the two faced off in the finals, where MarineKing defeated DRG with a score of 4:1. However, at the start of 2012, DRG returned the favor by destroying MKP in the GomTV's King of Kongs and the FXO Invitational Series V with scores 3:1 and 4:0, respectively.

Soon after, DongRaeGu met MarineKing in Code S, and took him down with a score of 2:0 in the round of 16. From there, DRG would go on to win the GSL championship, achieving the most prestigious title a StarCraft II professional can earn (something that MKP, to this day, has yet been able to do).

It wasn't long after their GSL meeting that DongRaeGu was again confronted by MarineKing, this time in New York City for the MLG Winter Arena. They met in the finals, the first of many. On that day, MarineKing exacted his revenge and slew DRG with a score of 4:2

Just weeks later, DRG would find himself in the grand finals of MLG Winter Championship in Columbus, Ohio... once again facing MarineKing. There, MKP got the better of DRG and sent him home with another silver; final score: 5:2. After this, DRG went into a bit of a slump, dropping from Code S the very next season. Yet in time, another MLG Arena came along, and with it, a third MLG finals in a row for DRG and MKP. However, this time DongRaeGu finally got the monkey off his back and ended his slump by vanquishing MarineKing in an epic series spanning 7 games, ending with a score of 4:3. The raw emotions displayed by DRG after winning showed exactly how special this rivalry is.

+ Show Spoiler +

The games played in all their meetings were nothing short of spectacular. These two players are so evenly matched, and arguably, just better than anyone else in 2012 (especially during their MLG runs) that they put spectators on the edge of their seats just waiting for something amazing to happen. Personally, the three MLG finals these two played against each other are the best moments I have ever had watching StarCraft II. The excitement I felt each time is simply indescribable.

Their latest meeting was at MLG Anaheim in the winner's bracket finals, where DRG 2-0'd MarineKing, sending him to the loser bracket where MKP would fall to the runner up, (P)

Alicia (who made the finals only to get curb stomped by DRG).

Now, in the most storied esports tournament in Korea, the All-Kill OSL, they face each other once again... with everything on the line. Loser goes home, winner advances to the Round of 8 and continues his journey on the royal road. One map decides it all. Even though I will be nervous, I wouldn't have it any other way.

OSL Coverage: DongRaeGu Destroys MarineKing in Ro16, Continues on Royal Road!!!!

September 18th, 2012
Sweet Retribution
by neoghaleon55

With a big smile on his face and a ticket to the quarter finals in one of Korea's most prestigious StarLeagues, (Z)

MVP_DongRaeGu couldn't be happier with himself. It was a well deserved win, on a tough map against a strong opponent. As expected, (T)

MarineKingPrime opted for mech play on the small map, Ohana. Taking advantage of MKP's lack of anti air until the first Thor came out, DRG hit a critical timing that shuts down the Terran's third base for an extended time, killing a slew of SCVs while he was at it. As MarineKing pushed out, he was constantly met by DRG's roach back-stab that harassed his natural. While occupying the king-of-marines with his roach micro, DRG took two additional bases, keeping up with his economy while teching to broodlords. A few poor judgments by MKP soon after lost him almost all his unsieged tanks, as roaches ravages the much slower mech army. Frustrated, MKP decided to push while DRG continues to back-stab the natural of his opponent. MarineKing managed to raze two of DRG's bases at the 7 and 9 o' clock positions, only to be ambushed by a ton of speed roaches at the ramp. This engagement costed MKP his entire army, setting him behind by over 100 supplies. DongRaeGu took charge of his lead by maxing out on an infestor/broodlords/corruptors composition and pushes the Terran straight out of the OSL. GG.

What makes this victory even more satisfying is the underlying story behind it. Just weeks before, during group selection, MarineKing cajoled an always trusting DongRaeGu to add him to DRG's OSL Ro16 group, promising to pick a weaker player soon after so that they both could advance onto the Ro8, together. DRG was hesitant, but ended up agreeing to MKP's plan...only to be betrayed by the sly Terran just moments later. Indeed, MarineKing instead picked (P)

By.Rain, a Protoss player with some 80% winrate against Zergs and a much weaker 60% winrate against Terrans. Thus, MKP had effectively screwed over DRG by ensuring that his own chances to advance was much higher than that of his longtime rival.

This isn't the first time MarineKing has screwed someone over during group selection. The last season of GSL Code S Ro16 saw MarineKing screw his then-best-friend, (P)

MC, by placing him into the group of death. Yet for all his manipulations and scheming, fate has not been kind to this Terran king. His plan backfired...twice. MC immediately crushes MarineKing in their group that season... just like DongRaeGu had snapped him in half today. What was more ironic this time, was that MarineKing ended up losing to byRain as well, a loss that has contributed to ending his dreams for the OSL championship this season.

So points to ponder:

1. Karma's a bitch
2. DON'T F#$% with DongRaeGu.

Read DRG's Victory Interview Here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=369774

Yo, you just one-upped this guy on his own blog. That's cruel :\

Poopi

France12790 Posts

January 12 2013 20:18 GMT

I remember it. DRG was almost unknown at the time and MarineKing was crushing other teams zergs in other tourneys than GSTL. He was sent out as the ace and everyone expected him to win. DRG used a modified version of Spanishiwa's build and held off MKP's agression, then build up his advantage finally to roll over MKP's only bio medivacs compo with a TON of banelings.
You can see it here at 1:16 :

Ever since I watched this game I wanted MKP to badly destroy DRG

SiyaenSokol

South Africa16 Posts

January 12 2013 20:53 GMT

Both of these players are damn good. It is hard to pick, as I used to be a Terran player, and now playing for Zerg.

MrCon

France29748 Posts

January 12 2013 22:23 GMT

#10

It's interesting to note that it's in the Arena of Legends ( it's a GSL special tourney, not MLG neoghaleon55) that MKP used the double factory hellion for the first time iirc, and he crushed DRG with what was a new build at the time.

neoghaleon55

United States7435 Posts

January 13 2013 03:24 GMT

#11

On January 13 2013 07:23 MrCon wrote:
It's interesting to note that it's in the Arena of Legends ( it's a GSL special tourney, not MLG neoghaleon55) that MKP used the double factory hellion for the first time iirc, and he crushed DRG with what was a new build at the time.

I know that. I did not write this blog, yo.

Also, you're wrong!
MLG Anahein 2011 was the first time reactored hellions were used en mass by slayers clan (june). By arena of legends 1, that build was already 3 months old.