Three years ago, MaruPrime qualified for the first ever GSL Open. Though that season will forever and always belong to ephemeral Fruitdealer, many future stars also came from that first class. There is a great feel of tradition then, that three years later, four of the sixty-four players who graced the first GSL will once more compete against each other in one of the greatest competitions in the world. MC was the first among them to make a name for himself as he won two GSLs. Polt then won the Super Tournament, and went on to become an American hero. TaeJa went on a killing spree during the summer of 2012, letting everyone know that online play does translate to the live stage.
And finally, there is Maru. As the youngest and last member of that elite class, Maru has joined their ranks as the OSL Champion.
As you can tell from the time gap, it has been a long and tough climb to the top for Maru. After his first appearance in the GSL Open, Maru was unable to qualify for the GSL for nearly a year. He then spent yet another year as a fringe Code S and Code A player, occasionally showing amazing games during his Code A runs, only to fall short time and time again in Code S. HotS didn't offer much hope at first, with Maru starting off the first season stuck in Code A.
Maru was not the only one struggling—his entire team was falling apart as well. Byun still crumbled in stressful situations. Instead of being revitalized by the new changes in HotS, MKP became even less focused, more haphazard in his play. Creator fell the hardest of all, his superior defensive talent almost completely nullified in the new expansion. At this lowest point in both Maru and Prime's histories, even a player such as SKT's Soo was able to call out Prime as being "easy" without reproach.
85 days ago, change began as Maru entered his first ever OSL after winning his Up & Down matches. 64 days ago, Maru scored an upset as he stomped both sOs and effort in his Ro32 group. Some called it bo1 luck, and others instead blamed sOs for his poor play. Either way, Maru moved on. 34 days ago, Maru pulled off his second upset as he made it out of a group containing Trap, Supernova and Kangho in first place. And again, some called it luck, and others called it an easy group. Whatever the case, most agreed that it was the end of the road for an impressive Maru. Reaching the Ro8 was a grand achievement for one so young, but there was no more luck to be had from there on out, with only the chosen few able to move on.
29 days ago, Maru scored his third upset as he defeated the paragon of consistency, Symbol, by a score of 3 - 1. And while it was impressive, no one believed Maru could get past Innovation. 22 days ago, Maru upset the best player in the world in Innovation by a score of 4 - 0. And once again, even as everyone admitted they were impressed, the story shifted toward Innovation’s inability to defend against enemy all-ins. 11 days ago, Maru scored his final upset as he defeated Rain 4 - 2 in the grand finals of the OSL.
Surely now, no one dares say "I'm impressed with Maru, but..."
No, there are no more excuses left. No more reasons to give. From beginning to end, Maru has been doubted, and from beginning to end, Maru has crushed those doubts. He has forced us to reevaluate him as a player in each and every round of the OSL. After three years of fighting, Maru has reached the summit of Starcraft 2.
So now where will he go now? That is the real question. Some champions immediately fall off. Some get complacent, while others just cannot keep up with the evolving metagame. Others are intoxicated by that moment of glory, hungering for only more. Some are satisfied with their one major achievement, and are happy to settle at a slightly lower level. What kind of Champion will Maru become? He is young, but he is a veteran of over three years, of Brood War and StarCraft II. Is he exhausted, or does his passion still burn? Will he get his championship only to fall down into the pits like Seed, Jjakji and Sniper? Will he burn bright for a year like Life, MMA and DRG, before burning into ash? Or will he become a legend, a player like Mvp?
For a champion, the hardest trial is always after the first victory. The WCS Season Finals is our first step toward finding out what kind of champion Maru will be.
Today, he is in Germany. On Friday he will play his first match. And by Sunday he will have either fallen from his lofty perch, or will be soaring to new heights.
WCS Season II Finals: Ro16 Group D Preview
Maru, MMA, aLive*, Scarlett
*aLive replaces Jim, who was unable to participate due to Visa issues.
The first thing that stands out is who isn’t here. Jim once more faced visa issues, and because of that he was replaced by the WCS America's 6th place finisher EG.aLive. This changes the entire complexion of the group, as Jim added added a lot of unpredictability to an already fearsome bunch of players. With Alive replacing Jim, the group has become been pared down to two races, and the myriad scenarios of "will this player get his/her best match-up or not" has been greatly simplified. Now, it boils down to two major questions: Which Terran has the best TvT, and which ones can beat Acer.Scarlett's monster ZvT?
As to the first question. it is hard to say. To start, all three players are stylistically similar in being heavy bio users. Among the three of them I give MaruPrime the edge as he is the most willing to cheese, giving him a wider breadth of options on how to eliminate the other two. Between MMA and aLive, it's close. Acer.MMA showed a lot of strength in the Terran mirror during the ATC Finals, but in the end he still went even against ForGG and lost to Dream. Alive on the other hand lost to Taeja fairly easily in WCS America, so it makes it hard to say exactly how he matches up against the Acer Terran, but for now I give the slight edge to MMA.
Now, about the only Zerg, and only foreigner in the group. Sandwiched between three Terrans, Scarlett is probably slightly behind against Maru because of his versatility, able to win with 11/11, proxy reapers, or in large macro games. She is probably even with MMA, so that will come down to mental strength and maps (Scarlett should feel free to tell us we've grossly over or underestimated her ZvT if she reads this). And like we saw from her 3 - 0 series against aLive in WCS America, she has the advantage in that match-up.
Put it all together, and the favorites in the group to make it out in first and second are most likely Maru and Scarlett. After winning OSL, Maru is the favorite in terms of both momentum and skill. Scarlett is probably the other favorite when you consider just how strong her TvZ is and that she will most likely be only preparing for TvZ against opponents who have to split their time between TvT and TvZ. But this is still an extremely even group all around, with any of the players able to beat the others on a given day. Alive vs. Scarlett is the only one that seems kind of one-sided, but aLive could definitely TvT his way into the Ro8.
For all of the players here, they will all have to harness their very best play to move on. Maru has to find the strength he found in his OSL run. MMA has to bring out that form he had years ago if he wants a spot. Scarlett will have to show that not only can she play at the same high level she did against Dream and aLive, but do it over and over again against the likes of Maru and MMA. And Alive will have to call on his dark power to show up at every tournament and eliminate fan favorites.
"Scarlett is probably the other favorite when you consider just how strong her TvZ is and that she will most likely be only preparing for TvZ against opponents who have to split their time between TvT and TvZ." I believe you mean ZvT unless she switched to Terran and everyone else switched to Zerg XD Having said that, I agree. Maru and Scarlett to take this group easy.
On August 22 2013 06:51 Gatesleeper wrote: Haha, 4 players out of Group B in GSL Open Season 1 are going to the WCS Season Finals this weekend: Maru, MC, Taeja, and Polt.
On August 22 2013 06:51 Gatesleeper wrote: Haha, 4 players out of Group B in GSL Open Season 1 are going to the WCS Season Finals this weekend: Maru, MC, Taeja, and Polt.
"Four great warriors of old, drawn together by the unrelenting strings of fate, headed toward a final battle. Only one will stand when the dust settles", yada yada. I think I've seen a movie like that
On August 22 2013 06:51 Gatesleeper wrote: Haha, 4 players out of Group B in GSL Open Season 1 are going to the WCS Season Finals this weekend: Maru, MC, Taeja, and Polt.
On August 22 2013 06:51 Gatesleeper wrote: Haha, 4 players out of Group B in GSL Open Season 1 are going to the WCS Season Finals this weekend: Maru, MC, Taeja, and Polt.
On August 22 2013 06:51 Gatesleeper wrote: Haha, 4 players out of Group B in GSL Open Season 1 are going to the WCS Season Finals this weekend: Maru, MC, Taeja, and Polt.
I'm impressed with Maru, but...it was more Rain choking than Maru playing exceptionally brilliant. He played extremely well, no doubt, but he doesn't strike me as unquestionably dominating, like MVP, Nestea, DRG, MMA, Life did at their respective heights, or Innovation did more recently.
On August 22 2013 06:51 Gatesleeper wrote: Haha, 4 players out of Group B in GSL Open Season 1 are going to the WCS Season Finals this weekend: Maru, MC, Taeja, and Polt.
Most people here are seriously underestimating MMA. He has won 66% of his games in HotS, and he has won 77% of his games against Zerg; and he's only lost four best of 3s/5s. One of those losses was to Ret, two were to Hyun, and the most recent loss was to life by a score of 2-3. It's not like he is losing to bad players. He just isn't as dominant as he was a year or two ago, but everyone is making it sound like he is absolute trash now.
On August 22 2013 07:39 LittleRedBoy wrote: Most people here are seriously underestimating MMA. He has won 66% of his games in HotS, and he has won 77% of his games against Zerg; and he's only lost four best of 3s/5s. One of those losses was to Ret, two were to Hyun, and the most recent loss was to life by a score of 2-3. It's not like he is losing to bad players. He just isn't as dominant as he was a year or two ago, but everyone is making it sound like he is absolute trash now.
I've always thought MMA was a bit of an ass. I just hope that Maru gets eliminated though, cheesing three times in a semifinal is just not fun to watch. So Scarlett and aLive gogogogo plz :D
MMA > Scarlett (line2) and Scarlett > MMA(line5) not make that much sense ?
It happens often between two closely matched opponents. Like the last couple of times Parting and Life have been placed in the same group in GSL. Life would convincingly win the first series, but Parting would win the 2nd series in the end.
"I'm impressed with Maru, but..." Prime still isnt very impressive. sorry I couldnt help it. Maru stands at the top of the world right now and is playing like a total beast... but no one on Prime actually followed him up. Maru is the one and only change/improvement to Prime sad to say. Creator is still code B. Byun and MKP are still code A, missing a good opportunity in the Up&Downs. But MKP somehow lost to Swagger (Killer) {how????} and Byun lost once again to Soo, backing up Soo previous comments somewhat . Ok Im done nitpicking now
On August 22 2013 09:13 yudan wrote: I think it should be Scarlett's ZvT rather than saying her TvZ, in the article it refers to her TvZ matchup multiple times.
I agree, it's minor but no reason not to fix minor mistakes.
Okay, its fairly obvious that Maru will advance. His skills imo are way above the others, two 2nd tier koreans and a foreigner (even though she may be the best of them). After that though, I think it is a toss up. I'm gonna go ahead and say MMA will advance, just from first thoughts.
Pretty much feeling the same way about the OP predictions. Maru should be #1 and I could see MMA vs Scarlett pretty much being 50/50. Just have to see who wins the the most important bo3
Burn into ash? Blasphemy. The Ascendant One will rise again like a phoenix. Be glad he is not vengeful, or surely Life would strike you down upon his return.
Secondarily, these articles are sexy, but you guys are running out of time to publish the last two!
(My predictions are Maru and Scarlett, FWIW, though I'm a little biased)
I haven't watched Maru's round of 32 or 16 matches, but if he can top both groups, it's not just preparing for a match like how he knew the builds to use against Innovation.
MMA has been making a comeback. He's not at the same level as his previous peak, but he's definitely improving from how he was.
On August 22 2013 06:51 Gatesleeper wrote: Haha, 4 players out of Group B in GSL Open Season 1 are going to the WCS Season Finals this weekend: Maru, MC, Taeja, and Polt.
"Four great warriors of old, drawn together by the unrelenting strings of fate, headed toward a final battle. Only one will stand when the dust settles", yada yada. I think I've seen a movie like that
The only thing more awesome would be if all 4 ended up in the same group.
That didn't happen, but they did all end up in different groups. You know what this means...the final 4 this weekend MUST be Maru, MC, Taeja, and Polt. The War of the Ancients.
On August 22 2013 06:51 Gatesleeper wrote: Haha, 4 players out of Group B in GSL Open Season 1 are going to the WCS Season Finals this weekend: Maru, MC, Taeja, and Polt.
"Four great warriors of old, drawn together by the unrelenting strings of fate, headed toward a final battle. Only one will stand when the dust settles", yada yada. I think I've seen a movie like that
The only thing more awesome would be if all 4 ended up in the same group.
That didn't happen, but they did all end up in different groups. You know what this means...the final 4 this weekend MUST be Maru, MC, Taeja, and Polt. The War of the Ancients.
I think he means the hoodie before that one - it had a bit of a shine to the hood. (Dammit, I should've bought some Prime swag before the store got stomped down to just the latest hoodie. Now I can only hope opterown grows tired of his and decides to ebay.)
Speaking of that paragon of LR legend, I believe that Maru will get out of this group.
I believe he will, however, do it in second place, because Scarlett knows how to destroy terrans.
On August 22 2013 11:31 Tosster wrote: There are 0 chances that MMA advances...
Actually after how he did at ATC, ZvT being tough, MMAvZ making a resurgence, and an inconsistent Alive replacing Jim. I think MMA is actually coming out of this with Maru.
On August 22 2013 17:20 cywinr wrote: everyone is going to only practice vT so scarlett will come out in first place and it will come down to mma and maru. probably maru. but i hope mma
I'm not so sure. Maru can perfectly full-cheese/all-in a bo3. He almost did it for a bo7...
I don't see any reason why you would predict the same match differently if it happens twice but I guess we kinda all want scarlett to advance reminds me a little bit of liquid winning the best "foreign" team award in 2012 ^^
I think Scarlett has a good shot of making it out because MMA and Alive are pretty mediocre these days, but saying that Maru has a SLIGHT advantage vs Scarlett....give me a break. Maru is currently the reigning KR champion and you are going to tell me hes going to lose to a foreigner?
On August 22 2013 21:39 sVnteen wrote: I don't see any reason why you would predict the same match differently if it happens twice but I guess we kinda all want scarlett to advance reminds me a little bit of liquid winning the best "foreign" team award in 2012 ^^
predicting the specific sequence of a dual tournament style group is basically a shot in the dark anyway D:
Personally, I doesn't matter to me whom anyone says player A will beat player B. As a fan of StarCraft I can not think of 16 other players that I would rather see all play at the same time. I'm waiting anxiously to watch all these games.
On August 22 2013 22:50 Irre wrote: but saying that Maru has a SLIGHT advantage vs Scarlett....give me a break. Maru is currently the reigning KR champion and you are going to tell me hes going to lose to a foreigner?
Aligulac is 52-48 on Maru vs Scarlett, for what it's worth. According to Aligulac, her odds look better against Maru's TvZ than they do against MMA's TvZ.
Also, does Scarlett really qualify as a foreigner right now? She's been living in Korea and training in a Korean team house for the last...what...six months? She tweets in Korean some percentage of the time. She hovers between 8th-16th on the Korean GM ladder. Not to mention she beat MVP, BBongBBonb, and GanZi on the GSL stage. Surely she at least has graduated from "foreigner" to "korean B teamer" by now....
On August 22 2013 22:50 Irre wrote: but saying that Maru has a SLIGHT advantage vs Scarlett....give me a break. Maru is currently the reigning KR champion and you are going to tell me hes going to lose to a foreigner?
Aligulac is 52-48 on Maru vs Scarlett, for what it's worth. According to Aligulac, her odds look better against Maru's TvZ than they do against MMA's TvZ.
Also, does Scarlett really qualify as a foreigner right now? She's been living in Korea and training in a Korean team house for the last...what...six months? She tweets in Korean some percentage of the time. She hovers between 8th-16th on the Korean GM ladder. Not to mention she beat MVP, BBongBBonb, and GanZi on the GSL stage. Surely she at least has graduated from "foreigner" to "korean B teamer" by now....
I feel that Aligulac sometimes doesn't handle significant changes in performance over a short period of time well, especially in Korea where Maru's entire rise has come in the space of ~30 games. From the start of Maru's run in OSL (June 20) he's played 32 games counted by Aligulac. MMA in the same time period has played 79 games, and Scalett has played 53, and neither Scarlett or MMA has exhibited the same jump in performance that Maru has. So I would be inclined to say that Maru is a bit underrated by Aligulac. I'm excited/hopeful to see how they match up if they end up playing each other.
I just can't believe how many maru doubters there are. Personally I predict Maru to sweep the group 4-0, KR premier league(osl/gsl) is the hardest sc2 competetion there is. KR season 1, 2 and 3 will be the 3 hardest tournaments of 2013, the global finals will only come in 4th place. As for 2nd place I pick MMA , seeing the atc cup finals I give him the edge above Scarlett in the match up, and Alive's recent history doesn't give him a lot of chance in my opninion. On a side note: I really hope Maru plays with the OptimusPrime tag, that would be so awesome. That would technically also counter the artosis-curse if Dan predicts Maru to win, since there won't be a Maru :D
On August 23 2013 01:09 balukaz wrote: I just can't believe how many maru doubters there are. Personally I predict Maru to sweep the group 4-0, KR premier league(osl/gsl) is the hardest sc2 competetion there is. KR season 1, 2 and 3 will be the 3 hardest tournaments of 2013, the global finals will only come in 4th place. As for 2nd place I pick MMA , seeing the atc cup finals I give him the edge above Scarlett in the match up, and Alive's recent history doesn't give him a lot of chance in my opninion. On a side note: I really hope Maru plays with the OptimusPrime tag, that would be so awesome. That would technically also counter the artosis-curse if Dan predicts Maru to win, since there won't be a Maru :D
Maru is inconsistent. Heck, i won't wonder if he will bomb out in 3rd place from his GSL Ro32 group. Also, do not forget that on my memory it is one of first events outside of Korea Maru will attend. So you never know.
On August 22 2013 22:50 Irre wrote: but saying that Maru has a SLIGHT advantage vs Scarlett....give me a break. Maru is currently the reigning KR champion and you are going to tell me hes going to lose to a foreigner?
Aligulac is 52-48 on Maru vs Scarlett, for what it's worth. According to Aligulac, her odds look better against Maru's TvZ than they do against MMA's TvZ.
They play on different regions. Aligulac doesn't handle that well.
I'm actually going to go with MMA and Scarlett, MMA has been looking really good lately and I think that the fact he doesn't play in Korea as much benefits him vs. Maru.
Either way, I'm beginning to get extremely psyched by the upcoming finals!
I think he means the hoodie before that one - it had a bit of a shine to the hood. (Dammit, I should've bought some Prime swag before the store got stomped down to just the latest hoodie. Now I can only hope opterown grows tired of his and decides to ebay.)
Speaking of that paragon of LR legend, I believe that Maru will get out of this group.
I believe he will, however, do it in second place, because Scarlett knows how to destroy terrans.
I think Maru has the edge on Scarlett if he cheeses and isn't picked up at the first possible opportunity.
If it goes beyond that and Scarlett defends the first push, Maru hasn't been stomping quite in TvZ as hard as people seem to be estimating. He lost to soO and dropped a game to Symbol, so Scarlett has a chance if it comes to that match.
Also, people looking at Scarlett's ZvT or MMA's TvZ in that matchup need to remember they're teammates and know each other's style incredibly well. It makes the match between them difficult to call in ways predicting any other match in those matchups isn't. It'll probably come down to if MMA makes a mistake, which he sometimes does. The balance between the two is very well put by Stuchiu in that whoever wins the first round is not necessarily likely to win the second if there is one.
aLive just isn't up to the standard required here. There are players he might have fared better against in other groups, but he's had a relatively easy run through WCS America.
EPT
MaruPrime qualified for the first ever GSL Open. Though that season will forever and always belong to ephemeral Fruitdealer, many future stars also came from that first class. There is a great feel of tradition then, that three years later, four of the sixty-four players who graced the first GSL will once more compete against each other in one of the greatest competitions in the world. 
MC was the first among them to make a name for himself as he won two GSLs. 
Maru, 
Scarlett
Acer.Scarlett's monster ZvT? 
sorry I couldnt help it. Maru stands at the top of the world right now and is playing like a total beast... but no one on Prime actually followed him up. Maru is the one and only change/improvement to Prime sad to say. Creator is still code B. Byun and MKP are still code A, missing a good opportunity in the Up&Downs. But MKP somehow lost to Swagger (Killer) {how????} and Byun lost once again to Soo, backing up Soo previous comments somewhat 
. Ok Im done nitpicking now 
