SK Telecom 2014
Proleague

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Team MVP's resurgence was Round 2's most captivating story but it would not conclude with a fairytale ending. Jin Air Green Wings, the #1 team in the regular season, ended MVP's underdog run through the Round 2 playoffs and routed them 4-1 in the finals.

MVP had stifled powerful ace players like KT_Zest and CJ_herO in their earlier playoffs matches but they could not escape the wrath of JinAir_Maru. The sixteen year-old Terran phenomenon came out as the starter for Jin Air and racked up three wins, all but assuring a victory for his team. Sure enough, JinAir_Cure was able to close out the series once Maru finally fell to MVP's Super.


The first game of the series turned out to be the most interesting one of the entire night as Maru and Billowy played an unorthodox match. Maru brought back the one-base marine-hellion drops that he had favored nearly two years ago, forcing Billowy to react quickly to avoid taking critical damage early on.

The unusual openers saw both players transition into an awkward midgame where neither seemed entirely comfortable with their tech or unit compositions. For a time, Billowy seemed to be playing the situation out better, picking off medivacs and tanks with his blink stalkers while slowly teching up the colossi. Unfortunately, any advantage Billowy had was instantly thrown away the moment he attacked up a narrow ramp to try and stop Maru from claiming a third base. Billowy's army was annihilated by the far better positioned Terran forces, and it was not long before he was forced to concede the first GG.

The next three games went by in a flurry. DongRaeGu was sent out to shut down Maru before things got out of hand, but found himself getting shut down instead by a proxy-barracks bunker rush. TAiLS attempted to stop the bleeding by going for a blink-stalker all-in against Maru, but his plan exploded on the runway as Maru decimated his economy with an even faster hellion drop. Maru's reign of terror was finally ended by Super, whose fast oracle-zealot-stalker attack could not be stopped despite being scouted.

Although Maru had been defeated, Super faced the almost impossible task of coming back from a 1-3 deficit. With Rogue and sOs still sitting on the bench, Jin Air gave Cure the opportunity to close out the series. The often overshadowed Terran managed to deliver, punishing Super's attempts to take a fast third base with constant aggression. Though Super briefly looked like he had a chance of winning after taking one mid-game engagement with good force fields, hopes of an MVP comeback were immediately crushed by reinforcing waves of marauders. With one last GG, the round 2 championship went to the Jin Air Green Wings.


After the matches we were treated to a typically subdued interview from Maru, the star player of the series and of Jin Air's entire Proleague campaign. However, the Marine prince did reveal a hint of cockiness that was had been previous absent, declaring his disappointment at stopping at three wins when he could have completed the all-kill. With a league best fifteen wins and only six losses, Maru's confidence seems more than justified.

With the duo of Maru and sOs backed by a small but powerful supporting cast, it seems almost certain that Jin Air will be contending for the title at the end of the season. Meanwhile, MVP have proven themselves as dangerous underdogs, with a deep roster capable of causing fits for any team.

For their first place finish in Round 2, Jin Air claims the 15,000,000 won prize as well as 40 points toward qualifying for the year-end playoffs. MVP receive 5,000,000 won and 10 points for second place.

Writers: Waxangel.
Images and graphics: KeSPA, SpoTV, shiroiusagi, Waxangel.
Editors: Waxangel.