Maru, MyuNgSiK, ParalyzE, DongRaeGu

For a large subset of viewers, the 2014 season of GSL has essentially become "JinAir_Maru Watch 2014." Terrans have struggled to a historic degree in 2014, with a record low three players competing in the last season of Code S. It's not much better in Season 2, with four Terrans going up against 28 Zergs and Protosses. While all the surviving Terrans receive plenty of attention when they play, no one is watched as intently as Maru. It's not that SuperNoVa or Bbyong aren't good players – they're just not the ones you believe can go on to win it all. Maru is the player that give Terrans hope that they might win a championship.

Maru had a breakthrough year in 2013, unlocking much of his tremendous potential as he claimed the OSL championship and reached multiple top four finishes in tournaments. The most impressive thing about Maru was that he was beating mostly Protoss players to get his results – flipping the common perception that Protoss had an advantage over Terran. Not surprisingly, the newly founded and well funded Jin Air Green Wings plucked Maru away from Prime, making him one of the centerpieces of their team. It's proven to have been a great investment so far, with Maru having had a tremendous Proleague season that has made him the top MVP candidate.

The Maru hype was strong in the last season of Code S, but his bandwagon was derailed in the quarterfinals by Life. Maru's not-so-secret weakness in TvZ was revealed in his loss, even though Maru fought hard and took it all five games. Although he remains the #1 Terran hope in Code S (with honorable mention to INnoVation), many still wonder if he can overcome elite level Zerg players like soO, Life, and Soulkey down the line. With 14 Zergs in the tournament it seems almost inevitable he will face them at some point, but we can only wait and see how bracket luck treats the Marine Prince.

At least in the Ro32, there appears to be little reason for Maru to worry about. He's drawn two Protoss players in KT_MyuNgSiK and SKT_ParalyzE, neither of whom are particularly accomplished or known for their PvT. MyungSiK does happen to favor the infrequently seen phoenix-colossus style of PvT, which could cause a few unexpected issues for Maru. But at the end of the day, this is still the best TvP player in the world going up against two Protoss players who are not the best in the world, and there's no Yeonsu blink-stalker rushes to save them anymore.

MVP.DongRaeGu presents a more difficult problem for Maru, but not one that can't be overcome. The Team MVP ace had a brief stretch in March and April where he looked like he had found his old ZvT form once more, swarming over Terrans with brilliant muta-ling-bane engagements while easily keeping up with hapless attempts at harassment. However, that soon gave way to the revelation that DongRaeGu couldn't actually survive the early game to play his favored muta-ling-bane midgame. That's a weakness that Maru even exploited himself, using a 2-rax bunker rush to defeat DRG and Team MVP in the Proleague Round 2 championship match.

One curious thing to note about DRG is that his Proleague appearances were drastically cut this past round, and he was conspicuously benched for MVP's final two matches. Granted, the team had already been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs at that point, which means DRG may have decided to focus entirely on Code S instead. But considering that DRG is an icon of team MVP and clearly its best player, we can't help but wonder if there's something else going on beneath the surface.

Overall thoughts and prediction: Assuming Maru is a lock to advance, that leaves DRG, Paralyze and MyuNgSiK to contest the other spot. Paralyze seems to be the weakest player in the group, continually benched in Proleague and hardly making a dent in Code S (also, he recently straightened his hair, which we just can't forgive him for). MyuNgSiK has been a bit more successful in Proleague than Paralyze, but there's not much to suggest that he's significantly better than Paralyze. On top of that, he has the misfortune of facing Maru off the bat.

Despite his puzzling benchings in Proleague, DRG still seems to be the safest bet to emerge in second place in the group. He showed good form in April in the GSL Global Championship, only being eliminated from the tournament thanks to some incisive all-ins from PartinG. His PvZ record has been decent as well, with wins over Squirtle, Stats, and Tassadar in the last month or so. And as long as he doesn't take crippling damage in the first ten minutes of a game, he even has a decent shot of beating Maru straight up.

Maru > MyuNgSiK
DongRaeGu > Paralyze
Maru > DongRaeGu
MyuNgSiK > Paralyze
DongRaeGu > MyuNgSiK

Maru and DongRaeGu advance.