The Climb

Improvement and steady progress are some of the most satisfying developments to witness in yourself, but also in others. In 2018, we saw plenty in HeRoMaRinE, a player we whose growth we have witnessed not just as a pro-gamer, but as a person—he was, after all, a child when he was first introduced to us. Despite his early start and by now relatively tenured career, it took HeRoMaRinE a long time to finally make an international impact, despite achieving great results in the German local scene. He is already considered somewhat of a legend there: The youngest player ever to win a German championship, the first and only Terran to win it, and—eventually—the record-holder for most championships in EPS history—a record likely to last forever with the “Meisterschaft” being discontinued.

HeRoMaRinE, like many other young prodigies, came into contact with StarCraft II through an older sibling. What makes his case special, and what destined HeRoMaRinE for greatness in the eyes of many German fans, were his mentors. The young Terran was coached by old WarCraft 3 professional miou, his brother’s team mate at n!faculty, and the legendary Mondragon, perhaps most famous today for his guide to ZvP. They propelled him to Grandmaster status, resulting in his successful application to German powerhouse team mousesports, the team he still represents today, seven years later. Domestic success followed as soon as HeRoMaRinE was old enough to be allowed to play in ESL tournaments, despite academic obligations always maintaining highest priority for the young talent.

Hailed certainly as the best German Terran, but also a new European hope, HeRoMaRinE finished school in summer 2016, deciding to give a full time esports career a shot, a choice he had initially ruled out. That decision seemed to bear fruit quickly, at first: two months into his new career, he made his first big splash in the international scene, reaching the top 4 at WCS Summer, losing only to the eventual champion TRUE. HeRoMaRinE’s elimination of MarineLorD and SpeCial on the way to the semifinals certainly lent credibility to his bid to become the best foreign Terran—and it seemed only a matter of time.

Yet this one moment in the spotlight was to remain the only one for a long time. For the entirety of his first year as a full time player in 2017, HeRoMaRinE was stuck in the hell of EU Challenger, repeatedly falling to an onslaught of European Zergs in brackets including the likes of Serral, who would become a nemesis in the future. Hailed still as one of Europe’s Terran hopes, HeRoMaRinE dragged himself from one Challenger to another, only to be disappointed again and again. Doubts over his decision to go pro must certainly have plagued him at the time, nagging at his confidence. He continued on, though, despite the lack of results and visible improvement. This we can count as one of HeRoMaRinE’s great strengths: tenacity, and the necessary mindset to continue pursuing his goals.

Early in 2018, hope blossomed again. Fighting his way through the open bracket at WCS Leipzig on his home turf, HeRoMaRinE defeated Nerchio in the third group stage—an opponent he had not been able to overcome during his Challenger odyssey the year before. He was eliminated in the Round of 16 by Neeb, but reaching the bracket stage again showed the necessary improvement to build on. Trips to PyeongChang and Katowice were cut short, though at least HeRoMaRinE was able to breathe competitive air again. Gradual progress appeared to be back on the menu, as he was able to one-up his placement from Leipzig at Austin and finish in the top eight, falling to a rising Serral. Losing to the prodigy from Finland, whose origins are strikingly similar to his own, became a trend in 2018, as the German had the misfortune of meeting him several times in WCS competitions. Despite performing well against other top EU players, HeRoMaRinE could never even come close to making a dent in Serral’s armor. But even though beating Serral remained out of reach—it did for almost everyone—the Terran continued to rise through the ranks, finally securing a top four finish at a WCS event in Valencia. He again again ran into Serral there. Beating his sharpest rival for the position of best European Terran, uThermal, in a direct duel was probably the most striking success of HeRoMaRinE's Valencia campaign. Despite another hopeless series against the eventual champion of the tournament, he could finally take pride in his placement again.

Over the year he had gradually improved his results one round at a time, collecting enough WCS points to nurture serious hopes of securing a ticket to BlizzCon for the first time. If the pattern was to repeat itself, maybe Montreal could provide him with the chance of competing for a title. Exemplifying how times had indeed changed, HeRoMaRinE eliminated TRUE in the third group stage, a late payback for the Summer Championship in 2016. In the Round of 16, he easily disposed of Semper in front of the Canadian’s home crowd, becoming one of only four players to advance into the Round of 8 three times in WCS alongside Nerchio, ShoWTimE and, of course, Serral.

With Serral at last placed on the other side of the bracket, the stars seemed to align on the 9th of September 2018 for HeRoMaRinE to reach a WCS final. His nemesis could not stop him early this time. In his way stood an unknown: a Terran from China, a region historically simple for European players to overcome, with SEA players often stuck in their own wacky, quite ineffective metagame. TIME had even struggled to defeat Has, and with HeRoMaRinE’s easy victory over Semper on the previous day, one felt he had every right to already have an eye on his semifinal encounter against either his rival uThermal or fellow youngster Reynor .

TIME destroyed HeRoMaRinE. Most predicted a clear 3-0 scoreline going into the match, but had TIME on the losing end. Instead he put on a TvT masterclass and wiped HeRoMaRinE from the tournament. TIME, with his Korean server TvT practice, proved to be far more capable than widely anticipated, confirming HeRoMaRinE’s worries prior to the series. The control—both, micro and controlling the game flow—HeRoMaRinE showed in his previous TvTs at the tournament—he had gone 9-0 in maps before the quarterfinal—was nonexistent against TIME. The Chinese Terran took the reins from minute one, leaving no room for HeRoMaRinE to take any sort of initiative or set his own accents. TIME was both faster and smarter as he took three maps in a row and made it look easy.

HeRoMaRinE's elimination at the hands of Neeb or Serral in previous tournaments were always put down to their brilliance rather than his shortcomings. In a way, there was no pressure in these matches. There was only one expected outcome, after all. Neeb and Serral are the most dominant WCS players, with more championships between them than HeRoMaRinE had made semifinals. But against TIME, for the first time in his WCS life, HeRoMaRinE had been favored to win a playoff match. Expectations were placed on him instead of his opponent, and he failed spectacularly. That day should have been a great triumph in his career. Instead, it became a testament to HeRoMaRinE’s position in the WCS food chain: somewhere in the muddy middle, among the throng of players not quite good enough to compete with the very elite, but still vulnerable enough to suffer losses to players further down the chain.

This is where he stands: HeRoMaRinE, a legend at home, but nowhere near that status anywhere else. Destined for greatness and success, but overshadowed by fellow young peers whose climb has been steeper and more rapid. He made an impact this season no doubt, but it is far from a lasting one, easily forgotten in the grand scheme of things, in the face of champions. HeRoMaRinE may be the best European Terran playing in WCS, but that title has always been a bit of a joke, a running gag, rather than a true achievement.

The 9th of September cast a shadow over HeRoMaRinE’s first appearance at BlizzCon. And yet simply attending BlizzCon, deemed impossible only a year ago, shows clear progress in the big picture. His failure at Montreal is an experience to learn from, but so are his impressive results in Austin and Valencia. That is important, because there is a lesson to be learned from every one of these—and HeRoMaRinE is not yet the finished article. Upsets and setbacks happen to all big names eventually, especially not yet accustomed to the pressure of expectations. In Anaheim, HeRoMaRinE will be far from a favorite, he will assume a more familiar underdog role. Unless HeRoMaRinE has acquired immense abilities since we last saw him, victory at BlizzCon seems like a pipe dream. But it will certainly be valuable experience to continue his development. And that may, eventually, lead him back here with stronger title aspirations.