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No Second Chances (Except this One) - Maru - Road to Blizz…

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No Second Chances (Except this One) - Maru - Road to BlizzCon '19

Text byTL.net ESPORTS
October 23rd, 2019 05:23 GMT

Road to BlizzCon 2019: Maru (#4 WCS Korea)

No Second Chances (Except This One)

by Destructicon and Wax

Maru, is without a doubt one, a living legend of StarCraft II. Throughout his long and rich career, Maru has achieved almost all there is to achieve in StarCraft II, from playing in the first ever GSL, helping his team win GSTL and ProLeague championships, and winning individual champions in every major domestic league (OSL, SSL, Code S).

Yet, for all his greatness, there is one achievement which has eluded Maru for his entire career: The WCS Global Finals championship. A peerless, standout player in almost every other way, Maru is but one of many great players who are still looking for this one final piece to their career puzzle.

More info: 2019 World Championship Series Global Finals

It was 2013, and expectations were low for MaruPrime going into the OnGameNet Starleague. The kid had made his broadcast debut three years prior, but his career thus far suggested he was doomed to be one of those forever prospects. But, befitting its name, the OnGameNet Starleague has a reputation for making stars. As the tournament went on, round after round, Maru kept winning. He might have seemed lucky to survive the group stages, but then he beat Code S finalist Symbol in his first playoff match. Oh, this might be happening. Maru might be walking the Royal Road. Maru continued to shine brightly, defeating the invincible INnoVation 4-0 in the semifinals. Finally, he defeated Rain—himself a Royal Roader—to take his place in the sky.



This particular star has always been prone to a bit of flickering in and out. Maru ended his breakout year with a glut of top four finishes in major tournaments, impressing with his gameplay but ultimately losing to more solid players. At the end of 2013, Maru moved on from Prime and signed with Jin Air Green Wings. Joining a KeSPA team gave Maru the opportunity to take his career to the next level, which he did... in a sense.

From 2014 to 2016 Maru was absolutely indispensable for Jin Air in Proleague, always toward the top of the performance charts in terms of games played, games won, and win-rate. His results in Proleague only got better as time went along. The 2016 season saw him record an obscene 22-4 record and win finals MVP in Jin Air's first championship-winning campaign.

Yet, during that time, the only individual gold Maru was able to obtain was his SSL Season 1 title (he also took two second place finishes at IEM Taipei 2014 and WESG 2016). Some of it might have been due to style reasons. Despite possessing the micro and multitasking skills to beat most players to a pulp with bio and medivacs, Maru wasn't perfectly suited to play in the mech-heavy era of late Heart of the Swarm. 2016 also brought the advent of a new expansion, and Maru wouldn't have been alone in struggling to adapt to Legacy of the Void.

But really, none of that explains the difference between Proleague and individual league Maru, with his domination of the 2016 Proleague coinciding with his worst individual league slump yet (just one Ro16 finish in SSL/GSL). These disappointments might simply have been a matter of conflicting priorities, with Maru and Jin Air opting to focus his energies on Proleague instead of overextending him in a vain grab for more glory. 2017, the first year without Proleague, saw Maru perform better in individual leagues, but ultimately end the year with Ro32 elimination in Code S and no ticket to BlizzCon.

Maru has said that loss was a wake-up call, the reason he got his s*** together and tore off the greatest Code S year ever in 2018. He somehow managed to make winning Code S look easy, setting a new record by winning three consecutive Code S events. He did this despite facing the toughest opponents Korea had to offer, defeating all seven of Korea's BlizzCon representatives in a playoff match.

Maru showed off impressive strategic range, whether it was extreme late-game turtling against Zerg (as seen earlier in 2018 against the likes of Serral and Dark) or proxying every single building against Protoss. While it could look like Maru was simply trying to abuse whatever strategies were most overpowered at the time, those strategies were also strong in part because Maru was perfecting them.

Clearly, as the best player in GSL Code S, Maru had to be the best player in the world. But in August, an inkling of doubt started to creep in. For while Maru was carving up Korea, WCS Circuit champion Serral had recovered from winter losses at IEM Katowice and WESG, and was looking even more dominant on the Circuit. He shocked the StarCraft II world by winning August's GSL vs. The World, defeating three of Korea's best in Dark, INnoVation, and Stats to claim a championship on Korean soil. While Maru avoided a direct confrontation with Serral as he was eliminated by Stats in the semis, he let the seed of doubt sprout roots when he lost a best-of-one to Serral in the showmatch portion of GSL vs. The World.

Maru's GSL vs. The World performance, combined with two early eliminations in GSL Super Tournament, put fans in a perplexing spot. While it seemed that Maru could win GSL Code S at will, it didn't necessarily mean that ability applied to any tournament, even a lesser one. Then what about a bigger one?

Conveniently, every was set up perfectly to be resolved at the 2018 Global Finals. Maru and Serral were clearly the best players from their respective regions. There was no way BlizzCon was ending without a conclusive battle to decide who was the undisputed, best player in the world.

And then, in the quarterfinals of BlizzCon, sOs ran Maru over in barely 15 minutes of in-game time, with Maru falling apart completely against his teammate's aggressive strategies. If Maru had tripped and broke his hand on his way to the venue, it couldn't have been more anti-climatic an ending. As for Serral, well, we all know what happened there.



If Maru's rock-bottom ending to 2017 inspired his 2018 run, then 2019 seemed to begin in a similar way. Maru looked hungry for redemption as he took his fourth consecutive Code S title, shattering his own record in the process. It seemed for a moment that Maru was made from even sterner stuff than we had imagined, with the disappointment of BlizzCon 2018 birthing an even more motivated Maru that would take his rightful championship in 2019. But then, his performance for the rest of the year took a sharp and unexpected nosedive, with a shocking elimination in the Ro32 of the very next Code S.

The 3rd season of Code S had the potential to be another special one for Maru, as he landed a nearly perfect bracket road to the final. Yet in a reversal of the first season of Code S, Maru was beaten by his teammate, Trap and was denied a shot at the mythic G5L trophy.

While Maru's total domination over GSL Code S in 2018 will stand forever as one of the greatest feats in StarCraft II, it's also tinged with regret. Without a BlizzCon championship to wrap it all up, it's like a work of art that's been left incomplete. Maru almost had the greatest calendar year in StarCraft history. Maru almost seized the title of greatest of all time. Instead, he was 'merely' unbelievably great, which was just not good enough to meet our lofty expectations. No, a victory at BlizzCon 2019 won't redeem the failed quest of 2018. But, at least, it could complete the even longer journey started in 2010.



Road to BlizzCon 2019

WCS Circuit
Serral - Reynor - Neeb - SpeCial - TIME - HeroMarine - Elazer - ShoWTimE

WCS Korea
Dark - Trap - Classic - Maru - soO - Rogue - herO - Stats



Credits and acknowledgements

Writers: Destructicon, Wax
Images: Helena Kristiansson via Blizzard

Facebook Twitter Reddit
TL+ Member
agsub
Profile Joined May 2012
Singapore368 Posts
October 23 2019 05:28 GMT
#2
Looking forward to the Maru-Serral match that won't happen cox the Starcraft Gods hate us.
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
October 23 2019 05:35 GMT
#3
It's locally in Afreeca studios with some time to prepare, so at least for the groups there aren't even the usual set of excuses for Maru.
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33377 Posts
October 23 2019 05:35 GMT
#4
On October 23 2019 14:28 agsub wrote:
Looking forward to the Maru-Serral match that won't happen cox the Starcraft Gods hate us.


join the club :'(
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
DinosaurJones
Profile Joined February 2012
United States1000 Posts
October 23 2019 06:27 GMT
#5
Holy crap, I forgot about the G5L trophy. At this point, Maru is the only person that could conceivably win it, at least for quite a long time.
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
October 23 2019 06:31 GMT
#6
On October 23 2019 15:27 DinosaurJones wrote:
Holy crap, I forgot about the G5L trophy. At this point, Maru is the only person that could conceivably win it, at least for quite a long time.


INno still exists, and he could (conceivably) start playing well again.
deacon.frost
Profile Joined February 2013
Czech Republic12129 Posts
October 23 2019 07:02 GMT
#7
On October 23 2019 15:31 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 23 2019 15:27 DinosaurJones wrote:
Holy crap, I forgot about the G5L trophy. At this point, Maru is the only person that could conceivably win it, at least for quite a long time.


INno still exists, and he could (conceivably) start playing well again.

Keep on dreaming, people like you changed the world! They had a dream and they followed the dream and... uh, forced other people to do what they wanted? I personally think that LotV isn't a good expansion for Inno. Can't tell why, it's just a feeling.

On October 23 2019 14:35 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
It's locally in Afreeca studios with some time to prepare, so at least for the groups there aren't even the usual set of excuses for Maru.

Like it's not a GSL type of tournament?
I imagine France should be able to take this unless Lilbow is busy practicing for Starcraft III. | KadaverBB is my fairy ban mother.
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France12860 Posts
October 23 2019 07:08 GMT
#8
Finally the piece about the GOAT!
Thanks for linking that WCS Signature video btw
WriterMaru
Akio
Profile Blog Joined January 2019
Finland1838 Posts
October 23 2019 09:02 GMT
#9
Absolutely a tournament favorite, hope to see the man lift the trophy. If he gets out of his group convincingly I don't see him losing to anyone to be honest.

Although last year he lost 3-0 to sOs so...
Mine gas, build tanks.
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany6924 Posts
October 23 2019 09:17 GMT
#10
On October 23 2019 14:35 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
It's locally in Afreeca studios with some time to prepare, so at least for the groups there aren't even the usual set of excuses for Maru.


He had weeks to prepare for sOs in 2018... well, sOs had weeks to prepare for Maru ^^
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
Z3nith
Profile Joined October 2017
485 Posts
October 23 2019 09:24 GMT
#11
On October 23 2019 18:02 Akio wrote:
Absolutely a tournament favorite, hope to see the man lift the trophy. If he gets out of his group convincingly I don't see him losing to anyone to be honest.

Although last year he lost 3-0 to sOs so...


I can see him losing to any of the Korean players other than soO.
Poaktree
Profile Joined January 2017
165 Posts
October 23 2019 09:31 GMT
#12
Conveniently, every was set up perfectly to be resolved at the 2018 Global Finals. Maru and Serral were clearly the best players from their respective regions. There was no way BlizzCon was ending without a conclusive battle to decide who was the undisputed, best player in the world.


And one of the most tragically comical things for me was the fact of Blizzard rigging the bracket to set up the perfect finals between Serral and Maru and then sOs basically b-slapping Maru out, and then fizzling out against stats. Seriously, who writes scripts like this?
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany6924 Posts
October 23 2019 09:36 GMT
#13
On October 23 2019 18:31 Poaktree wrote:
Show nested quote +
Conveniently, every was set up perfectly to be resolved at the 2018 Global Finals. Maru and Serral were clearly the best players from their respective regions. There was no way BlizzCon was ending without a conclusive battle to decide who was the undisputed, best player in the world.


And one of the most tragically comical things for me was the fact of Blizzard rigging the bracket to set up the perfect finals between Serral and Maru and then sOs basically b-slapping Maru out, and then fizzling out against stats. Seriously, who writes scripts like this?


The writers of Lost season 5 obviously.

If TIME or Stats win their matches, I'm gonna cry
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
sneakyfox
Profile Joined January 2017
8216 Posts
October 23 2019 10:04 GMT
#14
On October 23 2019 18:36 Harris1st wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 23 2019 18:31 Poaktree wrote:
Conveniently, every was set up perfectly to be resolved at the 2018 Global Finals. Maru and Serral were clearly the best players from their respective regions. There was no way BlizzCon was ending without a conclusive battle to decide who was the undisputed, best player in the world.


And one of the most tragically comical things for me was the fact of Blizzard rigging the bracket to set up the perfect finals between Serral and Maru and then sOs basically b-slapping Maru out, and then fizzling out against stats. Seriously, who writes scripts like this?


If TIME or Stats win their matches, I'm gonna cry


If TIME and Stats win their matches, I'm gonna party like it's 1998
"I saw what sneakyfox wrote on TL.net and it made me furious" - PartinG
Akio
Profile Blog Joined January 2019
Finland1838 Posts
October 23 2019 10:17 GMT
#15
On October 23 2019 18:24 Z3nith wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 23 2019 18:02 Akio wrote:
Absolutely a tournament favorite, hope to see the man lift the trophy. If he gets out of his group convincingly I don't see him losing to anyone to be honest.

Although last year he lost 3-0 to sOs so...


I can see him losing to any of the Korean players other than soO.

In a sense yes, his performance can be super volatile. An on-form Maru is unstoppable though
Mine gas, build tanks.
deacon.frost
Profile Joined February 2013
Czech Republic12129 Posts
October 23 2019 10:32 GMT
#16
On October 23 2019 19:17 Akio wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 23 2019 18:24 Z3nith wrote:
On October 23 2019 18:02 Akio wrote:
Absolutely a tournament favorite, hope to see the man lift the trophy. If he gets out of his group convincingly I don't see him losing to anyone to be honest.

Although last year he lost 3-0 to sOs so...


I can see him losing to any of the Korean players other than soO.

In a sense yes, his performance can be super volatile. An on-form Maru is unstoppable though

His game is based on a very volatile play. He plays on a knife-edge and all it takes is one fail. Except for the teamkills, which are weird as usual.
I imagine France should be able to take this unless Lilbow is busy practicing for Starcraft III. | KadaverBB is my fairy ban mother.
Argonauta
Profile Joined July 2016
Spain4937 Posts
October 23 2019 10:58 GMT
#17
Maru is Starcraft, there is no player that embodies best success and beautiful play than Maru.



Rogue | Maru | Scarlett | Trap
TL+ Member
Harris1st
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany6924 Posts
October 23 2019 11:21 GMT
#18
On October 23 2019 19:04 sneakyfox wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 23 2019 18:36 Harris1st wrote:
On October 23 2019 18:31 Poaktree wrote:
Conveniently, every was set up perfectly to be resolved at the 2018 Global Finals. Maru and Serral were clearly the best players from their respective regions. There was no way BlizzCon was ending without a conclusive battle to decide who was the undisputed, best player in the world.


And one of the most tragically comical things for me was the fact of Blizzard rigging the bracket to set up the perfect finals between Serral and Maru and then sOs basically b-slapping Maru out, and then fizzling out against stats. Seriously, who writes scripts like this?


If TIME or Stats win their matches, I'm gonna cry


If TIME and Stats win their matches, I'm gonna party like it's 1998


Wouldn't that be somethind ^^

I wonder how my 11 yr old self was partying XD
Go Serral! GG EZ for Ence. Flashbang dance FTW
DSh1
Profile Joined April 2017
292 Posts
October 23 2019 11:32 GMT
#19
Would be hilarious haha. Time and Stats also are ripe for the big win actually
Shuffleblade
Profile Joined February 2012
Sweden1903 Posts
October 23 2019 12:03 GMT
#20
Maruuuuu! Do it, clinch it and with it the goat title, would be epic (but unlikely) =P

Also I wont be able to watch it live due to a social life :'( almost like I'm hoping my favorites bomb out so I'm not missing awesomeness
Maru, Bomber, TY, Dear, Classic, DeParture and Rogue!
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