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Maru defeats Dark, wins GSL Super Tournament 1 (2020)

Forum Index > SC2 General
61 CommentsPost a Reply
1 2 3 4 Next All
TL.net ESPORTS
Profile Joined July 2011
4 Posts
March 29 2020 06:14 GMT
#1

2020 AfreecaTV GSL Super Tournament 1


Headed into game five of the Super Tournament finals, (Wiki)Maru faced a daunting 1-3 deficit against one of the best Zergs in the world. In the prior three games, (Wiki)Dark had shrugged off whatever Maru threw at him—fast Hellbats and cloaked Banshees were barely slowed Dark down as he rode roughshod over the Jin Air Terran in macro games. Even Maru's usual ace in the hole hadn't worked, with Dark shutting down proxy-Barracks Reapers in game four. Only Dark's decision to ram his Hydra-Ling-Bane force straight into a Tank push in game one had allowed Maru to even salvage a map.

Them, with just a single game remaining between him and defeat at the hands of a seemingly insurmountable foe, Maru seemed to ponder a question: What if he, you know, just played like Maru?

Which is to say, what if he played like the Terran player with the completely unfair skills package of the best micro, the best multi-tasking, and the best macro? What if he played like the player who won four-consecutive Code S championships between 2018-2019?

Fortunately for the fans, and unfortunately for Dark, Maru showed us the answer. What if you play like Maru? You pull off one of the more amazing comebacks in GSL finals history. Over the next three games, Maru completely reversed the previous roles, crushing Dark with straight-up, standard play. No Proxy-Barracks gimmicks were necessary—all Maru did was send ceaseless waves of Infantry and Medivacs to wherever they could cause Zerg the most pain

To Dark's credit, he acquitted himself as well as anyone could while giving up a commanding lead. Up until game five, he had dominated the series. And even when Maru began his comeback, Dark was able to absorb an unholy amount of damage before GG'ing out. If StarCraft II was a combat sport, the referee would have called for the bell a hundred times over to save Dark further punishment. Instead we were left to gape at how Dark could somehow muster the strength to take some futile, retaliatory swings at his opponent.

Invoking the Maru meme does oversimplify some of the factors in how he pulled off the comeback. In game five, Maru got to exploit a significant upgrade advantage after Dark invested in one of his signature Roach-Ravager pokes but failed to get much done. With perfect hindsight, we could question Dark's decision to go for Roach-Ravager-Baneling in game seven—it's not exactly a composition tailor-made for chasing Medivacs around the map. But ultimately, even acknowledging that there are actually countless complex and random factors that go into a best-of-seven series between progamers, Maru still made winning look as simple as flipping a switch in his head.

After the matches, Maru also made it a point to 'just interview like Maru,' saying he had only prepared for his semifinal against Solar (a 3-0 sweep) and didn't come in with any ambitions of winning the championship. Of course, SC2 fans will be familiar with that excessively self-effacing demeanor: it was also the humorous backdrop for his completely dominant 4x Code S title run. Here's a wacky fan theory to consider: What if Maru's skill is directly proportional to his humility? In that case, the Super Tournament championship might be the beginning of another streak.

As the broadcast ended, the first Code S tournament of 2020 was announced to begin on April 11th. With Maru back in shape, Dark continuing his run of good form, and a GSL finals actually surpassing its hype, we've got a lot to look forward to in the upcoming season.



Semifinals Observations

Most fans predicted that (Wiki)Dark would drub notably troubled PvZ player (Wiki)Trap in the semifinals—I suspect the ensuing beat-down was even more brutal than they would have expected. Personally, I found it curious that Trap didn't go for any crazy all-ins or one-shot builds. I'd have to go back and check VODs to be sure, but I feel like Trap has an okay-ish success rate when going for all-out, no-tomorrow strategies (yes, I realize he botched a cannon rush against Dark in last year's Code S finals). Maybe such drastic tactics don't fit Trap's personal style, and maybe his practice games gave him reason to believe that he could win in straight-up games. But with the benefit of hindsight, one has to say some uncomfortable risk-taking would have been preferable to the figurative 'rolling over and dying' that actually occurred.

(Wiki)Maru fulfilled another Terran meme in his 3-0 semifinal victory over (Wiki)Solar, making sure we never saw his 2-rax proxy strategies lose. Game two on Nightshade was certainly the highlight of the series—or lowlight if you're a Zerg player. Solar jumped ahead to an enormous lead after scouting and cancelling Maru's proxied Barracks and seemed to be guaranteed a victory. Unfortunately, Solar tried to force an ending with Roach-Ravager for just a little bit too long, resulting in the craziest dual throw-comeback game of the tournament.

Written by: Wax
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TL+ Member
bObA
Profile Joined May 2012
France300 Posts
March 29 2020 06:16 GMT
#2
Maru was awesome
Vindicare605
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
United States16071 Posts
March 29 2020 06:21 GMT
#3
If you guys didn't see it, go watch Maru vs Solar game 2. Between the game itself and Tastetosis being at their absolute best, it's probably the single most entertaining game I've seen all year.
aka: KTVindicare the Geeky Bartender
vyzion
Profile Joined August 2016
308 Posts
March 29 2020 06:28 GMT
#4
Tastetosis were on fire this entire tournament. I haven't laughed that much in so long.

Also, the final was AMAZING!
dbRic1203
Profile Joined July 2019
Germany2655 Posts
March 29 2020 06:31 GMT
#5
I watched Game 7 with the progamer comentary, it was hilarious, they were taking bets on how long Dark could survive, because he was so dead :D
GGs to Maru for winning his first Super Tournament!
MaxPax
pvsnp
Profile Joined January 2017
7676 Posts
March 29 2020 06:34 GMT
#6
No G5L trophy for Maru, super tournament not real GSL confirmed.
Denominator of the Universe
TL+ Member
Highwinds
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada955 Posts
March 29 2020 06:40 GMT
#7
Totally gusher mouth feel all game
Yes It's a Good Day. 저는 아이유 사랑해요!
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33388 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-03-29 06:46:11
March 29 2020 06:45 GMT
#8
On March 29 2020 15:21 Vindicare605 wrote:
If you guys didn't see it, go watch Maru vs Solar game 2. Between the game itself and Tastetosis being at their absolute best, it's probably the single most entertaining game I've seen all year.


it was a disaster throw from Solar, but to be fair to Maru, he might be the best "catcher" in the game
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
Riner1212
Profile Joined November 2012
United States337 Posts
March 29 2020 07:03 GMT
#9
On March 29 2020 15:34 pvsnp wrote:
No G5L trophy for Maru, super tournament not real GSL confirmed.


if you go to maru liquidpedia.net, it seems like he has 5 gsls under his belt.

salty much?
Sjow "pretty ez life as protoss"
tigon_ridge
Profile Joined March 2019
482 Posts
March 29 2020 07:04 GMT
#10
On March 29 2020 15:28 vyzion wrote:
Tastetosis were on fire this entire tournament. I haven't laughed that much in so long.

Also, the final was AMAZING!

The three casting legends: Incontrol, Artosis, and Tasteless. Day9 would be up there had he decided to stick around.
Doominator10
Profile Joined August 2012
United States515 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-03-29 07:14:28
March 29 2020 07:12 GMT
#11
Can I just give a shoutout to Tastetosis being possibly the best caster duo in any esport? The games were all amazing, especially Maru v Solar and Maru v Dark, but the casting elevated them both to obscenely entertaining levels.

Can we also talk about how the observer was desperately trying to point out that Dark built 2 ultralisk caverns to have both upgrades running, but only had upgrades going in one of them while the casters were gushing about Dark ripping pennies and phone books in half XD.

2:58:30


Your DOOM has arrived,,,, and is handing out cookies
Blargh
Profile Joined September 2010
United States2103 Posts
March 29 2020 07:40 GMT
#12
Poor Zergs trying to finish Maru off... I feel Maru should've lost like, 10 times in those two series, but here he is taking the trophy.
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33388 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-03-29 07:47:48
March 29 2020 07:47 GMT
#13
On March 29 2020 16:03 Riner1212 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 29 2020 15:34 pvsnp wrote:
No G5L trophy for Maru, super tournament not real GSL confirmed.


if you go to maru liquidpedia.net, it seems like he has 5 gsls under his belt.

salty much?


AfreecaTV has teased the G5L trophy in the past for Maru's Code S tournaments, so them not bringing it out here means they don't think it counts (I don't really get the general inconsistency in how the AfreecaTV does StarCraft history, but it's their tournament). Maybe you should mail Maru a "G5L in my heart" trophy tho
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
Serimek
Profile Joined August 2011
France2274 Posts
March 29 2020 08:41 GMT
#14
Dark and Maru are beasts. But Maru is a godly beast.
SC2 is the best game to watch and was the best to play before I grew old and slow...
Akio
Profile Blog Joined January 2019
Finland1838 Posts
March 29 2020 08:53 GMT
#15
What a sick series this was, they both knew each other's play so well and adjusted after each game. Very enjoyable to watch, and I believe the stronger player won in the end congrats to the GOAT
Mine gas, build tanks.
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France12875 Posts
March 29 2020 09:22 GMT
#16
Thanks for the writing, great fucking run from Maru.
Also if you liked Maru comeback vs Solar, check out Maru vs INno on simulacrum from IEM katowice, there is also a big failed 2 rax comeback (although not as failed as vs Solar but his raxes are delayed and scouted super early) ; I really wonder how you feel as a progamer when you manage to lose such games that were supposed to be freewins.
WriterMaru
Drfilip
Profile Joined March 2013
Sweden590 Posts
March 29 2020 09:46 GMT
#17
On March 29 2020 17:53 Akio wrote:
What a sick series this was, they both knew each other's play so well and adjusted after each game. Very enjoyable to watch, and I believe the stronger player won in the end congrats to the GOAT

One of the best finals I've ever watched.
I predicted that Maru would lose since he would need to actually try vs Solar, thereby showing his TvZ to Dark. Dark is a great player and would use that knowledge to his advantage.
Random Platinum EU
Vision_
Profile Joined September 2018
861 Posts
March 29 2020 11:01 GMT
#18
Dark plays over confidently and impale his army few times while maru is the terran with the highest capacity of expanding and take bases. I doesn t enjoy so much but it reminds me the good old times with 6 workers, despite the fact LoTV has great improvement.

Serral seems to play smarter than Dark anyway..
goody153
Profile Blog Joined April 2013
44122 Posts
March 29 2020 11:30 GMT
#19
I didnt realize this went full 7 games. Aight time watch
this is a quote
zealjong
Profile Joined July 2016
Philippines2 Posts
March 29 2020 11:51 GMT
#20
gg maru
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