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Maru is my favorite player to watch right now, and I doubt I'm alone in that sentiment. So it's a bit of a bummer to me he plays in so few tournaments. He doesn't do the Kung Fu Cups, the WardiTV events, didn't do StayAtHomestory, isn't playing in Gold league (that's not his fault, to be fair), and he recently turned down his invite to TSL. Since the other JAGW players rarely show up for smaller events and Dark doesn't show up much either, we don't get to see the best of the best match up nearly as often as we could in general, but Maru's absence hurts the most for me.
I get that his JAGW money probably makes tiny events like a Kung Fu cup not worth it, but TSL's $4,000 first prize isn't enough to entice him to play? Serral rarely plays online events, but even he showed up for SAHS and now TSL.
I'm not going to pretend to know what's best for Maru's career better than him or his teammates, I just selfishly would like to see the best Terran on the planet play more games -- the 2nd-best Terran, Inno, seems to play every single tournament he possibly can, and it's nice.
Do people agree with me on this? Does anyone have more insight into why he chooses to play so few events? Build-hiding and focusing your practice on your upcoming GSL opponent (or opponents in the group stages) is an advantage, but is it really that important? Isn't there something to be said for consistently playing high-stakes games and testing builds in competitive settings? Do top pros just hate dealing with any kind of ping issues? Is there some kind of sponsorship conflict of interest I don't know about? Any insight you guys could provide would be helpful -- again, I'm sure Maru and others have their reasons, it's just kind of a bummer.
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Add a zero behind to these prizepools and we might see a glimpse of interest. Otherwise, it's just not worth the opportunity cost to practise in private. Even right now, content creators derive more values than the pros by driving close to big name pros to their brackets. The best of them may not just be a little better than the pack, but so much more. Also by joining, deprives other hopefuls from being able to sustain a possible career.
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Maru seems to be a player that heavily dislikes playing in bad conditions. He is unwilling to travel for anything but big events. I'd guess that his decision on TSL was based on ping and the time the matches would happen. I'd be willing to bet that if all matches were on KR server and at a KR friendly time both Dark and Maru would be in the event. Not that I think that's how it should be as the current setup will be better for everyone else. It would be interesting for just one of these big online events to say we are doing all matches on KR at KR friendly times though. I would bet Serral would skip it and Maru/Dark would be there.
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On April 27 2020 08:43 keaneu wrote: Add a zero behind to these prizepools and we might see a glimpse of interest. Otherwise, it's just not worth the opportunity cost to practise in private. Even right now, content creators derive more values than the pros by driving close to big name pros to their brackets. The best of them may not just be a little better than the pack, but so much more. Also by joining, deprives other hopefuls from being able to sustain a possible career.
Inno and his $750,000 of career prize money plays every single tournament that he can physically play -- a few hours after the SAHS final he was playing in some tiny King of the Hill event, IIRC. I feel like there's more to it than just a lack of financial motivation. Surprising his opponents with unique openings/strategies is a much bigger part of Maru's game than Inno's, to be fair, but isn't there something to be said for testing your builds out in competitive situations against a wide variety of top-tier players? Maru's approach does seem to be working for him, though.
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On April 27 2020 10:20 JJH777 wrote: Maru seems to be a player that heavily dislikes playing in bad conditions. He is unwilling to travel for anything but big events. I'd guess that his decision on TSL was based on ping and the time the matches would happen. I'd be willing to bet that if all matches were on KR server and at a KR friendly time both Dark and Maru would be in the event. Not that I think that's how it should be as the current setup will be better for everyone else. It would be interesting for just one of these big online events to say we are doing all matches on KR at KR friendly times though. I would bet Serral would skip it and Maru/Dark would be there.
Interesting points, and I agree with you about the KR-focused online tournaments -- might help finally get some new blood in the KR SC2 scene.
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Maybe being in a regimented team-house environment allows its members to train and experiment more behind closed doors? Likewise, we don't see much of other JAGW players active on the circuit as well.
Also, Maru and Dark are top dogs who can afford to be selective with their competitions - just like top tennis players like Federer. Maybe too much competitive play for them leads to burn out. At their level, they're probably training differently than other players too.
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I want to give this a bump now that the group of death is over -- Inno literally plays more broadcasted matches than anyone right now. If he can avoid paying for lunch by playing a best-of-15 showmatch for a sandwich, he'll do it. With his first match in Ro16 being a TvP against Zest, he played (and beat) both Zest and Trap in the Kung Fu Cup the day before his GSL group. On the other extreme, I might be wrong here, but I don't think Maru had played a broadcasted match since he won Super Tournament.
And what happened? Inno beats Zest with a hidden expand build in G1 (which I've never seen him do), a 1-base no-proxy all-in in the year of our lord 2020 in G2, and a double-proxy BC rush in G2 against Maru, which I've never seen him or anyone else do in a pro game. Even though he's constantly playing in all those little online cups (and playing well, he's won three Kung Fu Cups in a row right now), he was still able to pocket builds he was confident to break out in his most important games.
I don't wanna take away from Maru -- he does have 4 GSL trophies and a Super Tournament win, and his wins against Ragnarok might have been the most incredible TvZ I've ever seen -- it was true in HoTS with Colossus and it's true with Roach/Ultra in LoTV, if you let Maru do what he wants with Medivacs full of Marauders you're in for a world of hurt.
All I'm saying is this -- is hiding your games really that big of an advantage? (And yes, I selfishly want to see Maru play more games. Did you see how he was dropping, controlling creep, and using a separate strike force to pick off expansions while expanding like crazy behind it? He truly is something special.)
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Why would the GOAT play online cups ? He keeps his prestige.
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I like to think that all of Maru's focus right now is winning that G5L. He's the only player in Code S that's one win away from earning it, and that's a coveted prize complete with its own special trophy that no other player in the history of the game has gotten up until this point.
If that means he's skipping online cups so he can practice with his Jin Air teammates or ladder in private, then I'd say it'll be worth it to hoist that trophy even if it means I don't see him play as often as I'd like.
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I don't think that online cups provide effective practice as well; the waiting time in between matches coupled with, as mentioned earlier, the unnatural times and higher ping of playing on a different server won't really help you get another GSL win.
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On May 17 2020 15:55 Vindicare605 wrote: I like to think that all of Maru's focus right now is winning that G5L. He's the only player in Code S that's one win away from earning it, and that's a coveted prize complete with its own special trophy that no other player in the history of the game has gotten up until this point.
If that means he's skipping online cups so he can practice with his Jin Air teammates or ladder in private, then I'd say it'll be worth it to hoist that trophy even if it means I don't see him play as often as I'd like.
I mean you can think that if it makes you fell better, but the simple truth is that Maru has never played very much in all the little online cups and whatnot. He avoided them before he won a single GSL and he's avoiding them now. Maybe his sleep schedule is weird. Maybe he's busy playing League. Maybe he just doesn't give a fuck. Who knows why?
Maru decides how Maru plays, and for whatever reason Maru has decided not to play for $200. It's just the way he is.
You might as well ask Serral why he doesn't fly to Korea and play in GSL. The dude doesn't want to, so he doesn't do it.
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If i had to guess, I would say it's largely due to the following reasons:
1) a lot of premier online tournaments are not played on the Korean server, which means he would experience lag, etc
2) he doesn't want to expose himself that much so that people can study his games in high stakes series'
At the pinnacle of sc2, data on your opponent is everything. Too much data on yourself IS a big disadvantage that could compromise tournament results.
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On May 17 2020 16:50 pvsnp wrote:Show nested quote +On May 17 2020 15:55 Vindicare605 wrote: I like to think that all of Maru's focus right now is winning that G5L. He's the only player in Code S that's one win away from earning it, and that's a coveted prize complete with its own special trophy that no other player in the history of the game has gotten up until this point.
If that means he's skipping online cups so he can practice with his Jin Air teammates or ladder in private, then I'd say it'll be worth it to hoist that trophy even if it means I don't see him play as often as I'd like. I mean you can think that if it makes you fell better, but the simple truth is that Maru has never played very much in all the little online cups and whatnot. He avoided them before he won a single GSL and he's avoiding them now. Maybe his sleep schedule is weird. Maybe he's busy playing League. Maybe he just doesn't give a fuck. Who knows why? Maru decides how Maru plays, and for whatever reason Maru has decided not to play for $200. It's just the way he is. You might as well ask Serral why he doesn't fly to Korea and play in GSL. The dude doesn't want to, so he doesn't do it.
Both he and Serral have made more than enough money to justify them picking whatever tournaments they WANT to play.
The difference between GSL and random online cups though? That's obvious. It's definitely a choice, but not all choices are created equal.
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On May 17 2020 15:55 Vindicare605 wrote: I like to think that all of Maru's focus right now is winning that G5L. He's the only player in Code S that's one win away from earning it, and that's a coveted prize complete with its own special trophy that no other player in the history of the game has gotten up until this point.
If that means he's skipping online cups so he can practice with his Jin Air teammates or ladder in private, then I'd say it'll be worth it to hoist that trophy even if it means I don't see him play as often as I'd like. He has won 5 GSLs, or GSL Super Tournament is now not a GSL?
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Germany3367 Posts
On May 17 2020 19:26 DiMano wrote:Show nested quote +On May 17 2020 15:55 Vindicare605 wrote: I like to think that all of Maru's focus right now is winning that G5L. He's the only player in Code S that's one win away from earning it, and that's a coveted prize complete with its own special trophy that no other player in the history of the game has gotten up until this point.
If that means he's skipping online cups so he can practice with his Jin Air teammates or ladder in private, then I'd say it'll be worth it to hoist that trophy even if it means I don't see him play as often as I'd like. He has won 5 GSLs, or GSL Super Tournament is now not a GSL? Since Afreeca didn't give him the G5L trophy yet, they seem to not count it that way.
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On May 17 2020 19:26 DiMano wrote:Show nested quote +On May 17 2020 15:55 Vindicare605 wrote: I like to think that all of Maru's focus right now is winning that G5L. He's the only player in Code S that's one win away from earning it, and that's a coveted prize complete with its own special trophy that no other player in the history of the game has gotten up until this point.
If that means he's skipping online cups so he can practice with his Jin Air teammates or ladder in private, then I'd say it'll be worth it to hoist that trophy even if it means I don't see him play as often as I'd like. He has won 5 GSLs, or GSL Super Tournament is now not a GSL?
The Trophy is for 5 GSL Code S wins, Super Tournaments do not count. Afreeca's rules not mine.
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On May 17 2020 20:03 Vindicare605 wrote:Show nested quote +On May 17 2020 19:26 DiMano wrote:On May 17 2020 15:55 Vindicare605 wrote: I like to think that all of Maru's focus right now is winning that G5L. He's the only player in Code S that's one win away from earning it, and that's a coveted prize complete with its own special trophy that no other player in the history of the game has gotten up until this point.
If that means he's skipping online cups so he can practice with his Jin Air teammates or ladder in private, then I'd say it'll be worth it to hoist that trophy even if it means I don't see him play as often as I'd like. He has won 5 GSLs, or GSL Super Tournament is now not a GSL? The Trophy is for 5 GSL Code S wins, Super Tournaments do not count. Afreeca's rules not mine. But what about the pins?
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Well they were gonna give it to Mvp despite he has not won 4 GSL Code S before his game vs Life, he has won 3 GSL Code S and 1 GSL World Cup, seems like Maru's GSL Super Tournamnet win is less importamt than GSL World Cup show, double standarts?
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On May 18 2020 01:30 DiMano wrote: Well they were gonna give it to Mvp despite he has not won 4 GSL Code S before his game vs Life, he has won 3 GSL Code S and 1 GSL World Cup, seems like Maru's GSL Super Tournamnet win is less importamt than GSL World Cup show, double standarts?
GOM's rules vs Afreeca's rules.
If you go back to the Super Tournament thread a couple months back, I was celebrating Maru's G5L win but Afreeca didn't award it to him. They have completely designated Super Tournaments and Code S titles as separate things and honestly it kind of makes sense due to the tournaments having different formats and Code S being more preparation based.
Afreeca owns GSL now, it's up to them who wins the trophy, but what we do know is that they do have a trophy for it.
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I could be wrong but I don't think Maru plays in many weekend type tourneys and when he does he underperforms. He seems more suited to the at most 3 matches in a day style of gsl.
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