StarCraft II's most remarkable winning streak lives on!
Rogue defeated Maru 4-1 in the grand finals of Code S Season 1, improving his record in major tournament finals to 8-0. Both statistical formulas and fan opinion had deemed Maru to be the favorite headed into the finals, but Rogue upended expectations by crushing his former teammate in a series of one-sided games. Mass Roach-Ravager played a crucial part in Rogue's victories, as he took the first three games by bludgeoning Maru to death with sheer strength of numbers. While Maru was able to avert a clean sweep by holding off a Roach all-in in game four, Rogue easily closed the series out with the classic Muta-Ling-Bane composition in game five.
In spite of public opinion, Rogue didn't seem to consider his victory an upset. His pre-match interview turned out to be quite prescient, saying "...I've prepared well. I'll show Maru that the initiative doesn't belong to Terran, but to Zerg" in response to Maru's suggestion that Terran dictates the terms of the match-up. Rogue even predicted that even a 4-0 would be possible, as long as he took the first map. In the end, the only thing Rogue was wrong about was his expectation of being able to "play fun games."—although, technically, the games were probably quite fun for him.
With his victory, Rogue tied Nestea as the only Zerg player with three Code S/GSL Open titles. He also checked off the 'ZvT' box in his grand finals to-do list, having only defeated Zerg and Protoss players in his previous seven title runs. After lifting the trophy, Rogue was rather self-conscious about his propensity to flop in tournaments immediately after winning a championship, and vowed not to repeat the pattern. In the post-match interview, he said "I'm very inconsistent, so a lot of my fans were worried about me. I worked hard so I was able to win a championship. Next season I won't get eliminated early. I want to win a fourth championship. Thanks to my fans for cheering for me."
Match Recaps
Game 1 - 2000 Atmospheres: Maru started the finals with a Reaper expansion, followed-up by a fast third Command Center. Rogue also went for a macro-oriented opener, taking three bases with Queens and Speedlings on defense.
While Rogue's slow Overlord scout managed to spot Maru's fast third CC, he didn't see the unusual follow-up: Maru delayed his upgrades to get a fast second factory, supplementing his infantry with both Tanks and drilling claw-upgraded Mines. As for Rogue, he opted for a mass Roach-Ravager composition, while getting two Evolution Chambers for both range attack and carapace upgrades.
Once Rogue hit 1/1 upgrades, he decided to go for a big frontal attack on Maru with around 120 supply worth of Roach-Ravager. This attack coincided with Widow Mine drops from Maru, which dealt severe Drone damage due to Rogue's focus on managing his frontal attack. However, Rogue got more than enough damage done with his main attack to cover for his losses, taking out a huge chunk of Maru's army and workers before being repelled.
Rogue was left in a much better position to rebuild from, and was soon maxed out with 60+ Drones while Maru was only at around 130 supply. The beleaguered Maru tried to hold out against Rogue's waves of Roach-Ravager, but was inevitably forced to surrender.
Game 2 - Oxide: Maru changed up his openers in game two, following his fast expansion by teching to a quick Marine drop. Good Overlord placement from Rogue meant the Marine-Medivac combo couldn't get much done, but the real threat from Maru was the Marine-Tank 'timing' he was looking to hit off two bases (going up to four Barracks). As for Rogue, he took the same approach as in game one, establishing three bases and going for mass Roach-Ravager with double Evolution Chambers.
Maru pushed out once he had two Tanks, and briefly set up a siege at Rogue's third base. However, upon seeing the Queens and Roaches gathering to defend it, Maru opted to just pull back to secure his own third base and play for a longer game. As expected of the Roach-Ravager player, Rogue maxed out rather quickly, but declined to attack immediately due to Maru having a strong standing army. Instead, Rogue stayed put for a couple of minutes on four bases, defending against Maru's harassment while building up a bank of resources.
Once Rogue had 2/1 upgrades, however, he decided it was time to try and test the defenses at Maru's third. Rogue's attack managed to net him a handful of SCV kills, but it was ultimately thwarted due to Maru's Tank and Maurader heavy composition.
It seemed like Maru just needed a little bit more time to take a definitive lead, but he got ahead of himself by sending his infantry out on the map to clear Creep and harass. Rogue had spent his bank to hatch one more big Roach-Ravager swarm, which cleverly eluded the Terran infantry to launch another attack. The portion of Maru's army that had been left behind on defense (mostly Tanks) was easily dispatched, and Zerg troops started flooding into Maru's natural and third. This move forced Maru to go for a very disadvantageous basetrade with his 'harassment' force, which didn't have nearly as much firepower as the main Zerg swarm. Rogue eventually hatched enough Roaches to take care of Maru's infantry—while his main army swept through the Terran main—forcing Maru to give up his second GG of the night.
Game 3 - Blackburn: Greedy openers were back on the table for Maru in game three, as he went for a fast third CC after Factory. But instead of the two Factory gimmick from game one, Maru went for a more orthodox follow-up, making two Engineering Bays while looking to play out a normal macro game. On the opposite end of the map, Rogue tweaked his strategy slightly by skipping Speedlings and going straight into Roaches for early defense. Ultimately, Rogue still had the same overall gameplan: max out on double-upgraded Roach-Ravager. Rogue did add a map-specific twist, placing his fourth hatchery at Blackburn's gold base for some added income.
Rogue hit 1/1 upgrades at around 180 supply, and dove into Maru's third base with his Roach-Ravager swarm. It seemed like Rogue might have busted Maru's defenses on his first attack, but his loss of high-ground vision (with his Overseer flying headlong into Marines) allowed Maru's high-ground Tanks to barely hold off the attack. Rogue sent another two waves of Roach-Ravager to try and finish Maru off, but again, Maru managed to survive (while needing to lift and relocate his third base).
After teetering on the verge of breaking, Maru seemed like he might have finally turned the corner after he held off the third wave of Zerg invaders. He also found the breathing room to send a single Medivac's worth of infantry to harass Rogue, forcing him to pull back some troops back on defense and divide his attention. However, Rogue refused to give Maru the time to truly stabilize, adding Nydus Worms to help assist his forces. A Nydus into the Terran main forced Maru to split up his forces at the worst possible moment, allowing Rogue to launch a decisive frontal assault that put the game out of reach for Maru. Previously, Maru had been able to defend while maintaining an acceptable SCV count—this time, Maru's economy was devastated. No longer able to match Rogue's production, Maru was eventually battered into submission by unrelenting Zerg attacks.
Game 4 - Nautilus: Rogue spawned on the top-left starting position of Nautilus, while Maru started below him at bottom-left. Neither player bothered to worker scout, with Rogue getting extremely unlucky by sending his Overlord to scout clockwise. On the other hand, Maru's Reaper scout, while somewhat late at finding the correct starting position, still managed to slip into Rogue's base to discover an unusually fast Lair and Roach Warren alongside it.
Having gone for a fast 3-CC opener again, Maru set about preparing himself for whatever attack Rogue had planned. A Viking was able to kill off an Overlord that was sneaking in to provide vision for a Nydus Worm, forcing Rogue to go for plan B in the form of a frontal attack with mass Roaches (without Ravagers). However, Maru had prepared well on that end as well, having a full wall, a Bunker, and several Tanks in position to defend. The attack failed miserably, as did the desperate follow-up attack that came after.
Rogue had done all of this off a low Drone count, which left him miserably behind against Maru's 3 CC opener. It didn't take long for Maru to amass a superior army and march into Zerg territory, forcing Rogue to concede his only GG of the series.
Game 5 - Jagannatha: Rogue returned to Speedlings as his early game units, while otherwise going for a normal 3-base macro start. Maru switched up his own opener once more, eschewing an early third CC for faster tech. This paid off for Maru as his Cloaked Banshee was able to nab six Drone kills (despite an Overlord seeing it leave the Terran main), while a later two-prong attack with Banshees and Hellions nabbed nine more Drone kills.
However, Rogue was able to return the favor, as he caught Maru off guard by eschewing Roach-Ravager for Mutalisks instead (somehow the Spire went unscouted despite continued Banshee harassment). The Mutalisks killed a decent number of SCV's, while also forcing Maru into a defensive posture as Rogue secured expansions and upped his Drone count. With Rogue going up to over twenty Mutalisks, Maru opted for passive mid-game play, looking to add Thors to his bio army while securing his fourth base.
Unfortunately for Maru, his inattentiveness ruined his plan to play out a longer macro game. Despite Rogue committing the error of forgetting Baneling speed, he was still able to distract Maru with his Mutalisks and execute a deadly Baneling crawl-by. 22 of Maru's SCVs at his third base were reduced to wreckage, putting Maru severely behind in economy while Rogue went up to 90+ Drones.
Not even Maru's famed turtling skills would avail him from that situation—in fact, he didn't survive for that long at all. Rogue battered Maru with wave after wave of Muta-Line-Bane, forcing Maru to concede his the fourth and final GG of the night.
Congratulation to Rogue. He is best Zerg player of Sc2 all time by accomplished resume. No one ever achive as much as he get even the like of Serral, Soo, Dark, Nestea, Life. GOAT contenders, ironically among the kind of villian boss who need to be defeated in BO7 finals if any of the current player want to be validated as the best player of all-time.
Will Rogue finally earn the right of the first seed to swap the player in Group Nominations later? Unless somehow he does not advance to semifinal of ST 2, and Maru or Trap end up winning championship instead.
On May 09 2021 15:35 swarminfestor wrote: Will Rogue finally earn the right of the first seed to swap the player in Group Nominations later? Unless somehow he does not advance to semifinal of ST 2, and Maru or Trap end up winning championship instead.
On May 09 2021 15:35 swarminfestor wrote: Will Rogue finally earn the right of the first seed to swap the player in Group Nominations later? Unless somehow he does not advance to semifinal of ST 2, and Maru or Trap end up winning championship instead.
yes he will
It will be funny if he makes Group A as a group of death.
Rogue isn't known for heavy roach ravager play, was it a 200iq move? Maru seemed thrown by it. He probably would have prepared for R/R if playing Dark.
Does Rogue deliberately spend every small tourney selling one style then playing another in big money games? Would explain some of his inconsistency. Playing the long con.
From my impression, Maru could have won comfortably if he scouted better. On the flip side, Rogue did a brilliant job hiding his intentions and planning how to hit Maru at a soft spot.
Deflecting those pushes while dropping him to death should have been very possible a brilliant player like Maru, right?
I fully buy Maru's 4 GSL's in a row and Nestea/MVP era of mega achievements. But I'm sorry, nothing really beats 8-0 in the grand finals and that absolutely ridiculous trophy shelf Rogue has by now. GOAT/no-GOAT, I don't give a damn, he is by far the most successful ever. Oh and also, his bank account is fatter too. Winnings
On May 09 2021 21:04 MajiN1 wrote: Damn Rogue. He killed my liquidbets !
GG it was pretty onesided serie but it's just the begining of the season so the Prince of terran will come back much stronger soon
Rogue won so he did not even try to qualify to TSL (last qualifer).
User was warned for this post for saying liquidbets.
Meh, I don't blame the guy. From what we heard from him, he's been grinding practice for a while now, and it's been really hard on him. He deserves a bit of a break if he wants it.
On May 09 2021 16:26 Jakroth wrote: Rogue isn't known for heavy roach ravager play, was it a 200iq move? Maru seemed thrown by it. He probably would have prepared for R/R if playing Dark.
Does Rogue deliberately spend every small tourney selling one style then playing another in big money games? Would explain some of his inconsistency. Playing the long con.
Yeah, Rogue seems to really, really target his builds at the specific players he's facing, hence his one-sided finals. I don't know that he's necessarily deliberately misleading opponents though, more like he doesn't bother (or in the case of weekenders, can't) prepare to the same level for each specific opponent in smaller tournaments.
On May 09 2021 16:26 Jakroth wrote: Rogue isn't known for heavy roach ravager play, was it a 200iq move? Maru seemed thrown by it. He probably would have prepared for R/R if playing Dark.
Does Rogue deliberately spend every small tourney selling one style then playing another in big money games? Would explain some of his inconsistency. Playing the long con.
Yeah, Rogue seems to really, really target his builds at the specific players he's facing, hence his one-sided finals. I don't know that he's necessarily deliberately misleading opponents though, more like he doesn't bother (or in the case of weekenders, can't) prepare to the same level for each specific opponent in smaller tournaments.
He's also quite good at learning information as a series progresses. He noticed that at their GSL finals Stats would move out with both adepts immediately. So in the last game Rogue ling rushed him, parking an overlord over Stat's gate to make sure the adepts left.
On May 09 2021 16:26 Jakroth wrote: Rogue isn't known for heavy roach ravager play, was it a 200iq move? Maru seemed thrown by it. He probably would have prepared for R/R if playing Dark.
Does Rogue deliberately spend every small tourney selling one style then playing another in big money games? Would explain some of his inconsistency. Playing the long con.
Yeah, Rogue seems to really, really target his builds at the specific players he's facing, hence his one-sided finals. I don't know that he's necessarily deliberately misleading opponents though, more like he doesn't bother (or in the case of weekenders, can't) prepare to the same level for each specific opponent in smaller tournaments.
He's also quite good at learning information as a series progresses. He noticed that at their GSL finals Stats would move out with both adepts immediately. So in the last game Rogue ling rushed him, parking an overlord over Stat's gate to make sure the adepts left.
He is also very good learning while playing, like the IEM final against zest last year, he is just incredible at playing big tournaments, really showing his skills.
I was not expecting such level of stomp. GG to Rogue, looking forward to see him defend the GSL title in the upcoming season finals. There is season finals no?
As far as bops go, this was one of them. Not even close though there were several parts of multiple games to point to where Maru goofed and lost, especially that Oxide game which looked won for a bit.
Congratulations to Rogue on becoming a three-time GSL champion in addition to his many other accolades in his storied SC2 career. His level of play was absolutely spectacular. Wonder where Maru's eyes went when those slow banes killed those 22 SCVs at his third. We were all perplexed.
On May 10 2021 09:43 Argonauta wrote: I was not expecting such level of stomp. GG to Rogue, looking forward to see him defend the GSL title in the upcoming season finals. There is season finals no?
Yes but it's in two months (at the start of July).
On May 10 2021 10:54 tommey.liang wrote: Congratulations to Rogue on becoming a three-time GSL champion in addition to his many other accolades in his storied SC2 career. His level of play was absolutely spectacular. Wonder where Maru's eyes went when those slow banes killed those 22 SCVs at his third. We were all perplexed.
He was chasing down hard on the Muta, and at that moment he was also tilted as well. When Maru doesnt play clean like he should, that is what you got. Dont forget Rogue stomped him 3-0 in ST2 last year in the same fashion.
On May 10 2021 10:29 Ben... wrote: As far as bops go, this was one of them. Not even close though there were several parts of multiple games to point to where Maru goofed and lost, especially that Oxide game which looked won for a bit.
Had Maru did the right thing in that Oxide map, which is staying home and macro instead of moving ALL of his Bio out, it would have been a 2-2 score and we would have had a great Finals. There was no reason for him to try counter-attack so soon because Rogue was pretty much all-in and did not have that strong of a economy back home.
On May 09 2021 15:35 swarminfestor wrote: Will Rogue finally earn the right of the first seed to swap the player in Group Nominations later? Unless somehow he does not advance to semifinal of ST 2, and Maru or Trap end up winning championship instead.
yes he will
It will be funny if he makes Group A as a group of death.
There's reason to believe he might do it.
Remember back in Season 3 of 2020, when he grabbed INnoVation as his first opponent? Well, in the most recent group selection, he revealed that he only made the 'fun' pick because he had already clinched his IEM Katowice seed, and that he would be picking conservatively instead. Now that he has that IEM Katowice seed in hand, maybe he'll try to entertain the fans again.
On May 10 2021 14:37 Waxangel wrote: Remember back in Season 3 of 2020, when he grabbed INnoVation as his first opponent? Well, in the most recent group selection, he revealed that he only made the 'fun' pick because he had already clinched his IEM Katowice seed, and that he would be picking conservatively instead. Now that he has that IEM Katowice seed in hand, maybe he'll try to entertain the fans again.
Another interesting tidbit is that so far in the new ESL system Rogue has grabbed the first seed to Katowice both times. Last year he won Katowice, giving him a seat to the next one, and now he won the first GSL, again getting a seat before anyone else.
All Rouge finales feel like he does stuff and it works, without anything speacel, but i guess thats what makes him so strong not playing to look fancy and good but to win and mess with his opponent, the last game looked like Rouge already won mentally. Gotta love my abusers
For a first time after 10 years I lost motivation to watch the final. But when I saw the result I felt some relief. Rogue definitely deserves it. Sorry for Maru fanboys, but I got really pissed to watch how important matches are decided by some bunker rushes and that match with Trap made me rage so much like never before. Rogue is not my favorite zerg, but I've always respected his character and his macro strategy. Then I read how he made it like Dark should do it many times and he made it only once. What an irony. Of course I felt deja vu because MMA did it the way Marineking never succeeded in the past. So I guess it is not always about winning strategy, it is about will and confidence. But If I don't see a protoss wins Code S finally, I can't watch GSL after so many years. Of course protosses struggle in ASL too, for now I find it much more fun to watch.
On May 09 2021 15:35 swarminfestor wrote: Will Rogue finally earn the right of the first seed to swap the player in Group Nominations later? Unless somehow he does not advance to semifinal of ST 2, and Maru or Trap end up winning championship instead.
yes he will
It will be funny if he makes Group A as a group of death.
There's reason to believe he might do it.
Remember back in Season 3 of 2020, when he grabbed INnoVation as his first opponent? Well, in the most recent group selection, he revealed that he only made the 'fun' pick because he had already clinched his IEM Katowice seed, and that he would be picking conservatively instead. Now that he has that IEM Katowice seed in hand, maybe he'll try to entertain the fans again.
As much as I can think of, what else other than Maru and Trap can make a group of death?
Dark and Innovation are pretty much not powerhouse players like they used to be. TY, Zest and Stats are leaving for military service. Then, we end up with the remaining "good" players like Dream, Zoun, Cure, Bunny, Parting, DRG, SoS and Byun.
Otherwise, if foreign players like Clem and Reynor plus the military returnees like Cj Hero and Gumiho join the latest season, I believe the new season will be interesting as hell.
Very sad that Maru didn't win but tbh it feels kind of like an inevitability now that he'll disappoint I wish I had followed him during his championship run more closely because I would still be riding that dopamine high far into the future
What is happening is zergs have started 2 solve the meta, you can expect other zerg players to start becoming more dominant again as well. Rogue is a GOD at finding the optimal way to play zerg. Patches that have nerfed zerg you will see rogue not do so well until he adapts new unstoppable ways to play zerg. I expect more nerfs to come in the future and if the game stays the game expect continued Zerg domination in all big tournaments.
On May 10 2021 10:29 Ben... wrote: As far as bops go, this was one of them. Not even close though there were several parts of multiple games to point to where Maru goofed and lost, especially that Oxide game which looked won for a bit.
Had Maru did the right thing in that Oxide map, which is staying home and macro instead of moving ALL of his Bio out, it would have been a 2-2 score and we would have had a great Finals. There was no reason for him to try counter-attack so soon because Rogue was pretty much all-in and did not have that strong of a economy back home.
Maru v Meomaika, game 2(IIRC). Had Maru stayed at home, he would have probably won that game. Nope, he moved out. This is the Maru thing to do.
On May 13 2021 21:01 Dedraterllaerau wrote: What is happening is zergs have started 2 solve the meta, you can expect other zerg players to start becoming more dominant again as well. Rogue is a GOD at finding the optimal way to play zerg. Patches that have nerfed zerg you will see rogue not do so well until he adapts new unstoppable ways to play zerg. I expect more nerfs to come in the future and if the game stays the game expect continued Zerg domination in all big tournaments.
There was nothing to solve, Maru DID defend against the initial Roach Ravager pressure 2 out of 4 times. He just made mistakes and lost the games. This should have no effect on the current balance META, people are acting like Rogue was doing some ground-breaking strategy and people start copying him everywhere or something.
On May 13 2021 22:12 InfCereal wrote: Rogue has to be one of the only players that prepares for his opponents.
His finals are always awful games.
Yeah, I wonder who did Maru practice against to prepare for the Finals. Because DRG just arent at the same level with Rogue in term of ZvT, and Dark is Rogue teammate so I dont think he would help Maru to practice at all.
On May 13 2021 22:14 tigera6 wrote: Yeah, I wonder who did Maru practice against to prepare for the Finals. Because DRG just arent at the same level with Rogue in term of ZvT, and Dark is Rogue teammate so I dont think he would help Maru to practice at all.
Especially with soO gone, there's such a big gap between Rogue, Dark, and the rest of the Korean zergs that it isn't even funny. Now that those two are on the same team, I don't envy anyone having to prepare for either of them.
Maru didn't need a big practice partner though. Rogue didn't win because he prepared the best possible ling bane muta. He won because he took Maru ofguard. And not even Dark could have prepared Maru for that. It doesn't matter how good your ZvT is if you don't go for roach 1-1 pushes every time.
Rogue took over the initiative and that's the Maru's thing - being aggressive and dictating the tempo of the game.
Edit< Also DRG is one of the best TvZ players out there, but it still appears Rogue won the psychological part of the game which really doesn't rely on the "quality" of the player.
EPT
Winnings
I wish I had followed him during his championship run more closely because I would still be riding that dopamine high far into the future
