The time has come to decide who will be the second OnGameNet Starleague champion of the StarCraft II era. In one corner, we have Rain, the defending champion and paragon of stability. In the other, we have Maru, the Royal Roader and cunning strategist.
Countdown:
It's a true clash of styles, and we will have seven games to see which is superior. May the best player prevail!
SKT_Rain: Whatever You Say I Am
by CosmicSpiral
One has to pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while one is still alive.
It’s the unfortunate reality of writing that precision is often sacrificed for the sake of narrative. When composing a preview for a group stage or individual match, time and word constraints demand that we pluck one or two story strands out of the great haystack for elaboration. At the same time those strands benefit greatly from being recognizable concepts repeated over and over again by the community. They offer an immediate way to grab your attention, to set up a tale you implicitly acknowledge and accept. Is Innovation truly a Terminator built for StarCraft domination? Maybe (science will provide answers soon). Does it benefit us to describe him that way? Definitely!
Sometimes that approach mystifies rather than illuminates. When SKT T1 Rain first appeared on the scene, he was a pioneer in so many aspects that elaboration was necessary. It didn’t matter that he was rather unremarkable in terms of personality or unfailingly polite to the point of absurdity. Rain was a fascinating curiosity unlike any other Protoss. No one else combined base management, warp prism harass, and expansion timings quite like he did. No other KeSPA player rose so fast and shined so bright during KeSPA’s first foray into SC2. And unlike the likes of Flash and Jaedong, Rain had no legacy to embellish his wins or cushion his losses. Before the transition he was just beanstalk By.Sun, a moderately successful Proleague player who had never qualified for the OSL or MSL. He was both a representative of the old guard and a symbol of the potential still waiting in their ranks. So we were more than happy to define him almost entirely in terms of his gameplay and his connection with KeSPA.
Slightly Cloudy
Today the descriptions that made him stand out in WoL no longer apply to him alone. He still remains one of the best players in the world but his clear superiority over the rest of his brethren no longer exists. Flash and Jaedong have both matured greatly and are starting to make serious noise in tournaments. Innovation has seized the spotlight as the player to beat in HotS, with Soulkey chasing close behind. When it comes to Protoss players there are more than enough to satisfy any predilection. If you want to watch slightly more exciting PvZ with intricate build orders, there’s Trap; sOs provides crazy strategies that inexplicably work; JangBi charms the crowd with two OSL wins and impeccable micro. Even the best vanilla ice cream seems plain next to the allure of Rocky Road and cookie dough.
The more serious blow came with the slight homogenization of Protoss play in all matchups. The defining aspect of Rain’s play during his rise to fame was the ability to badger with warp prisms while maintaining precise defensive positioning. It was an art hard to appreciate as the good micro, judgement on engagements, and total comprehension of the game could only be seen from the viewpoint of Rain. This ability was particularly important in PvT and PvP as Rain could essentially create two fronts of battle while simultaneously shielding his new expansions. In Heart of the Swarm, safe Protoss play is the norm due to the power of the Mothership Core. Photon Overcharge and Mass Recall can compensate for bad positioning while allowing the protoss army to be more aggressive with pushing.
So here is Rain, the champion who might as well be a wallflower next to his opponent. Maru comes into COEX Mall riding a wave of momentum unlike any other. He did not play perfect games, far from it. His journey to the finals was a prime example of bar-room brawling fighting at its dirtiest. All the more outrageous that a minor was involved! Maru used proxy buildings, never-ending assaults, mass drops, and any strategy that could confuse and befuddle the opposition. And it worked out beautifully. Symbol, a player far wiser in the ways of deep tournament runs, limply flailed on his belly against this young threat. Innovation went into the semifinals expecting a standard TvT chess match and came out humiliated in a stunning upset. The fact that Maru went for three straight all-ins only confirmed him as a true competitor and made Innovation look unskilled as a planner.
Meanwhile Rain arrives as quiet as a mouse. His run lacked the flair and daring of Maru’s simply because he was the assumed favorite in almost every match. For the most part he played as if he was the favorite. Rain managed to reach the finals showcasing his signature dominance against Terran. But elsewhere there were signs of cracking. Strange plays from hyvaa messed with Rain’s decision-making; First clearly outplayed him in their Ro16 series. The SPL playoffs additionally stoked fears that he suffered from chronic choking. Once again Rain failed his team in crucial PvP sets, going 0-3 overall in a round where STX Soul won every series by a 4 - 3 margin. Losing to Innovation in the ace match was acceptable but his inability to defeat Trap and Dear brought back bad memories of last year and CJ herO.
"Sorry, I only play games where Protoss wins at the end."
You Can't Predict the Weather
Yet something is different and the change could decide this series. For Rain the story of the tournament has not been his victories but the manner of them. In contrast to his fabled defensive play, Rain has been sometimes aggressive, crafty, and even daring with his opening strategies. Perhaps he accepted the criticism that he was too passive, too predictable with his gameplay and enemies were exploiting it. Maybe he just got tired of doing the same things every match. Whatever his reasoning, the change was amazingly effective. Supernova and Bomber expected to be the attackers trying to outfox Rain before he reached the late game; instead, they were caught off guard by archon/immortal pushes and proxy dark shrines. Beforehand Maru might have entered the final confident that he could try and break Rain’s resolve with unpredictability but now he must be wary of the same risk.
Here is the chance for Rain to reinvent himself in a memorable way. He is no longer the Protoss who dominates all conversation with his brilliant play and the time of being the KeSPA torchbearer has long passed. He still remains one of the most solid players in Proleague and individual tournaments. For now he will be the SKT ace looking forward to redemption. After August 10th he may add another description to that list: the two-time OSL champion, a distinction only shared by eight other players in history. This is his chance to join the ranks of JangBi, GARIMTO, Boxer, and iloveoov and come closer to the hallowed legacies of Flash, Jaedong, and Nada. And certainly, we will argue about his place among them. The old arguments between BW and SC2 may be reignited. But there’s no doubt that if he accomplishes his goal, we can happily refit him with one of the oldest clichés: best in the world.
MaruPrime: Walk the Royal Road
by Fionn
In a time when everyone in StarCraft 2 is looking for something new, exciting, or unique, we are presented with a curiosity in MaruPrime. He is one of the youngest progamers at just 16 years of age, yet he has is one of the most experienced StarCraft II players, having played since the start of Wings of Liberty. Before HotS was released and reshuffled the SC2 hierarchy, Maru was seen as a sort of failed experiment, an example of wasted potential. Though he was never a bad player or someone who weighed his team down, he was never a favorite to get far in any tournament he entered—the perfect definition of a fringe Code S player.
Not surprisingly, he was quickly overshadowed by the achievements of other young players like Creator and TaeJa who won championships, and Life who ruthlessly dominated the end of WoL. They were the innovators, the ones upsetting the established order of the pro-scene, and the ones fans looked forward to becoming the next generation of superstars. Overshadowed by even his own teammate, Maru was became largely ignored by most fans, with some maybe giving him an off chance to finally evolve and live up to his potential after three years on the scene.
"Dude, you better not be better than me in two years."
Maybe most people gave up too early. A three year veteran he may have been, but Maru was still just a fifteen years of age as Heart of the Swarm was released. That was several years younger than most players when they hit their primes, giving him plenty of time to change and to grow.
Heart of the Swarm gave the wayward prodigy a lease on life, and he dived head-first into the beta and made waves with his impressive ladder record. If the end of Wings of Liberty was created for the fifteen year old Life to dominate, then Heart of the Swarm was the game where fifteen year old Maru could match him. Staying near the top of the Korean ladder and building up some reputation of his own, Maru transformed from a fringe Code S player into being the true ace of Prime with the official release of HotS. With MarineKing, Creator and Byun—the three other core members of Prime—all struggling with the transition to the new expansion, it was the fast learning Maru who carried his team.
Although Maru was once again thwarted in the Ro32 in his first HotS Code S, it was still an encouraging run on closer examination. He went out after losing to Soulkey twice, the player who would go on to win the entire tournament. Maru just barely lost to the eventual champ, and along the way he showed off some interesting strats such as mech while mixing in the perfectly executed cheeses that made him famous in WoL.
Walk the Royal Road
With Prime dropping out of the GSTL in last place and his own early elimination from Code S, Maru had a lot of time on his hands to work to become a better player in time for season 2 of WCS Korea, the Aucion Starleague. Getting out of his Up-and-Down group without too much trouble, defeating Hero, Fantasy, and Keen in succession, he was qualified once again to take a shot at the Korean crown, heading into his first season of the OSL with some momentum behind him.
Maru went under the radar in the Ro32, starting off the tournament with a loss to soO, but being able to make it out with a victories over Effort and the WCS Season 1 runner-up sOs. Heading off into the second round, he attracted some attention by finishing first in a relatively weak group of Supernova, Trap and the Progamer Formerly Known as Losira.
It was the Ro8 series against Symbol where Maru really started getting a second look over. He still held underdog status heading into the match, with most people believing that the super-consistent ace of Azubu would be able to take out Prime's ace-by-default. However, the result was a shocking upset, with the former GSL runner-up completely unable to stand up against Maru's aggressive strategies, looking out of sorts as he was crushed in a 3 - 1 series.
While it was impressive that the just-turned sixteen-year-old could make the OSL semi-finals in his first season, it was pretty clear that the royal road was going to end there. It was great that the poster boy of squandered potential was now a pretty strong player, but he'd still need more time to develop his skills fully and advance to another level. For he was going up against the best player in the world, the reborn one, and the reigning champion of WCS Season 1, INnoVation.
Or, that's how it seemed at the time. The week leading up to the semifinals was full of talk about who it would be more fun for Innovation to face in the finals—the guy who upset Innovation in the Ro16, Bomber, or the defending OSL champion and the best Protoss in the world, Rain. For all the improvement Maru was showing in Heart of the Swarm, no one really thought he could put a dent in Innovation's armor, with the STX Terran having become the most dominating force in Starcraft 2 by reaching two major finals in a row.
We all know what happened. And in fact, it was actually kind of boring. Out of context, there would be no reason for anyone to watch Maru's 4 - 0 of INnoVation in the semi-finals. The games were short, boring, and ended due to one player going for an all-in and the other player not scouting correctly or playing too greedily. Maru beat Innovation in four straight games, using every trick in the book to take out the best player in the world, not afraid to jump from all-in to all-in, downing the seasonal champion with a never ending parade of aggression.
Not an Innovator, Just a Winner
People hollered, complained, and criticized Maru, proclaiming that the only way that such a lowly player like Maru could ever beat a god like Innovation was through cheese and backhanded play. Which, truthfully, might be true, but why would a championship caliber player ever play into the hands of a player who has one gigantic, unfixed hole in his game? Innovation, for all he is good at, is simply not a good Bo7 player. We have now seen it in the past two seasons, that while he was able to lead STX Soul to their first Proleague title and go through the group stages like they're nothing, that planning for and playing a Bo7 just isn't his forte. To give you a quick breakdown, let's look at the four Bo7 series that Innovation has played in since the start of WCS Korea 2013:
Win vs. Symbol (4 - 2): This series should have never gotten this close. Innovation went up 3 - 0, then lost two straight games to roach and bane aggression from Symbol—the only thing Symbol had been doing for a month in ZvT. Luckily, Innovation had enough buffer to adjust, get tanks up for the sixth game, and advance to the finals against Soulkey. For how much better Innovation was than Symbol on the night, giving up two free games was a bad sign for things to come
Loss vs. Soulkey (3 - 4): INnoVation started off the series beautifully by going for a double proxy rax and succeeding. For the second straight Bo7, he went up 3-0, but then did the same exact thing he did against Symbol and lost two quick games to Zerg all-ins. On the ropes, Innovation decided to do the same cheese he did in game one, wanting to end the series right there and then, but failed and tied up the series. He would then choke in the final game, flying dropships into mutas, and became the first player in GSL finals history to be reverse swept.
Win vs. sOs (4 - 0): Innovation killed him. Not to say that sOs didn't have his chances, but the guy was a nervous wreck, throwing games left and right. No matter how Innovation had played the series, he had the experience in a finals situation that sOs didn't, giving him the edge without needing to go deep into a series.
Loss vs. Maru (0 - 4): A complete one-sided stomp by Maru. If you want to know why, it really isn't that hard to figure out. Everything Innovation isn't, Maru is. The Prime Terran might never light the world on fire with his macro, and he might never be be called perfect or "The best RTS player of all time", but Maru knows how to plan out a long series. He has been one of the most successful players in Up-and-Down history due to his ability to play the right strats, knowing when and when not to cheese, and how to map out the best course of advancing. His strategies might be a bit ugly, but they get the job done. It's the same reason why Mvp has four GSL championships, is the king at the Bo7, and plays beautifully within the confines of a long series.
Weathering the Storm
When Maru goes up against Rain in the finals, he's going to be playing against a player who has not just only won an OSL, but who plays the style that most would believe is the kryptonite to Maru. Solid as a rock, Rain is a player that won't simply give you a free win in a Bo7, having the best defense of any Protoss, or maybe player, in the world currently. Most believe that for Maru to win this series, he will need to beat Rain in four straight-up games, not having the ability to steal games with his quick, ultra aggressive strategies that he was able to knock out Symbol and Innovation with.
But Maru can do it, for he is the perfect combination of all the Terrans that have come before him on Prime.
With the power of BitByBit, Maru has no fear about pulling SCV's and going for an all-or-nothing attack in the early game.
With the power of Maka, Maru is not afraid to build three CC's before making more than five marines, able to eco-gamble with the best of them.
With the power of Polt, Maru knows how to map out and plan for a long series, knowing what builds to use in the right sets to lead him to victory.
With the power of MarineKing, Maru has some of the best micro on the planet, being able to pull out victories with his units than most people couldn't dream of.
With the power of Byun, Maru has mastered the ghost, able to pull off timely EMP's and snipes in the heat of battle.
As the small, fused together version of the other five main Terrans in Prime's history, Maru is on the verge of becoming their second ever major Korean champion, with only Polt having won the Super Tournament two years ago. Similar to Maru, Polt was considered a pushover against MMA in the finals, not really being given a legit shot to make it through. When the finals came, Polt had the better strategies, mapped out the series better, and eventually won in a 4 - 0 sweep, remarkably similar to how Maru defeated Innovation in the semifinals.
With a victory over Rain, Maru will not only become the second Prime champion, but also be given the title of OptimusPrime, awarded to a Prime player when they are able to win a major Korean championship. Polt was given the name after defeating MMA, but dropped the title after moving from Prime a few months after winning the Super Tournament. Having not been touched in over two years, this is Maru's chance to claim the throne of Optimus, and truly become the ace of Prime for the present and future.
Failed prodigy he might be, coming into his own almost three years after he made his SC2 debut, but none of that matters anymore. Four victories on Saturday, and he'll be the new OptimusPrime, the youngest Royal Roader in OSL's storied history.
Well, Rain should know that Maru is quite the aggressive player and he should be preapred for that. So if Rain can hold of Maru's aggressive strategies I think he will win, since I think Rain is the superior player overall.
I chuckled at the Artosis prediction. Rain is one of the best defensive protosses out there, so he's of course the favourite against Maru, but who knows... maybe Maru will surprise us all with macro games.
Terran just cannot compete with protoss in the late game. The combnination of storm, collosi and warpin makes it impossible for a bio army to win in the late game.
Rain with the mothership core will be untouchable until he reaches the late game and we are going to suffer through a horrifying series of games where maru lands 8 EMPs, snipes 16/18 templar and then loses the fight to two storms anyways.
Like Mvp .. Life is the same kind of player. he struggles hard in bo1/3 stages but is unbeatable in a bo5/7 (btw Life never lost a bo5/7 in a lan event) that's the reason why i hate ppl saying things like "Life was just a patchzerg" or "RIP Life he will never come back" but on other hand he won against Bomber 4:2 in Ritmix V and like i said struggles in this bo1 group stages.. 1day this guy will go throw the groupstage and will win his gsl/osl again!! :D
You really won't give up on the Maru royal road nonsense, will you? Do you really consider winning a tournament a higher achievement just because said tournament has just changed it's label? He has been in GSL since forever and this tournament is, by any concievable logic, the continuation of this series, only re-labeled as WCS and contracted to OGN out of commercial interest and hopefully (but not really likely) respect for their longstanding achievement in esports. Again, if OSL has switched to SC2 first thing in 2011, keeping the continuity would make some sense, but it entering an already well established scene two years late, it doesn't seem very constitent to suddenly carry over or the various achievements from the BW version.
As for the actual match, for the first time ever, I am seriously considering cancelling my planned weekend birdwatching because of Starcraft. I want to see Maru beat Rain soooo badly
This is the kind of matchup that gives Starcraft its magic, that makes it the best eSport in the world regardless of viewers, amount of players or sponsors
glhf boys. Either way, tomorrow night we're making history.
This is one of the better finals that we have had in a long time, the two clashes of styles and the fact that it isn't a mirror MU just makes it that much more better.
Maru 4-3 with a near identical final game as the MVP vs Squirtle series.
On August 09 2013 18:00 Lunareste wrote: beautifully written.
I want Maru to win for the story,
but I also want Rain to win for my team, SKT
This is the kind of matchup that gives Starcraft its magic, that makes it the best eSport in the world regardless of viewers, amount of players or sponsors
glhf boys. Either way, tomorrow night we're making history.
It's not like 2 OSLs in a row and after a disappointing proleague performance is a good story? :D
A not-as-good-as-usual write-up, sorry. Too much royal road nonsense. I mean, what is Royal Roading about? Enter a tournament for the first time ever, then go win it. Oh, Maru entered OSL for the first time? Uh, since OSL is totally different from GSL (where Maru was in for the last 2-3 years), that totally makes sense. Sorry.
Edit: I'm too evil. The rest of the write-up is of course great, I love it .
On August 09 2013 18:30 lichter wrote: Rain by virtue of being older.
I don't know. There's also this thing where younger people are more fearless. My bet is on Rain but I'm not sure if I'd give him the win just on a better mentality, better controlling his nerves.
Lol, artosis' prediction leads us to bet. and before that, Maru 4:1, he knows how to win and I feel like in terms of style, rain would struggle a lot more against him than bomber.
im not betting before the artosis prediction is announced that being said im believing in rain's power to scout whatever random things maru dares to throw at him and be able to react properly, and tbh I feel like the meta game is kinda favoring protoss right now, so GO RAIN!!
Gonna have to root for Maru on this one. Not that I don't like Rain by any means, I just really want to see someone pick up the mantle of Optimus again.
great write up. i wont maru to win for so many reasons prime to have another champion esf to beat the 'evil' kespa giant and to hear all the winning and bitching if he cheeses his way to a 4-1 or 4-2 don't really see rain letting himself get rolled 4-0 even on an off day
I feel sorry for Maru because his only chance is to cheese. It's not because he is the less skilled player but TvP in HOTS is a joke. Terran has to all-in or die. The final will be all-in after all-in after all-in etc. In BW TvP was one of the best matchup...
I bet Maru goes expo first in the first two games. And I'm gonna call it Maru 4-3 just so that when he wins and the world burns, I can at least say I called it
Can't cope with everyone underestimating Maru, he's got top 2 micro on the planet (with first spot obviously occupied by Bogus) and a killer strategical sense, he'll take the finals. GL Rain, you'll need it.
On August 09 2013 17:35 monsta wrote: Like Mvp .. Life is the same kind of player. he struggles hard in bo1/3 stages but is unbeatable in a bo5/7 (btw Life never lost a bo5/7 in a lan event) that's the reason why i hate ppl saying things like "Life was just a patchzerg" or "RIP Life he will never come back" but on other hand he won against Bomber 4:2 in Ritmix V and like i said struggles in this bo1 group stages.. 1day this guy will go throw the groupstage and will win his gsl/osl again!! :D
? wat.
This is Maru vs. Rain, Life has nothing to do with this :D
Summer of protoss! All three regions will have a protoss champion, mark my words. That being said, I feel Rain is just too impervious to aggression and with all the "TvP imba" qq the only rational choice here is to go for gold.
On August 09 2013 20:02 p14c wrote: I feel sorry for Maru because his only chance is to cheese. It's not because he is the less skilled player but TvP in HOTS is a joke. Terran has to all-in or die. The final will be all-in after all-in after all-in etc. In BW TvP was one of the best matchup...
Ha-ha, and I want Rain to win so the tears from terran whiners like you will flow on and on.
Actually want to see Optimus picked up too, so idk.
On August 09 2013 17:35 monsta wrote: Like Mvp .. Life is the same kind of player. he struggles hard in bo1/3 stages but is unbeatable in a bo5/7 (btw Life never lost a bo5/7 in a lan event) that's the reason why i hate ppl saying things like "Life was just a patchzerg" or "RIP Life he will never come back" but on other hand he won against Bomber 4:2 in Ritmix V and like i said struggles in this bo1 group stages.. 1day this guy will go throw the groupstage and will win his gsl/osl again!! :D
What?
You're aware that Life has nothing to do with this article, correct?
On the real, though, I am so god damn excited for this finals. I really can't decide, though. I'm so torn between these two amazing players, it's just impossible for me to choose. I've always liked Rain, but at the same time, it would be so cool to see Maru win.
On August 09 2013 17:33 r691175002 wrote: Terran just cannot compete with protoss in the late game. The combnination of storm, collosi and warpin makes it impossible for a bio army to win in the late game.
Rain with the mothership core will be untouchable until he reaches the late game and we are going to suffer through a horrifying series of games where maru lands 8 EMPs, snipes 16/18 templar and then loses the fight to two storms anyways.
User was warned for this post
Yea, that's why Flash has a 61% winratio in PvT and statisticly his best matchup, just like Taeja's - there are enough Terran's who simply destroy top notch Protoss'
On August 09 2013 21:51 lichter wrote: TIME TO GET HYPED + Show Spoiler +
That was amazing.
I think Maru can/will win, but I actually think he'll feel comfortable pulling out macro play rather than just more all-ins. He was canny enough to recognize Innovation's greedy macro play was weak to all-ins, so he should realize that Rain's safe play is weak to greedy macro. Then, when Rain realizes what's up and goes for quick 3 nexus or something, that's when he'll hit with the all-in!
On August 09 2013 17:48 MysteryMeat1 wrote: I'm pretty sure Rain has Flash and innovation as potential practice partners. GG Maru... GG
Thats a pretty garbage set of practice partners for Maru's play style. Yes both of those players are probably better then Maru but they are macro kings. They are not know for aggressive early attacks and cheeses. Thats what Rain needs to practice against.
The way I see it if Rain wins everyone will be screaming "#1 player in the world!!" whereas if Maru wins he will probably be called a lucky cheesier and a fluke.
That being said i just want a good series I don't care who wins.
Believing Fully in Maru. I think maru has a really good chance with his aggressive style in the early game, and even beinga able to hold till late game Maur has it. Calling it 4-2 Maru fighting!!
Maru has no similarities whatsoever with Polt, they are polar opposites. And Polt does not crumble under pressure, which Maru hadn't witnessed yet this season. But he did many times before.
hmm this is honestly hard to call. Rain is a solid player that plays well under pressure and Maru is currently is on a crazy hot streak having just 4-0 innovation so while I voted for Rain winning, I won't be surprised if Maru takes it. His all-in 'style' can also be used in his favour if he plays a macro game which Rain might not expect. Having said that, if Rain scouts thoroughly in all the games then I would say he has a good chance of taking this.
On August 09 2013 22:36 geokilla wrote: I don't understand this royal road thing.. Maru has been in Code S forever. In what way is he a royal roader?
Because this season is OSL and not GSL code S
There have only been 2 OSLs in SC2, half the field would have been "royal roader" Its a dumb title; stop preaching it.
yet that's what half the players said in their interviews (bomber, first among others); they wanted to go for the RR award. I agree its stupid but hey, if they never played a OSL before and this IS their first OSL, why wouldnt they be a possible royalroader?
also, hoping for good games with maru winning in the end!
Rain gonna win 4-0, he'll hide behind the mothership-core, zealot harass and obsverservs, tech to collosi and storm 2-2 upgrades and then take a third, get up 15 gates and hit with 3-3 kill everything with storms and warp-in zealots from chronoed gates while having warp-prism in the main to split the terran's attention. same thing will happen 4 games in a row.
On August 09 2013 18:36 boxerfred wrote: A not-as-good-as-usual write-up, sorry. Too much royal road nonsense. I mean, what is Royal Roading about? Enter a tournament for the first time ever, then go win it. Oh, Maru entered OSL for the first time? Uh, since OSL is totally different from GSL (where Maru was in for the last 2-3 years), that totally makes sense. Sorry.
Edit: I'm too evil. The rest of the write-up is of course great, I love it .
I was watching a twitch channel and I think Chobra explained the deeper nuances/meaning of the "Walking the Royal Road" in Korean culture.
There are specific walkways or paths prohibited to all but the Emperor (or royal family, not entirely sure). One of these walkways or perhaps the Royal Road itself leads to the directly to the Imperial throne. No one is allowed to gaze at the emperor's face as he walks along the Royal Road, therefore no one will know what he looks like until he mounts his throne.
Walking the Royal Road in Starcraft is similar because the Royal Roader is unknown as a first time entrant when the tournament begins (the beginning of his walk) and "ascends" or walks the Royal Road to the Starcraft throne on his first attempt. No one knows the champ/emperor's face until the win when they walk the Royal Road.
On August 10 2013 15:10 RamboJesus wrote: So according to this countdown the matches should have already begun but they doont start for another 2 hours. Am i missing something?
On August 10 2013 15:10 RamboJesus wrote: So according to this countdown the matches should have already begun but they doont start for another 2 hours. Am i missing something?