I had just got back in StarCraft II after losing interest toward the end of WoL. Maru was everything I wanted from a player. Reserved and humble during interviews, he asserted himself with an ‘I don’t give a s@$t’ attitude once the game began. His play-style was electric, frenetic, and dynamic. He was at once full of both force and grace. The excitement I felt watching his games was one of the main reasons I found competitive StarCraft II to be so compelling. I woke up at 5:00 AM to watch him in individual leagues, and I cheered for Jin Air in Proleague. I wasn't writing back then, and I didn't have anyone to talk to about StarCraft. So I waxed poetic to my dad—who had never watched a game of StarCraft in his life—about how great Maru was.
When you’re at the top, the only direction to go is down. Losing the mantle of best Terran to Dream was understandable, given the SKT Terran's remarkable uptick in form. When Dream faded, INnoVation deservedly took the Terran crown with his own, superlative play. BlizzCon 2015 was where reality hit home. The way Rogue demolished Maru in the quarterfinals was a shot to the gut. Most declines feel like the natural progression of a career—this was inexplicable and abrupt. I grasped for straws, eventually deciding only injuries could have caused his form to crater so fast. But it was just an excuse. Maru wasn’t the superstar he once was.
As HotS gave way to the new expansion, I clung to the faith. I believed he would turn things around. Yet, even as Maru's performances throughout 2016 Proleague validated my trust, his inability to translate an MVP-worthy season (finishing with a ludicrous 22-4 record) into individual results led to no end of frustration. Maru still had all the tools to dominate. However, he seemed... ...scattered. For some reason, he couldn't focus his abilities when his personal glory was on the line. Instead, he was found lacking in series after crucial series in individual leagues. 'How do you lose to ****ing MyungSiK? Didn't you already end his career a year ago?'
From 2016-2017, Maru's aura of invincibility faded, alongside my hope. Maru never deteriorated enough to be considered bad, but I expected more than a brief stay in the quarterfinals. The vintage Maru who powered over inferior competition was replaced by someone who lacked his former ruthlessness, focus, and consistency. TvP became a thorn in his side from the moment LotV hit; Maru went from the best TvP’er of HotS to completely hapless in a matter of months. LotV had cruelly sucked away his magic and given it to the likes of Dark and INnoVation.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped believing Maru could ever win again. GSL is an odyssey which stretches over months, and is replete with all sorts of hazards (balance patches, hidden builds, group ceremonies, etc). Maru lacked the resiliency to survive such an ordeal. On the other hand, winning a weekender tournament requires you to be nearly perfect for a few days. Maru wasn't fit for that either.
As time went on, there was less to grasp onto. There were the innumerable losses: to Dear, Ryung, and GuMiho in GSL, the unsatisfying interlude of WESG 2016, and other confounding disappointments.
On the verge of assured victory, Maru makes a monumental blunder that costs him everything.
Maru fell even further as 2017 came to a close, unable to adapt to the new design patch. It was conclusive evidence that his best days were behind him. I was convinced that it was INnoVation, not Maru, who held the keys to Terran’s salvation. I badly wanted it to be Maru, but how could I believe anymore? Maru was still capable of brilliance, but not enough combined brilliance to light his way to a championship.
Yet, when INnoVation floundered, it was the diminutive Terran who effortlessly bore his race aloft. Maru was the one who persevered through the WESG 2017 bracket to become its recent champion, the last man standing in the grueling GSL gauntlet that claimed all his compatriots. In the finals, Maru left no confusion as to who the better player was. Even in game five on Odyssey, where Stats managed to salvage some of his pride, the reckless the abandon with which Maru played that game reminded me of why I became a fan of his in the first place. Win or lose, he was dictating the terms of the game. He had found his old magic.
I was wrong to believe Maru would never win another tournament.
Not wrong in my logic, of course. After all, I had watched hundreds of games and thousands of hours of StarCraft II, and I knew how things worked. There was only one reasonable conclusion to reach from watching Maru's brief flashes of greatness and subsequent crashes back into mediocrity: he was a fading star.
There's a smug satisfaction in being correct. You might not be pleased with the answer, but at least you knew best. A part of me wilted with every loss, but there was also a smirk on my face that was growing even wider. I felt like I should have been sad. The act of recognizing my indifference upset me more than the actual emptiness itself. Maru had been my favorite player for so long. How could I feel so little when he played? I still watched Maru's old HotS VODs from time to time. I wanted him to win again. I wanted to feel just a sliver of that exhilaration from the past. He wasn’t going to, though, and nothing is worse than false hope.
Watching Maru win the GSL finals and kiss the trophy warmed my soul in a way all my cold calculations could not. He had done what I thought was impossible. His consistency, his creativity, his sheer bravado—everything was back the way it should have been. It was incomprehensible. It flew in the face of reason. Everything had been going so wrong for so long.
According to Rogue, the answer was simple: Maru started practicing. It wasn’t a failure to understand the meta, a loss of his mechanics, or anything that meant a lasting decline in form. He had simply gotten complacent. Maybe it’s just the writer in me looking for a profound narrative, but I couldn't accept it. Everyone in the Korean scene is practicing their hearts out; if you don’t, you fall behind. Nothing in StarCraft is so simple that it can be answered by a throwaway line in a halftime interview. Or can it?
Unlike three years ago, I have this platform now, so I can talk about Maru to people other than my dad. That's good, because he wouldn't give me nearly as much s*** as I deserve. I was wrong about Maru. I wrote him off when I really shouldn’t have. I may never find a satisfactory reason as to how Maru turned everything around and became the best version of himself, but that's not too important. Turns out, I don’t know everything. I don't have to know everything. This time, it feels right to be wrong.
The current Maru feels much more complete than some of the previous Marus which at times relied on aggression as a crutch. He still plays really aggressive, but his transitions and everything else are sharp. He still doesn't respect his opponent enough at times, but I guess no one's perfect.
It's great to see Maru on top of the world again. It's always wonderful when one of the OG pros wins something but the fact that it's MaruPrime, the child prodigy, the little psychopath, and so forth, makes it all the sweeter. As somebody who always had a rather lackluster trophy cabinet compared to the influence he exerted on the scene, watching him fix that discrepancy has been especially fitting. He carried the torch in some very dark times during HotS, and it's been a treat to watch him carry it again in LotV. Maru, the Fourth Race, unhindered by the capricious whims of balance.
He's certainly come a very long way from those early days on Prime. No idea where he goes from here, or how long he can keep this up, but I for one am eager to find out.
Really well written. Resonates with me a lot, at some point Maru stopped being my favorite Terran as well, when his completely nonsensical aggression stopped magically turning out alright. He just looked lost and completely indistinguishable compared to his old self.
I feel like the Maru we have today is a much more well-rounded player, a bit less magical in TvP (not worse, just less magical). I miss his old play but if his new play is what he needs then all the best to him
He also mentions that he gets nervous on stage. This might also be a factor. I mean his results weren't really bad in the last few years. Just always a couple games away (e.g. WESG last year against TY).
Fuck ye you were wrong, best terran ever, In the best team ever, JinAir is looking stronger then ever having the top zerg tos and terran players in the world, I dont understand why that factor is not mentioned. also would love to see a nice writeup about the team.
I was wrong to believe Maru would never win another tournament.
Yes, yes you were.
Frankly, I'm astounded you would even think this of Maru. Yes his 2016-2017 was a step down from his HotS days, but I don't think he ever stopped being a top-tier player barring a few slips like the end of last year. The guy is only 20 years old, he's still very much in his prime.
Not to mention, we've had far crazier and inspiring turnarounds than what we're seeing from Maru even in contemporary times. Look at Rogue and Gumiho's 2017 or ByuN's 2016, or ByuL's 2015. All of whom are several years older than Maru.
The moments of brilliance in Marus play that could be seen again and again and the huge respect other players always had for Maru in GSL group selection ceremony kept my hope alive. I'm soooo happy that I was right, but if I also would've lost faith I probably would be even happier to have been wrong. So I can totally feel you, mizenhauer
Maru is deceptively young. He's been a kid for most of his previous attempts at greatness. Judging his character permanently based off his kid performance was a mistake, yes. He's growing up and maturing in the game too. Expect a lot more from him in the future.
On April 04 2018 09:01 pvsnp wrote: It's great to see Maru on top of the world again. It's always wonderful when one of the OG pros wins something but the fact that it's MaruPrime, the child prodigy, the little psychopath, and so forth, makes it all the sweeter. As somebody who always had a rather lackluster trophy cabinet compared to the influence he exerted on the scene, watching him fix that discrepancy has been especially fitting. He carried the torch in some very dark times during HotS, and it's been a treat to watch him carry it again in LotV. Maru, the Fourth Race, unhindered by the capricious whims of balance.
He's certainly come a very long way from those early days on Prime. No idea where he goes from here, or how long he can keep this up, but I for one am eager to find out.
^This, well written.
Maru has been my favorite player since 2015, to the point that I doubt I will ever be as big of a fanboy of any other sportsman. There's just something special about him and how ruthlessly he plays, reminds me of Bomber.
In regards of the article I think it should go under bloggs, its more about the writer than about Maru.
My guess would be that Rogue has extremely high standards when it comes to hard work, ever since his practice spree towards Blizzcon. So if Maru just casually plays 7 hours a day it would be seen as slacking off.
On April 04 2018 14:01 MrRee wrote: Same clickbait 'author' that was comically wrong about "The Emperor". Perhaps you should stop writing articles about the skill level of players.
Half the articles bash players and the other half takes it back after said player wins something. That's what happened when you convince yourself of something that's impossible to predict.
Maybe he does it on purpose to generate clicks. Being controversial is not uncommon among people writing articles.
On April 04 2018 14:01 MrRee wrote: Same clickbait 'author' that was comically wrong about "The Emperor". Perhaps you should stop writing articles about the skill level of players.
Half the articles bash players and the other half takes it back after said player wins something. That's what happened when you convince yourself of something that's impossible to predict.
Maru saved his fame and glory, but sadly he didn't save Terran, because he didn't save TvP. 44% vs Korean protoss post-blizcon. And that include his TvSoS and his bag of tricks vs Stats.
Still, his GSL victory is even more impressive when know how much he struggles vs toss. He didn't play one standard game in finale, and still managed to take a BO7. Tbh Stats didn't appear in his most stellar form. Maru was since a along time a formidable BO1 player but his series play was kinda meh, but now he play them great.
I don't think this version of Maru is the old Maru. He is actually much much better. He does not rely on his micro that much no more. He is still very aggressive and throws a cheese in quite often, but his playstyle is so much more refined. I actually think he surpassed Inno in macro, and once the former micro-monster Maru can macro like an absolute god, then how to stop him? He even thinks a lot more on his builds, isn't throwing away units needlessly in a senseless aggression attempts (THIS WAS ACTUALLY HIS BIGGEST WEAKNESS for ETERNITY), knows when to pull back. That is fantastic to see, he matured so much !
His only weakness right now is defense against weird cheesy builds. He got a lot better here as well, but anyway this is the area of the game he will never be perfect at. And I am fine with that, that is just a small price to pay for such an interesting explosive playstyle. Cant wait for the Super Tournament ! Hoping for a Maru vs Rogue final
I never completely lost faith in the possibility of Maru coming back, I think. Maybe because he's still so young I expected him to have this hick up, him needing to mature a bit more. I remember Valdes commenting on Maru not practicing much which might have emphasized this feeling. "One day Maru is going to take this thing seriously again and he'll return to form". Idk I was never really worried about him returning to show his true potential as I am with Zest for example.
Hmm, now I'm thinking about it I was (and still am) worried about one thing stopping his come back: His wrists. How bad is it? I'm sure pain in your wrists doesn't motivate you to practice much either. I'm curious about Maru's thought about all this.. Wax? :o
On April 04 2018 18:07 Penev wrote: I never completely lost faith in the possibility of Maru coming back, I think. Maybe because he's still so young I expected him to have this hick up, him needing to mature a bit more. I remember Valdes commenting on Maru not practicing much which might have emphasized this feeling. "One day Maru is going to take this thing seriously again and he'll return to form". Idk I was never really worried about him returning to show his true potential as I am with Zest for example.
Hmm, now I'm thinking about it I was (and still am) worried about one thing stopping his come back: His wrists. How bad is it? I'm sure pain in your wrists doesn't motivate you to practice much either. I'm curious about Maru's thought about all this.. Wax? :o
He does not seem to have any issues with his wrists anymore. My opinion is that this is just another benefit of his revamped playstyle. He does not play as micro heavy as he used to, so hopefully his wrists will be fine
On April 04 2018 17:45 xongnox wrote: Maru saved his fame and glory, but sadly he didn't save Terran, because he didn't save TvP. 44% vs Korean protoss post-blizcon. And that include his TvSoS and his bag of tricks vs Stats.
Still, his GSL victory is even more impressive when know how much he struggles vs toss. He didn't play one standard game in finale, and still managed to take a BO7. Tbh Stats didn't appear in his most stellar form. Maru was since a along time a formidable BO1 player but his series play was kinda meh, but now he play them great.
Wasn't a bunch of these games when protoss was notoriously OP which resulted in a nerf of stalkers?
On April 04 2018 14:01 MrRee wrote: Same clickbait 'author' that was comically wrong about "The Emperor". Perhaps you should stop writing articles about the skill level of players.
Half the articles bash players and the other half takes it back after said player wins something. That's what happened when you convince yourself of something that's impossible to predict.
Maybe he does it on purpose to generate clicks. Being controversial is not uncommon among people writing articles.
On April 04 2018 17:45 xongnox wrote: Maru saved his fame and glory, but sadly he didn't save Terran, because he didn't save TvP. 44% vs Korean protoss post-blizcon. And that include his TvSoS and his bag of tricks vs Stats.
Since the latest balance patch he is 5-2 in offline series (14-11 in games). That doesn't seem like struggling.
On April 04 2018 18:07 Penev wrote: I never completely lost faith in the possibility of Maru coming back, I think. Maybe because he's still so young I expected him to have this hick up, him needing to mature a bit more. I remember Valdes commenting on Maru not practicing much which might have emphasized this feeling. "One day Maru is going to take this thing seriously again and he'll return to form". Idk I was never really worried about him returning to show his true potential as I am with Zest for example.
Hmm, now I'm thinking about it I was (and still am) worried about one thing stopping his come back: His wrists. How bad is it? I'm sure pain in your wrists doesn't motivate you to practice much either. I'm curious about Maru's thought about all this.. Wax? :o
He does not seem to have any issues with his wrists anymore. My opinion is that this is just another benefit of his revamped playstyle. He does not play as micro heavy as he used to, so hopefully his wrists will be fine
I don't think I saw him wag his wrists during and after his recent games, which is a good sign. The long practice hiatus might have healed everything up nicely. For now at least, these kind of problems tend to never really go away.
Or maybe it was never really that bad (that much worse than most others have it) to begin with. It just looked worse because of the horrible posture he had, that was just painful to watch.
ruthless describes him well lol, he just abuses every tactical advantage he can get. And seems to be the only one to realize how powerful speed banshees and ravens can be.
On April 04 2018 17:45 xongnox wrote: Maru saved his fame and glory, but sadly he didn't save Terran, because he didn't save TvP. 44% vs Korean protoss post-blizcon. And that include his TvSoS and his bag of tricks vs Stats.
Since the latest balance patch he is 5-2 in offline series (14-11 in games). That doesn't seem like struggling.
He still win only by tricks & cheese, and that's a very few games. And for his god-level of best player ever, and his TvP HoTs legacy, 14-11 or 56% is not that good, especially compared to his TvT and TvZ. He even can't win Has without 1basing himself. For information, Classic is at 80% in games and 90% in series vs Korean terrans post-blizcon. That's good MU stats for a champion. (luckily enough for Maru, Classic_vs_Z is not at the same level :D )
I am a big maru fan and never really stopped believing because i think he regularly showed excellence in his play. Maybe vs worse opposition or only in bo1s, but i still had the feeling at least that he can win vs anyone. (to a fault though, losing points on maru in liquibets wasn't that fun ) Very happy to see that he matured in his play now though, he can basically play any style (very aggressive early or mid, also super lategame, micro and multitaskign focused, etc) and his boX play has improved as well. Super tournament is close, maru might be the best player in the world again, let's see what this 20 year old kid can do.
On April 04 2018 08:21 Mizenhauer wrote: Not wrong in my logic, of course. After all, I had watched hundreds of games and thousands of hours of StarCraft II, and I knew how things worked.
It seems wrong to disregard Maru of the basis of how other players tend to peak and fall-off. Like him or not, he's still one of the biggest phenomenons of sc2. Neither his gameplay or results have ever followed the norm.
Plus even at his worst he's still capable of beating anyone. People say his 2016 was tragic but he had the greatest proleague run of all time, as well as some of the worst GSL bracket luck of all time. His 2017 was lackluster but but he still had his share of amazing games in there.
On April 04 2018 08:21 Mizenhauer wrote: Not wrong in my logic, of course. After all, I had watched hundreds of games and thousands of hours of StarCraft II, and I knew how things worked.
It seems wrong to disregard Maru of the basis of how other players tend to peak and fall-off. Like him or not, he's still one of the biggest phenomenons of sc2. Neither his gameplay or results have ever followed the norm.
Plus even at his worst he's still capable of beating anyone. People say his 2016 was tragic but he had the greatest proleague run of all time, as well as some of the worst GSL bracket luck of all time. His 2017 was lackluster but but he still had his share of amazing games in there.
Yup, he usually get the worst bracket ever in GSl, except for the last one :D
Reserved and humble during interviews, he asserted himself with an ‘I don’t give a s@$t’ attitude once the game began
reserved yes, but humble? i rather think that he actually doesnt give a s@$t about interviews and is more introvert and taciturn than humble. if it wasnt for that rogue interview and his wrist issues, i would have even said that all those interviews after wins where he rates himself 6/10 or sth like that make him cocky, but all things considered it does make sense he feels that way.
overall nice article, i can definitely empathize with a lot of the expressed feelings :D always loved maru and his playstyle and was very sad when he slacked in individual leagues in lotv. especially with what rogue said (which i can totally imagine to be true and a big factor, wrist issues aside) i cant help but think of life. also a unique aggressive style, eventually rounded out by according macro, best of his race / in the world at times, but then gets complacent and falls off for months. their rivlary is the cherry on top of this thought^^ lets hope that maru keeps up the practice and also with the help of his teammates stays on top!
i also disagree with a lot of comments in this thread or dont like their tone, but i'm not in the mood to argue :^)
Maru is a legend. Appreciate the effort that goes into most TL stories..this one included.. so please take this as constructive critisicm. When I see a headline about Maru I get hyped and will read it 100%. I know the title had "I" in it so I shouldnt be surprised...but my opinion if you are going to use Maru in the headline to generate interest in the article it should be way more about Maru and way less about the writer..not trying to be rude or inappreciative of the content but its a bit of a trend now.
Nice article. I can relate a lot to the mentioned feelings when it comes to Maru, tbh. Very happy for him and I'm still somewhat astonished at just how good he plays by now.
But I just really want to say that your writing has improved a lot, Mizenhauer! Keep going, I really liked this one.
And since I have seen a few comments wondering why this isn't a blog or something, I feel the need to point out that this article was labeled as a column. After all, Mizen has already written about players/tournaments in a more critical way in the past, so I guess you can call all these a column. As far as I know, the definition of a column contains that the written article always voices an opinion, so they will naturally be more personal. Like it was done here where Mizen just told his own experience with Maru from a fan's perspective. I guess in our modern age people would usually label it as a blog post, yes, but it's not wrong to post it as an article of a column either. Just saying. ^-^
I feel exactly as Mize about Maru, having had been watching him for years, except for one thing: I never stopped believing he would win GSL. Never. Ever.
Great writing, it's good to see it from a fans perspective. I've always liked Maru because he's on Jin Air. But to a serious question, who is the best Jin Air player now? Maru has three GSL's in a row, but sOs has two blizzcons. And Maru has 6 titles, but sOs has 5 with two more finals appearance
On September 16 2018 23:25 CaptainBurnTurn wrote: So, who is the best Jin Air player now? Maru has three GSL's in a row, but sOs has two blizzcons. And Maru has 6 titles, but sOs has 5 with two more finals appearances.
On September 16 2018 23:25 CaptainBurnTurn wrote: So, who is the best Jin Air player now? Maru has three GSL's in a row, but sOs has two blizzcons. And Maru has 6 titles, but sOs has 5 with two more finals appearances.
On September 16 2018 23:25 CaptainBurnTurn wrote:But to a serious question, who is the best Jin Air player now? Maru has three GSL's in a row, but sOs has two blizzcons. And Maru has 6 titles, but sOs has 5 with two more finals appearance
5 starleagues to 0. It's not even close unless you value blizzcon to some ridiculous degree.
The potential Blizzcon groups could result in neither Serral or Maru advancing to the play offs, or meeting early, I'm starting to think the dream finals is unlikely.
On September 16 2018 23:43 Zzoram wrote: The potential Blizzcon groups could result in neither Serral or Maru advancing to the play offs, or meeting early, I'm starting to think the dream finals is unlikely.
which group could result in Maru getting knocked out?
On September 16 2018 23:43 Zzoram wrote: The potential Blizzcon groups could result in neither Serral or Maru advancing to the play offs, or meeting early, I'm starting to think the dream finals is unlikely.
which group could result in Maru getting knocked out?
On September 16 2018 23:43 Zzoram wrote: The potential Blizzcon groups could result in neither Serral or Maru advancing to the play offs, or meeting early, I'm starting to think the dream finals is unlikely.
which group could result in Maru getting knocked out?
TY and Has!
Well Has can't be in the same group as Maru. Even if he was terran proxies hard counter most protoss proxies anyway (from what I understand).
Marus ascension has been like a dream come true for me, he's been my favorite player since 2015. To watch your absolute favorite climb from great to GOAT(my opinion, no point arguing because my opinion is my own) is something few fans are lucky enough to experience. Its been a wild ride =D
On September 16 2018 23:25 CaptainBurnTurn wrote: So, who is the best Jin Air player now? Maru has three GSL's in a row, but sOs has two blizzcons. And Maru has 6 titles, but sOs has 5 with two more finals appearances.
On September 16 2018 23:25 CaptainBurnTurn wrote:But to a serious question, who is the best Jin Air player now? Maru has three GSL's in a row, but sOs has two blizzcons. And Maru has 6 titles, but sOs has 5 with two more finals appearance
5 starleagues to 0. It's not even close unless you value blizzcon to some ridiculous degree.
sOs, has been to 2 GSL finals, even though he lost them. Blizzcon does have to have some serious value though, as it only happens once a year, and he won both of them when Blizzcon was basically just Koreans. 2015 was just one foreigner, and the same with 2013. His 2015 run was especially impressive as he beat PartinG, Rain, Rogue and then Life.
On September 16 2018 23:25 CaptainBurnTurn wrote:But to a serious question, who is the best Jin Air player now? Maru has three GSL's in a row, but sOs has two blizzcons. And Maru has 6 titles, but sOs has 5 with two more finals appearance
5 starleagues to 0. It's not even close unless you value blizzcon to some ridiculous degree.
sOs, has been to 2 GSL finals, even though he lost them. Blizzcon does have to have some serious value though, as it only happens once a year, and he won both of them when Blizzcon was basically just Koreans. 2015 was just one foreigner, and the same with 2013. His 2015 run was especially impressive as he beat PartinG, Rain, Rogue and then Life.
Blizzcon is greater than any regular weekender, but it isn't a starleague.
On September 16 2018 23:43 Zzoram wrote: The potential Blizzcon groups could result in neither Serral or Maru advancing to the play offs, or meeting early, I'm starting to think the dream finals is unlikely.
which group could result in Maru getting knocked out?
TY and Has!
Well Has can't be in the same group as Maru. Even if he was terran proxies hard counter most protoss proxies anyway (from what I understand).
I dont see anyone loosing to Has at Blizzcon. His group will be prepared and we all saw at GSL vs the World what happens if players of that caliber are prepared for that. In his WCS run he caught some off guard. After Korea Showtime should have now a way better idea what he's facing. Has will get stomped.
I've been waiting for this tournament win to bust out with this, and I just now remembered. I guess some people became Maru fans in 2015, but...
On October 31 2012 11:53 neutralrobot wrote: I'm really surprised that Maru isn't higher in the "head vote"... I guess it's stiff competition, it's pretty unpredictable, but I think Maru has excellent chances. He might not win this season, but I think he's got a lot of potential. I wouldn't be surprised to see him totally dominate for a while somewhere in the future.
The people replying at the time seemed to think he was not a prodigy. Fuck 'em, I been on the Maru train since 2012.
I agree that Blizzcon is worth less than a starleague for SURE, but sOs Blizzcon runs were really magical. I think they are the two Blizzcon wins that mean more than any other. Having said that Maru > sOs in terms of legacy/career still.
I should write an article about how I was right about Maru. I still remember the arguments I had in the Power Rank years ago that placed Innovation #1 and Maru #2 after Maru swept him in matches that weren't close in the OSL Semi-Finals before wrecking Rain and winning it all.
But then I'd have to write an article about how I should be more humble, and I'm not humble.
Maru will be remembered as the better player. Innovation was the fanboy pick because he came from Kespa. But Maru always had more potential, and it only took time for him to show it.