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StarCraft 211 years agoRadoslav "Nydra" Kolev

Maru with the upset of the season, blanks Innovation at OSL semi-finals

To every single viewer's surprise the young Terran Maru of team Prime walked out with a flawless triumph over GosuRanking #1 player Innovation in less than an hour of in-game time. Already in the grand final of WCS Korea S2, Maru will await the winner of Rain and Bomber on Thursday.
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With two grand finals, one gold medal, a ton of praise to his account and a 3-0 against reigning Korea champion Soulkey in the last round, Innovation was the logical recipient of the 99% of GosuBet minerals for the first OSL semi-final. Having the young and playoff-untempered Maru made the bet even more easier and so StarCraft 2 fans tuned in today for what they expected to be a slaugtherfest.

And slaughterfest they received, yet not the one they bet on. In under 60 minutes of game time, the Prime talent crushed Innovation's spine 4-0 to eliminate him from the competition.

The first three games ended in the blink of an eye. The opening set on Newkirk Precinct saw Maru opening with a cloak banshee off one base and applying enough terror to Innovation's economic build so that a follow-up all-inish marine/tank push can finish him off. In game two on Bel'Shir Vestige, Innovation opted for a raven opening but once again found himself poor on defensive mechanisms and Maru's marines and hellions flooded in to double youngester's lead.


Maru marching in for the opening victory

Sticking to his style, Innovation boldly went for a lowground quick CC on Anaconda which only led to a brutal buil order loss marked by Maru's double proxy rax. About half an hour had passed and who's regarded as the best player in the world was sitting one game away from elimination.

Finally, Innovation got to play a longer series but that didn't help him either. Both players went for standard economic openings on the shoulders of marine/hellion compositions and moved across the map almost simultaneously. As gunfire colored Gwangali Beach, Innovation found himself on the losing side of the engagement and had to run home tail between his legs, diligently followed by Maru.

Once at Innovation's gates, Maru micromanaged his hellions and marines to abusive levels, leaving the Season 1 champion 20 SCVs behind, while at the same time securing his third and getting siege tanks out. Knowing Innovation has no other choice but try and stabilize, Maru barraged him with a series of marine/tank drops to increase the supply difference even more, preparing the field for one final, multipronged attack that led to the final GG of the series.


Innovation feels the sting of Maru's drops to the point of being twice the supply behind

This will be the first major final for Maru in the entirety of his career. The young Terran now prepares to play either a TvP or TvT as he awaits the winner of Rain and Bomber, match to be played this Thursday at 11:00 CET.

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