Chinese Terran player Li “Oliveira” Peinan pulls off an historical upset in the Grand Finals of IEM Katowice over Cho “Maru” Seong-ju, 4-1.
The StarCraft world has been flipped upside down. As the 22 year old Chinese Terran player Li "Oliveira" Peinan pulls off an historical upset in the Grand Finals of IEM Katowice over Cho "Maru" Seong-ju, 4-1.
Oliveira pulls off the upset of the century
The Chinese Terran virtually came out of nowhere to win one of Starcraft's biggest events. The man formerly known as "Mr. Ro8" and to Chinese fans as, "Li Bai," (which translates to easy win), defeated the pantheon of Korea legends. He not only bested Maru, arguably the best player of all-time, but beat the best Protoss (herO) and Zerg (Reynor) on his path.
"Everyone told me to retire. Everyone told me to give up. But…look at me now"
Even with a lackluster group stage record of 2-3 and no premier tournament wins in his career, Oliveira appeared unbreakable in the finals. Maru had no answer build-wise and kept trying to win with a standard 1/1/1 build. He went 1-2 using that opening with Oliveira denying him the chance to play the late-game. It was incredibly efficient TvT. With Oliveira consistently winning map control and staying aggressive.
Most underdog champions win by virtue of the favorite going down early. For Oliveira, this was not the case. In the most stacked SC2 events imaginable, he took down titan after titan. He showed proficiency in all three matchups and his game went to a higher level in TvT. He ended with a 6-2 map record vs Terran players and made Maru look one-dimensional.
"This might be the biggest upset in Starcraft 2 history"
Again, Maru relied on fundamentals and his high percentage builds. But in the end, it didn't matter as nothing caught Oliveira by surprise. His drop defense was impeccable and he forced Maru into bad engagements and overcommitments. It was an immaculate performance that will live in the minds of Starcraft fans forever. It also serves as the first premier win for a Chinese player, marking a new era for the game.
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