This is where Boxer played. Iloveoov. Nada. Jaedong. It doesn't matter that the crowds are smaller and the mighty roar and laughter is not echoing back from the rafters. This is the place to be, this is make it or break it, and for a new team which harbors a bunch of young adults who only a year ago faced the realization that fulfilling their dream of becoming a progamer is possible it just might be too much.
Their opponents- IM are seasoned veterans, a beastly enterprise of 1v1 monsters who, unlike oGs or Prime (that we covered yesterday) have also tasted success in team leagues, winning 1st GSTL and coming second in the second one.
This isn't a team of snipers as one might claim Slayers or MVP were when they won their titles, it's one solid, coherent, well oiled machine of destruction where each player has potential to all kill not only the newcomers FXO but any other top Korean Team as well. With Nestea, MVP and Losira this is the team that holds the most major titles in Korea and on paper it looks like FXO has as much of a chance as CoCa did against the very same Nestea or HongUn had against MC. Right.
Whether he is the best player in FXO or not remains to be seen but it's clear that Oz is held in high regard by everyone in FXO. He has been fielded in all 3 matches of FXO including once as a starter and once as an "ace." One thing is clear though - Oz is to avoid terrans at all cost. He is 0-7 in televised games against terrans and even though his opponents only included creme de la crop including Code A runner up Excrement, ICCup Monthly Final winner Jjakji and fou ace-sniper-all around good guy GuMiHo.
His strength is in his ZvP where he holds a perfect, if insignificant, record of 3-0 against slumping Fruitdealer(3-7 in his last 10 before facing Oz), 0-3 Seal and what really signifies strength of his PvZ, Curious. Curious, if you havent been keeping track of the Korean scene is an up and coming zerg superstar, who especially excels in ZvP. Dead even 2-2 against HuK as well as a razor thin 2-3 loss to Tassadar in ICCup Monthly Finals are all the credentials you need to prove you're worth a damn.
For a lot of other FXO players looking back onto their past achievements would be nothing more then an attempt to gauge their potential. Their move to South Korea is akin to rediscovering themselves, a start off of a clean slate. QXC after crushing the American scene in 2010, highlight of which was 2nd place at IEM Americas for 2000$, had to step away from serious practice in favor of an abroad semester in Spain. Tgun had only 2 recorded matches in GGDB prior to his move to Korea and SloG was most known for his stellar performances at CyberCraft New York championships and the fact that he was almost drowned by Kal.
And this is the kind of rediscovery that should give anyone rooting for the foreign team hope. Especially after FXO's acquisition of For Our Utopia members of FXO will gain access to unique insight on Korean coaching practices as well as 4 code S and 4 code A practice partners.
| Starters* | ||
| FXO | IM | |
 QXC |  horror | |
| Win% | 174-129(59%) | 4-7(26%) |
| vT | 57-50(53%) | 1-4(20%) |
| vP | 68-46(60%) | 2-0(100%) |
| vZ | 49-33(60%) | 1-3(25%) |
*Games, TLPD.
| Players Previously Fielded in GSTL | |||
| FXOpen | Incredible Miracle | ||
 Oz | 2-4 | YongHwa | 8-3 |
| QXC | 1-3 | LoSira | 8-4 |
| OptikZero | 0-1 | MVP | 7-3 |
| tgun | 0-2 | Seed | 3-1 |
| SloG | 0-2 | YoDa | 3-2 |
| mOoNan | 0-3 | Happy | 2-1 |
| NesTea | 1-1 | ||
| True | 1-1 | ||
| Junwi | 0-1 |
| Bets as of 08:55 EST | ||
| FXO | IM | |
| Bet @GG.net | 7% | 93% |
| Bet @PinnacleSports.com | 6.930 | 1.118 |
