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**Frogmite** · Tue, 3rd-Apr-2012, 8:18 PM

Grandfinal - Friday 6th April - 9PM AEST
www.twitch.tv/systemtv
casted live by System and Zepph!

VS

xG 4 - 0 TA
	xGKingPokerface 2	< MLG Shattered Temple >	0 Nvdeth
	xGKingLight 2	< GSL Daybreak >	1 NvPinder
	xGKingMafia 2	< MLG Metaloplis 1.3 >	1 cREdgE
	xGKingJazbas	< GSL Antiga Shipyard >	NvRossi
	xGKingIaguz 2	< MLG Shakuras Plateau >	0 SQLyang

Map pool
Taldarim Altar LE, MLG Metalopolis, MLG Shakuras Plateau, GSL Antiga Shipyard, GSL Daybreak, MLG The Shattered Temple, GSL Dual Sight, GSL Bel'shir beach, ESV Cloud Kingdom, GSL Metropolis

You can place your SEABets for your favorite team!

Which team will win the match?
xGKing	Bet!
Terror Australis	Bet!

I did some interviews below. They are a bit quickly made and i don't have the skills of DeL/Lemminks/Crazerk/Cute for doing interviews, but anyway i tried my best. I hope you will enjoy them!

xGKingBenji

So Benji, as the manager of xGKing, what do you think about the performances of your team so far in 2012?
So far pretty strong, we finished up TCL4 in Feb with a 4th place finish, but we were 1 map away from defeating the winners in the semi finals, we know we came close there, and in the SEACL and SEACC we placed very strongly there as well, combined with all the individual achievements which are too numerous to mention and the showmatches we have had vs Taiwan teams, i'd say we are doing pretty darn well so far this year.

Your team is still pending to win a tournament yet, do you think Frog Cup will be this victory?
It could be, the format seems to suit our team quite well compared to the other team events we have entered, however despite yet taking a 1st place, I think we've proven with our consistant showings up the top that we are one of the best teams, and i'd take our consistant top placings over a single win any day.

Did you watch the game TA vs aLt? What are your thoughts on TA performance?
B: Unfortunately I was caught up with some work and couldn't watch it, however from what I hear they played quite well, with deth and Pinder able to play in this league they have quite a deep roster, being able to pick players from 3 Pro teams, it will be interesting to see who they choose for the finals.

what do you think will make the difference in the final? The nerves? Concentration? the habit to play important games? Team spirit? or simply the level of the players?
It comes down to each player, but ultimately it will be decided on the matchups and how well each player plays on the day. They can all beat each other, some have a better winrate over other players, but in the end there will be no sure wins. By now I would hope all of the players are used to the Nerves and such of playing in a big event.

What are your predictions for friday night?
Depends how nice we are feeling, we might let them have a map

Lol. Thanks for the interview, do you have any shoutouts to give before the final?
I'd like to thank our sponsors Kingston, City Hunter Cyber Cafe, V Energy Drink and Plantronics for supporting us, and thanks to everyone that cheers for us. Xeria fighting!

xGKingIaguz

Iaguz, we saw you winning 2-1 your semi-final game against a protoss. I heard you hate playing against toss, however does this game give you confidence for the final ?

Ahh that series kind of sucked. I won game one of a game state I don't think I'd be able to force through a strong TA protoss (7 marines vs zealot and 2 stalker), game 2 was a few really basic and stupid errors and game 3 I should have lost through build orders but for some reason I ended up winning
I'm working really hard on TvP at the moment mostly in preparation for ACL, with pretty much every strong aussie protoss and their dog showing up I need to figure out how to beat them. I guess I also won game 3 through a disconnect, so if my strategies do not beat Pinder, Yang or Sensei then I'll just d/c them instead. EZPZ. EMP their router.

What do you think of your performances in SEACL/SEACC and TCL?

SEACC I did not play very much, for the earlier rounds we just let poker all kill them. I only played against NRVHavoc which is a godawful experience that no-one should have to go through (lost) then played against infi and managed to be the only guy on my team who won games (vs iceiceice and roz). I'm happy I could beat ice, he's really good. SEACL was up's and downs, some days you win the ace match vs Glade and others you lose to some ToT you've never heard of and you want to break your headset, or that series vs sunginSPR, I hate protoss. I think overall me and my team did pretty well and I'm content with how it all went down. We mostly did well, particularly Ray (

xGKingLight), who came back into it after his long hiatus from the game and pretty much won all his games. TCL was a pretty fun league but the skill difference between a lot of teams varied a ton, some teams were almost walkovers, others gave us a real challenge. I remember playing a lot of good TvT series. Taiwan is really small and really insular but they have a shitload of good players for their size, and tons of fans too. We had a showmatch between xG and one of their proteams, Spider, and we had 4000 spectators watching, and this is without Sen playing, I'd imagine that number would be so much higher if he was.

Do you feel confident before the final? Does the amazing record of xGKing so far in all competitions will help you to play without pressure?

Well this final is kind of funny because most of the expected lineups will be TA members (Mafia and Light are already members of TA and I'm an honourable mention). So it's pretty much a TA inhouse ft Jazbas/poker/myuu/bielsko. Considering that we're all pretty close we'll be spending a lot of time joyously shitalking each other and no matter who wins (xG) there's not gonna be any saltiness about it. The main pressure for me is seeing if I can go 4 for 4 in SEA team league second places.

...and be the king of kong?
Well it would be nice to win something...

Iaguz, as one of the best terran on SEA, what are your thoughts on other TA terrans (Rossi, Deth) and YYJ (Invidia)?

Well they're both pretty ******* good haha, YYJ too. We've been the big 4 Aus terrans for quite some time now and it's not an uncommon sight to see one of us surrounded by zerg in the top 4 of a tourney, it's a bit cyclical, sometimes I'm doing really good or Rossi's doing really good or YYJ's ******* demolishing everyone or deth gets to play in SC2SEA tournies

. Rossi's style is really similar to mine and we spend a lot of time discussing TvZ and TvP on teamspeak, comparing builds, strategies, micro techniques etc...We don't talk TvT quite so much for some reason. SOME reason. Deth and Yoon are a bit different and I struggle to properly understand their style or why/how you can play like that but it's certainly effective, can't argue that.

What are your predictions for the final score?

Oof*, depends on lineups. I'd rather do individual set predictions, it's really hard to call it without those, but I'm hoping 3-2 xG.
*dwarf word for hmmm.

Do you have a shoutout to give before the final?

Well shoutout to you for running this, shoutout to TCP for sponsoring this event and making sure we get to have nice things, shoutout to Sharn Kemp for sponsoring the SEACL, shoutout to all the other staff in your mostly thankless roles (streamers, admins, etc), shoutout to my fellow xG members Ray, Tim, Brian, Kev, Konrad, Sung Jun, better ****** win on friday and thanks to the people who watch and support South East Asian Starcraft.

cREdgE

As the manager of TA, what do you think about the performances of your team so far in 2012?

The perfomances we have shown have not been of the quality we would have liked. This was more evident at the start of the season, where everyone was slumping and we didn't have our 'full team' - meaning if someone was not confident or slumping, our depth was not there. Richard and i shared management of the SEACL and we did not have high hopes by around the 5th round, but after the TA retreat we were inspired in a way and were watching every result with a keen eye to see what our chances were. Our play was improving and with the solid efforts of SenSei, Voices and a resurgent Rossi spurring us on it came down to our good friends Infi losing one of their 3 games and by moses did TargA pull through for us.
I am still very proud of our team for always giving it a go, never conceeding a walkover and resurging to 4th spot. I would say i am happy with it overall

Did you see the semi-final xG vs ToT? What do you think of xG performance so far in 2012?

Yes i did see the semi final of xG vs ToT. I was very impressed with ToT taking many games off of xG that i didn't expect. Xeria were still there incredibly strong self, with the bearded man himself iaguz clutching the win and the underrated pokerface taking a handy series too.
Xeria went undefeated in the season itself and that is no easy feat whatsoever. They cleaned us up 5-0 (6-0) in the first set and we could not even make any excuses. It has been cool to see Xeria dismantle teams throughout the season as many of the members are in TA or are affiliated with TA (bearded man) so we were happy for them especially

Individually, Mafia is such a strong zerg and has really taken on the ace role well for them. Iaguz, Pokerface and Jazbas have pulled their weight too, and the returning Light (who i agreed to let play for Xeria!) has just created another dimension for opposing teams to deal with. Myuu and Bielsko are also threats and are not taken lightly at all.

What will be the most important factor to win the final? Nerves control? Strong team spirit? Concentration? Map picking?

Well we really would like to get good matchups where we are at least a 50% chance on paper. The matchups we get will most definitely affect our confidence and nerves, but whatever they are we will stiil just need to focus and practice. I personally have had issues with nerves that are well documented, but since i have played a shit load more recently i have found i am less nervous because i have a very thorough plan and i am confident in what i am doing. No doubt my team mates do that and then some.
Our spirit is always strong, so it really does come down to the matchups and how prepared we are on the day. TA can not afford to be unprepared for such a strong opponent and we will make sure we bring our A-game.

What are your predictions for the final score?

Predicting scores before a game has always seemed weird to me. Someone either comes off as confident in a cliche way or defeatist in an emo way. Recently i have had success with being emo, so i will predict Xeria winning 3-1 with our 1 win being TACosmic. Cosmic will go up against iaguz who has been recently stolen by myself and pinder and taken to the realms of Dota 2. Myself (captain) and Natural Born Leader (pinder) have excelled in Dota 2, leaving iaguz in awe. This has gone very off topic but TASpider is noob.

Do you have any shoutout to give before the final?

Shoutout to the organisers of the SEACL, and since this is Frog Cup Frogmite too for his amazing contribution to the team league season. Also shoutouts to the SC2SEA community members, especially people who have supported me. Finally, MY misunderstood team has been such amazing support for 2 years now, and we will make sure to bring the win home on Friday.

NvPinder

During the semi-final, we saw you winning your game 2-0, how did you feel for your come-back to competition with TA?

Playing and representing my clan for the first time since I honestly can't remember was an amazing feeling. The atmostphere TA has in clan wars on teamspeak is so great to come back to after a win, so being able to take my games against jimdiddy and having all my friends celebrate the victory when I got back was absolutely awesome. As for the games themselves I feel like I got somewhat lucky in game 2, but game 1 gave me a chance to show off what I can do in macro games now that i'm actively playing again!

Does this victory and cheerful teammates give you confidence before the final?

I think the semi final was definitely most important to us as we have a long history and rivalry with aLt. however with xGKing, half of their team is made up of our clanmates, and the half people I'd consider myself to be friends with anyway. I think the finals will be a ton of fun and we're definitely looking to win for prides sake, but whatever the outcome it's more or less a win win situation, as we'll be celebrating a TA victory regardless in my eyes

You have always been seen as a top protoss of SEA. what do you think of protoss players in xG (Light, Bielsko)?

Light is someone I have amazing respect for as both a player and a person, and is probably the person i discuss the game with the most out of anyone. I feel like we have very different strengths and weaknesses which gives us amazing opportunities to learn a lot from each other which is an absolutely awesome relationship to have with someone, and I absolutely envy the discipline he has as a player to practice the ammount he does.
I still to this day have trouble analyzing any of Bielsko's play, whereas someone like Light i see different strengths/weaknesses to myself in, Bielsko all together just approaches the game so differently to myself that I struggle to understand his thought process and how his skill set allows him to play at an incredibly high level consistantly. He appears to excell at doing unique builds to throw off opponents and various 'special taktics' as white-ra would say, which fits his style perfectly to PvP which makes him an absolute nightmare to play against in my weakest match-up.

What are your predictions for the final score?

I think it will come down to who hits who, but I'd expect it to go 3-2 either way!

Do you have any shoutout to give before the final?

Shoutout to all the TA boys, all the Nv boys, and Cam's mum

. And most of all of course, you Frogmite, for running this tournament and giving us the chance to play playoffs for SEACL!... but even more most of all Cam's mum.

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Quick Comments

	nirvAnA:	awesome write up! that froggy image makes me laugh everytime hahaha
	Maynarde:
	TAriiChard:
	TCPKiaSu:
	deL:
	TCPLemminks:	Je t'adore

**Maynarde** · Tue, 3rd-Apr-2012, 8:19 PM

Awesome!! Can't wait to watch this go down it's gonna be siiiiick!

**Frogmite** · Wed, 4th-Apr-2012, 1:03 AM

Matchups are up guys.

xG 0 - 0 TA
	xGKingPokerface	< MLG Shattered Temple >	Nvdeth
	xGKingLight	< GSL Daybreak >	NvPinder
	xGKingMafia	< MLG Metaloplis 1.3 >	cREdgE
	xGKingJazbas	< GSL Antiga Shipyard >	NvRossi
	xGKingIaguz	< MLG Shakuras Plateau >	SQLyang

I remind everyone you can vote for the winner here:

Which team will win the match?
xGKing	Bet!
Terror Australis	Bet!

**Frogmite** · Tue, 3rd-Apr-2012, 8:25 PM

Special shoutout to DeL for helping me with the graphics. All that looks nice is his job. The rest is mine

.

**iM tgun** · Tue, 3rd-Apr-2012, 8:25 PM

I've got xgKing winning this, can't really determine a margin until I see the matchups, though.

Benji · Tue, 3rd-Apr-2012, 8:30 PM

gl hf TA!

10char

TAriiChard · Tue, 3rd-Apr-2012, 8:41 PM

gl hf xGKing!

**nGenLight** · Tue, 3rd-Apr-2012, 9:04 PM

Very excited for this. Both teams have tremendous respect for the individual players. Although there won't be many hard feeligings over the outcome, I'm sure I speak for both teams when I say we will put on a great show and put forth our competitive A game on display!

**Nemo** · Wed, 4th-Apr-2012, 5:31 AM

deth, Light, Edge, Rossi and draw.

NvJazBas · Wed, 4th-Apr-2012, 7:32 AM

I can see we lost in the lineup mind game god damn I got Rossi!!!

**iM tgun** · Wed, 4th-Apr-2012, 8:39 AM

deth v Poker - deth 2-0.
Pinder v Light - Light 2-1.
Edge v Mafia - Mafia 2-0
Rossi v Jaz - Rossi 2-0
Yang v Iaguz - Iaguz 2-1.

xGKing in a nice and tight 3-2.

**ToR.Arnor** · Wed, 4th-Apr-2012, 9:00 AM

Poker and deth will be an interesting series

Im not sure how often theyd meet on ladder but this is the first time I can think of these guys have gone head-to-head in a competition, I didnt catch deth's games last week so no idea what kind of form he is in atm, will be a sick series. never discount Poker he is probably the most underrated player on xG's line up

the rest of the game look sick as well, I seriously cannot pick a winner your looking at a list of players that could easily make up part of anyones Top 20 Aussie Players list (New Zealand is only a country until we decide to take it).

My heart says xG 3-2 though

NvPinder · Wed, 4th-Apr-2012, 9:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arnor@CityHunter

the rest of the game look sick as well, I seriously cannot pick a winner your looking at a list of players that could easily make up part of someones Top 20 Aussie Players list (New Zealand is only a country until we decide to take it).

I'd say with pretty high confidence all the players here are top 20 aus (if we consider jaz aus for a half second.)

Should be interesting, I think we won out on the match-up list (except me getting PvP T-T), could go anyone's way on the day but i'd say 3-2 to us!

**ToR.Arnor** · Wed, 4th-Apr-2012, 9:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NvPinder

I'd say with pretty high confidence all the players here are top 20 aus (if we consider jaz aus for a half second.)

Should be interesting, I think we won out on the match-up list (except me getting PvP T-T), could go anyone's way on the day but i'd say 3-2 to us!

I meant to say anyones not someones lol my bad!