by stuchiu

On the Precipice

Going into this GSTL, Axiom-Acer had been a dark horse. Made up of ex-SlayerS players, Heart and Scarlett, no one was quite sure where they would land. After two intense rounds and two intense matches against two of the top teams in the league, Axiom rests in a solid second place. In some ways, their current run is starting to resemble the original Slayers run that led up to their last finals in the GSTL. Besides having similar rosters, both teams' matches have consistently gone down to the wire with MMA and Ryung, the wayward sons, making the clutch saving throws for the team.

Struggling to Survive

After winning two GSTL’s in a row, FXO was looking to be one of the stronger teams going into this season. But unfortunately, HotS hasn't been agreeing with them as of late. Many of their B-teamers have retired and Leenock doesn't seem to be nearly as strong as he was in WoL. On the upside, GuMiho is still looking as chaotic as ever and FXO recently rescued sC from the clutches of LoL. While they are currently 0-2 in the league and down in map score, teams IM and MVP were always going to be the toughest challenges for FXO. With those two matches out of the way, things can only go up from here.

The Path so Far

Both Axiom-Acer and FXO have played IM and MVP. Axiom won their matches with clever roster picks and a strong ace to sweep the rest at the very end with either MMA or Ryung. While Axiom was able to pull off great victories, going 4-3 in both matches, FXO was busy getting run over against both teams. Squirtle scored a triple kill and Super got an all-kill exposing FXO’s weakness to strong Protoss players. Axiom-Acer’s goal here is the #1 spot. They’ve already gone through two of the hardest hurdles in IM and MVP and a win here would be big for them. On the other hand, FXO’s sole goal is to win. Being 2nd to last is a bitter pill to swallow for a two-time GSTL champion, but FXO knows that their real strength is in the playoff bracket. They will have to take this one game at a time and the first step to recovery is a victory here.

The Top Hats vs. the Three Headed-Monster

While they have one of the smaller roster in the GSTL, Axiom-Acer also has one of the most complete. For Terrans, there's two reliable aces in MMA and Ryung and a sniper in Heart. The Zerg and Protoss lineup isn't shabby either. On top of all of that are the coaching decisions of the team. A lot of the wins that Axiom has come up with are in large part due to their clever counter-picks and map choices.

FXO has an even smaller lineup, but one of the strongest three-man teams in the league. Leenock, GuMiho and Tear are represented by the FXO background: the bull, bear and orange background. Still, they have had some very big problems, especially against Protoss players. Behind that, they have a good background of players in Lucky, JKS and sC. But with sC already taking the 4th slot as the opener, it’s unlikely that FXO will field them in favor of their three kings.

Starters: MMA vs. sC

The opening match will be between two old-school Terrans. Axiom-Acer will send out MMA as the vanguard to make a strong impression in the first round. FXO sent out sC either as a sign of faith or trust to their prodigal son. If this were still 2011, this would be a match to remember. As it is 2013 now though, MMA should be able to beat sC handily. MMA has been playing at a good level since the change to HotS while sC has only just recently switched back from LoL. Still, this will be an interesting game as it has been a long time since we’ve seen sC in the booth, so anything can happen.

Overall Prediction

Axiom-Acer has the deeper roster, the momentum and better side of the opening match. While these all indicate a convincing victory for the team, FXO still has two extremely strong and streaky players in Leenock and Gumiho making it hard to predict an accurate score for the match. I’ll err on the side of caution and predict a close match with Axiom-Acer closing it out.

Axiom-Acer 4-3 FXO