Hite Sparkyz coach
Hite Sparkyz coach said, "Our zerg and terran lineups are strong, but so are our opponent's, which resulted in a lot of mirror matches. Now it's a matter of who's more prepared", as he expressed his concern that his team's match against CJ will not be an easy one.
And it seems that this is clearly reflected on the entries. CJ surprisingly thumbed down the zerg-favored map God's Garden, which was interpreted as CJ wanting EffOrt to play a non-mirror match. Hite too wanted to do the same with YellOw[ArnC], which coincidentally led the two players to face each other on Heartbreak Ridge.
It is highly expected that the games will last into the ace match. Hence, how active the coaches will play a role will be vital in their victory.
Hite's Coach Lee added on that 'they will not let their guard down against CJ', after revealing that he remembered more games played against CJ - winning games that they thought they had lost and losing games they thought they had won.
Coach Lee ended off by saying that they are preparing carefully and well as though 'they were walking on knives', and that 'in the end, the better-prepared team wins".
CJ entus coach
With the exception of one matches a day, CJ and Hite players will all be playing mirror matches.
CJ's Coach Cho admitted that he "somewhat expected such a lineup", after checking the entries. This means that like Hite, the entry is slightly a burden, but expected nonetheless.
He also added his disappointment in the new Proleague format, especially with the fact that they have to play a Best of 7 playoffs right after the end of the regular season.
He said that he wants his team to display games 'that will satisfy fans and are of top-quality which CJ players will definitely win', but because of the new format, which means teams only have two days to practice for two Best of 7 games right after the end of the regular season, it may be hard for them.
But he continued by saying that "since this is the first time such a format is being used, all teams will be on equal grounds, but CJ Entus has a very strong and deep player pool, so even if it's more than a Best of 7, (they) will be confident in winning."
He ended off by saying that "if (they) defeat Hite, players will be able to ride on the momentum and produce even better games in the future."
STX Soul coach
Despite outlook that it'll be two long and tough days for the two teams who will be facing each other two days consecutively, STX's Coach Kim said that "although our opponents have laid out a very strong lineup, nobody is really clearly ahead of each other, so all we have to do is put in our best effort."
He continued by saying that "who our players are facing is important, but not as important as how well our players can perform. We want to win not because of our opponent's mistakes, but because of our abilities.
He ended off by saying, "The road to the Grand Finals is long and hard, so we have yet to lower our guard. We need to start off well by defeating Samsung Khan in the first day", while also saying, "our players are all evenly skilled and everyone will perform equally well. It's just that there are a few who did not have the chance to make many appearances and I hope that even the 'new players' have the same mindset and determination to win, will perform to their fullest."
Samsung Khan coach
Samsung's Coach Kim expressed her thoughts on the entries, saying that 'both teams are on even grounds".
She felt satisfied with the lineup, which to her was even to both teams. "We do not know the other team's thoughts, but the entry is similar to what I have anticipated. Although the second day's map pool is quite tough to handle, both days are manageable for us."
Actually, Samsung Khan has shown to be weak against STX in the 08-09 season, while STX has gone 10-1 in Round 5. Regarding this, Coach Kim admitted that STX is a "rather hard team due to the fact that (their) team's strength lies in their Protoss lineup while STX's strength lies in their Zerg lineup". Coach Kim further said that not only that, but "STX has been on a roll lately and the maps are mostly Zerg-favored, so it'll be tough for us".
Regarding why she sent out the same players for most of the maps, she revealed, "STX has a lot of Zerg players and their B-team (T/N: or as we know it, their "back up team") is strong as well, so I was heavily considering alternating players on the maps. But there is too little practice time for the players and in a ZvP, the Protoss player needs to practice more (so I didn't)."
One of the 'back-up' members in Samsung will be Juni, who will be playing twice in two days, against Hwasin in the first day and Calm in the second day. When inquired about this, she explained that Juni had been practicing heavily on Outsider, and added on by saying that "not just firebathero, but everyone else needs to keep their heads cool and put in their best."
She ended off by saying that "Samsung Khan will win both games", and because of their poor performance from Round 3, they have disappointed their fans many times and now that they are preparing hard, they hope that their fans will continue their support for the team.
Sources: Hite coach, CJ coach, STX coach, Khan coach
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