SKT has been the team that I have supported since day one. The reason behind this was a shallow one; I was a by.fantasy fan. Was. The first live stream match I ever watched on teamliquid was the 2008 Incruit OnGameNet Starleague finals: fantasy vs stork. Being a terran player, I instinctively cheered for fantasy. Also, being constantly crushed in TvP on iccup influenced me to smile when dragoons melted and zealots vaporised into thin air.
The first two games were disappointing to watch for a fantasy fan as many of you well know. The first game showcasing some exquisite cheese, but on the same tack, poor adaption by fantasy. Not that I really thought he adapted badly then, I was busy screaming how imba zealots are. The next two games made me happy. Fantasy managed to barge his way into two wins, deflected a reaver harass extremely well.
The last game, despite its result, did not particularly upset me. While watching, I read the comments in the live stream and soon discovered that this was fantasy’s first osl and that he was a ‘royal roader’. Then I also learned of the second place curse of Stork’s. Still rooting for fantasy, the last game finished with a mighty clash, lots of storms and a definite winner.
Happy with second place:
It was from this time forward that I began to follow the starcraft scene. I made a teamliquid account around this time, or several months after (iirc) and made SKT my team. For the sole purpose of fantasy. I didn’t know who Bisu was, and Boxer was still on Ace.
Over the months I familiarised myself with the pro scene, watching old vods, browsing through tl and watching almost every video uploaded by jon747. The following osl was promising for fantasy, and despite taking the first two games against jaedong in the final, he still lost. Disheartened, but determined I continued to root for fantasy.
Without looking at the stats, fantasy continued his strong play for several months, before beginning to lose more than he was winning. I stuck with him through thick-and-thin, me being a firm believer in not switching teams or favourite players light-heartedly. Despite supporting SKT, I was not a Bisu fanboy at all, in actual fact, I preferred (and still do prefer) to watch Best’s protoss play. [random note: And what’s with Bisu slumping just before fantasy pl and and then wining? Anti teams are so fickle]
It would be good for me to point out that throughout this time, I had my eye on WeMade Fox. Despite having Shine in their lineup (I hate Shine, just look at his face. It makes me want to punch something) I enjoyed watching all of their players. Nada is simply incredible, Pure (while angering me in one game against fantasy, and imo, showing protoss’ how to deflect fantasy’s harrasive style) plays very cleanly, Baby is now quickly becoming my favourite player and Midas and Mind to boot makes me like WeMade. Having a strong terran lineup makes me like it even more.
The rise of a legend?
Recently, fantasy hasn’t been playing the best. Bisu’s slump and Best’s lacklustre proleague performances gives me the feeling that SKT has lost, or is losing, its spark. This is sad, because I’ve cheered for them for over a year now. But, like the saying says, ‘Not all progaming teams can stay dominate for a long period of time, despite fanboys’ wishes they do so’.
I’m not one to change teams. I think it is poor practice and don’t condone it. However, from this day forward, I will support WeMade Fox. I sever my ties with SKT, I have lost faith in fantasy’s ability to play the game as he did in ’08-’09 and am being impressed with each game that Baby plays. Unless Boxer and iloveoov come out of retirement, I feel no buzz for supporting SKT. Even when they win, it feels hollow.
So there we have it. The pixels in my signature will change, and that is the end of that. Edit: Just noticed I'm not getting a team logo down there. Hmm.
Cheerio.