Clearing the fog around SQ

With this being my first article, I’d like to take a few lines  to clear up some of the mess that has been following Status Quo around for  quite some time now.  Foremost, no money has been paid to any of the players  that the team has acquired over the season, with the exception of the  expenses that our sponsorship, provided by my father, has paid for.  My dad  has always supported my brother and I, one-hundred percent, in whatever we  have decided to pursue, and likewise, has supported our choice to compete in video game tournaments.  The sponsorship is nothing out of the ordinary, and  it covers the basics, such as, airfare, hotel, food, etc.

Another question that is commonly brought up about the team is,  “How did ToTz end up on the team to begin with?”.  Starting back in 2005, I became good friends with FlamesworD over Xbox Live and we never lost contact  with each other. After Orlando, Status Quo dropped Prolific and was in need  of a fourth teammate. My brother was gaming very hard at the time and was  improving exponentially, so I suggested a tryout to FlamesworD and the rest  is history. They improved their placing from top 24 to top 12 and almost  beat Ambush for top 8 in a heartbreaking series, that I probably never will  forget.  We get a massive amount of unnecessary disrespect for being more  well off than other people, but that is okay, because haters are always going to hate.

Finding Home

During the course of this MLG season, Status Quo has struggled  to settle on a roster that would fit the family like atmosphere and hold up in tournament play.  Once upon a time, at the  WinterLAN, MLG¹s top professionals from all over the country gathered at the Fries¹ House (it¹s my article, so I¹ll call the house by my name) for some epic halo action. Status Quo, at that point, consisted of FlamesworD, ToTz, S1y Fox, and Swisha.  S1y Fox never showed up to the LAN even though his plane ticket was purchased, and that event started the snowball (no pun intended).

It was the 2v2 tournament, where Ace teamed up with FlamesworD and became a dominant force that only StrongSide and, the Grand Master of Halo, Walshy, were able to take down in an eight game epic that was birthed from a three game series.

StrongSide saw the talent in FlamesworD and Ace then, and played numerous 4v4 games with ToTz, seeing potential in all three rising stars. StrongSide was in-between teams at the time, and after a few phone calls, decided to join Status Quo. The team practiced religiously and LAN¹d more times than some top teams do in a whole season, before the first event took place.  Nevertheless, they didn¹t live up to the hype that was built up around them, and everyone on the team was disappointed because they knew
their own potential, but did not perform at the event.

After another seventh place letdown, StrongSide was off to bigger things by reuniting with Final Boss, leaving Status Quo in search of
a fourth.  Believe the Hype, aka Cloud, had just released In The Clutch, and he looked like the best bet for the team. Even though Clutch performed well at the LANs and the team functioned very well against Triggers Down, something just didn¹t click at the event and Status Quo ended up with an, inexcusable, tenth place finish after a loss to an ³on fire² Dynasty for top 8.  After Dallas, Clutch left to join up with Cloud, and the core three from Status Quo were left without a fourth player, once again.

Luckily, Legend was dropped from Classic in the midst of a “hurricane” and Status Quo was able to acquire him before Classic realized that they had made a mistake.  This has been the best addition to the team since Ace was added to the team at the WinterLAN. Legend is a seasoned veteran who knows the game back and forth, and can also put up some Pistola-like numbers with a good supporting cast, but that isn¹t what he is here for and it isn¹t even something he cares about. What he really cares about, is what everyone on the team cares about the most: Winning.  I think I speak for the team when I say that it does not matter how ugly a win may
be, we will definitely take it if it brings the team closer to the number one spot.  Legend reminds me of Walshy, with his knowledge of the game and willingness to teach, but I think he packs some serious fire power (he dropped a positive 94 kill to death ratio at Dallas).  His mentoring of the young players will be key in the success of the team, because Heretic is now the dominant map on the circuit and, with that, Status Quo is at a huge disadvantage by being a new team to Halo 3.   However, this will only make them practice harder than ever.

I truly believe that Legend is the answer to the inconsistencies that have plagued Status Quo in tournament play so far this season.  This weekend Status Quo will LAN Carbon, who broke the mold with the acquisition of Walshy and Naded by placing second.  With all the scheduled practice, there should be no excuses this time around, and we should see a totally different Status Quo. After all, a Status Quo firing on all cylinders has yet to be shown to the 500,000+ watching the live stream, maybe this will be
the event where every head starts to turn.  I honestly believe that Status Quo has found home with the addition of Legend, and I guarantee they will come out on fire Friday night at Anaheim.