(GotFrag) - His name might not be the first to cross your mind when you think of the top Counter-Strike players in North America - hell it might not even be the second or third. However, there is something about Derrick "impulsive" Truong's play that simply cannot be ignored.

Truong got his start like most of us - playing on public severs and honing his skills on fy_iceworld and the like. With some of his friends beckoning him to join them at the local 'Rival' LAN center, he got his first taste of the competitive scene.

"I had been avoiding Counter-Strike for a while because I never really was into computer games but once I played I got hooked."

Help from Ben.

He eventually moved out of the primordial ooze of the pub, joining up with various local teams and playing a few seasons in CAL-open. Then Truong came to a turning point in his young career. He joined the local team "basikz," whose roster featured Truong's current x3o teammate, Ben Hui.

"He(Ben Hui) showed me the basics about the game because up till then I was just a pubber."

After his first season in CAL-open with basikz, the team was moved up to main. After just one season in main, the team was crowned champions of the division. Basikz began to get serious, and began attending more and more local LANs. At one event, they used Galen Hurley, the famed Cyberglobe player, as a ringer.

The experience of playing with Hurley eventually led to Truong joining up with the strong West Coast team. While he spent some time on and off Cyberglobe's roster, Truong eventually found himself back on the squad, where he played with some well known players.

"I was somewhat of a clan hopper back in the day only because I was hungry to win and get better so when the opportunity arose to play for a better team, I kind of took it. I was only 16-17 so I wasn’t really playing to make friends."

Once Truong settled down into the Cyberglobe roster, he found himself playing with some of yesterday and today's top players, including: evan, perez, publicenemy, and once again, Ben Hui.

A career in turmoil.

Eventually Cyberglobe could not withstand the test of time, and the team disbanded. Finding himself without a team, Truong got in touch with Ediz "goodfornothing" Bazol, the leader of Turmoil. They both agreed that he would fit in well with the team. After nearly two years with the team, no one would argue that point.

When he joined Turmoil, Truong had a ton of skill, but was still not anywhere near as experienced as the rest of the team. That changed quickly, when veteran Matt “PaTyoJoN” Iantosca took him under his wing. The influence the other players had on Truong was more than evident when they took him to his first major event, Winter CPL 2006.

In the first group stage, Turmoil was basically handed a bye into the second round. Their group consisted of three teams; themselves, 3D, and a pug of no namers. While both 3D and Turmoil destroyed the pug, guaranteeing them both passage into the next round, both teams were seeking the top seed out of the group, thus giving them an easier time come the next stage.

In that match, Truong shined. His strong personal performance was noted as one of the reasons why Turmoil was able to come out on top, taking the top seed away from the favored 3D squad. It was one of the defining moments of Truong's career.

CPL Winter 2006 x3o (Turmoil) vs 3D Group M


CS 1.6 over CS:Source.

With most of the top teams at that point turning to CSS and the CGS, Truong found himself to be a member of the top North American CS team at the time. Despite losing to eMg at the WCG US Open a few months before, the team bounced back, taking the highest place of any North American team in attendance at WSVG Louisville.

As such, the team went on to represent the United States in France for the ESWC 2007 World Finals. With so many top international teams in attendance, few expected Turmoil to do little more than show up and go home.

The first group stage featured both NiP and eSTRO in Turmoil's group. They would have to beat one of those teams in order to advance to the second stage. This was a much bigger task than what they faced at the Winter CPL. However, they rose to the challenge, taking down the Koreans 18-12 on train, and advancing to the second group stage.

X men.

Their position at the top of the game gave Truong and Turmoil much more attention than ever before. With their relative success, they were given the ability to leave behind their home in the Turmoil organization, for greener and better managed pastures with the east coast organization, x3o.

"Things are more organized in x3o and our manager lives up to his words. If he says he is going to do something then he pulls through and does it. Nick Fitz does a good job managing us and we are very thankful to have him."

While x3o as an organization has historically measured the success of their CS teams against eMg (Currently EG), they have recently been unable to take down their East Coast rivals when it really counts. X3o has been the clear-cut better team online, however on LAN, where the real money is and the gateways to bigger international tournaments reside, EG has had their number.

"We always get momentum going against EG but somehow just lose it. We have got to keep the momentum going and just stay positive. Also most of the recent LANs that we have played them at we have had roster changes. But now that our roster is stable we shall see what happens at the WCG USA Finals."

The nemesis.

While on the subject of x3o and EG, it is interesting to compare both team's fraggers. EG has n0thing, who has proven himself to be one of the most impressive players hailing from North America. Statistically rivaling him from x3o, is Truong. Despite both players posting up similar numbers last season in CEVO, Truong is overshadowed by n0thing. However, you will never hear him complain about that fact.

"If people recognize me then they’ll recognize me. If not then it doesn’t matter. I guess so many people believed that n0thing cheated and he had a lot to prove. So he proved it and silenced his critics. Props to him for doing so. I just play to get better and compete against the world's best. I don’t really play for recognition but if I get some then I’ll take what I get. If not it isn’t a big deal to me and doesn’t effect me in any way. It's funny when I do good against a team and make people go, well who the hell is impulsive? So that’s all fun and games to me."

The bottom line.

What Troung does care about, is fulfilling his purpose on x3o. Generally, you will see him picking off and entry fragging, making him one of the most exciting players to watch. His reaction time is swift, helping him play ultra-aggressively. While his in-game intelligence has improved vastly since before he joined Turmoil, he still can rely on out-aiming opponents if he makes an ill advised peak.

"I’m usually first in rushes or I just like being aggressive in general. Many people have said that Asians are simply run and gunners and I guess I fit that role pretty well."

Truong hopes that his skills will help give x3o one big international event win before he hangs up his mouse. With real life looming over the twenty year old's head, he only really sees himself playing at this level for one more year.

"I want to win a big event like WCG or ESWC. I believe I am going to be done with playing at this level after this year so hopefully I go out with a bang."

With Truong's success in gaming he has not forgotten the important things in life and places friends, family and loved ones above it all. He is also still eSport savvy enough to throw in a plug for his sponsors.

"Shoutout to my girlfriend who has supported me from the beginning of my competitive career. I love you Liz. My teammates that I have become great friends with along the way; all my friends in headshot, hell and sealteam, and to our sponsors x3o and Dustoff, thank you."