"more capable players for 2 statics", sounds like most of them had already had a fair bit of exp on T5...
Yes. My static had a few hours of practice before Me, Piz and Cres merged with that static for the kill. The same people in our static were the ones screwing us over and we wanted the kill before they nerfed the fight. So in total I spent about 6 hours in turn 5 before my first kill.