Monthly Archives: December 2012

242-team university Dota league in China

Let’s take a look at the Chinese Dota scene beyond the big-name flashy teams that we see at major tournaments…

Organized in a grassroots fashion by forumgoers on Baidu’s Tieba forums, a 242-team Dota league and tournament for university and college teams took place this month, partially celebrating Baidu Tieba’s 9th anniversary, and partially to bring together the massive grassroots fanbase of Dota in China.

According to this link, teams representing many major universities and academies around China, plus many other teams from lesser schools and colleges, participated in the first group stages, played at a Best of 1 format.

Speaking of grassroots — this was organized entirely through coordination between the “Universities and colleges” forum on Baidu Tieba in collaboration with each individual school’s forum, plus the “Dota” Tieba forum, and picked up by Baidu themselves, who chose to feature and support this event as one of the ‘Tieba 9th Anniversary events‘.

Prizes for the winners are as follows:

1st place team: 5 x Polaroid digital cameras, 5 x Tieba commemorative 9 year desk calendar
2nd place team: 5 x B7 Speaker system, 5 x Tieba commemorative 9 year desk calendar
3rd place team: 5 x Multifunction tool box, 5 x Tieba commemorative 9 year mousepad
4th-8th place teams: 5 x Laptop stand, 5 x Tieba commemorative 9 year mousepad

To help teams and forumgoers spread the word, they also gave out promotional posters to the top recruiting forums.

As of today, the competition has ended and we know that 21 teams advanced from the group stage, these 4 teams made it to the semi-finals, and these 2 teams made it to the finals, with team Cndy taking the title.

Interestingly, it seems the version of Dota they used was 6.74c.

 

 

Interview with LGD.Sylar — LGD.cn punches the last ticket out of G-League 2012 Group A, DK eliminated

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_28038.html

In the last match of G-League 2012 Group A, LGD and DK met in a battle to the death of the titans. The loser of this match would be out of G-League S2 2012 entirely. Ultimately, LGD took the match and the last group advancement spot in a hard-fought 2-1 victory over DK.

Afterwards, we got a hold of Sylar for an interview, and he shared with us his joy after their victory and some post-match thoughts.

Q: Congratulations to LGD for the win over DK, allowing you to successfully advance from your group. Please say hello to all your fans out there!

Sylar: Hello everyone, I am the carry player from LGD — Sylar.

Q: Can you tell us your feelings at the time?

Sylar: Very happy! Once again we have the chance to make it to the finals.

Q: Watching the match today, we got the feeling that your team’s bans and picks were quite educated, what preparations did you make beforehand?

Sylar: Because after we lost the first game, we realized that if we did not first pick Lone Druid, they would certainly go for him. So we banned Lone Druid, then we managed to grab Anti-mage first, meaning we wouldn’t be afraid of playing it out to late game. Yet, in the second game we still made mistakes, otherwise we could have ended the game earlier.

Q: In the third game you selected a relatively less-seen Undying, what were your considerations in selecting this hero at the time?

Sylar: Actually, Undying has been a good pick recently, where he was either picked or banned constantly. But lately perhaps because of changes to their systems, various big teams have picked him less. Still, this hero is very strong in trilanes where you need to protect someone.

Q: Now that you’ve secured advancement from your group, you guys have a few days of down time, any plans?

Sylar: We should take a small break, and then we’ll be looking for a team to do some training, to prepare our next matches.

Q: Any plans to have some fun around Shanghai here?

Sylar: Maybe, will have to look at the team’s arrangements.

Q: Tomorrow will see B group matches kick off, can you give us your view on the four teams there?

Sylar: IG should be pretty familiar to everyone, they’re a very strong team. And then there’s MUFC, I don’t know if it’s the version with Hyhy, that version of MUFC is stronger. TongFu is also a strong team in China, but they haven’t played much with us lately so I don’t really know what they’re like now. Even though VG is a new team, they are still quite good, in scrims with them we win some, lose some.

Q: In the end, any words for your supporters and fans?

Sylar: Thank you to all those who support LGD.

 

 

G-League interview with xiao8 after LGD vs ForLove

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_27998.html

Dotaland note: Short interview. Xiao8 talks about their win over ForLove, and makes a prediction for their upcoming match against DK.

Gamefy: First off, congratulations to LGD for winning this match. Director-8 go ahead and say hi to our viewers.

xiao8: Hello everyone, I am LGD’s xiao8, Ning Zhang (张宁)

Gamefy: In your first match the day before yesterday, LGD.cn lost to LGD.int, which could be described as falling into a hole in terms of your advancement from the group. Then your first game in your match against ForLove, you also lost. What were your emotions like immediately at that time?

xiao8: Personally I felt quite conflicted and anxious inside, but each of us managed to make the needed adjustments for ourselves, and played better in the following games. Our discussion and the changes we made after the first game were quite positive.

Gamefy: After the first game, your entire team went out for a brief team discussion, what did you guys talk about?

xiao8: First summarized the causes for our loss in game one, including individual mistakes. And then we talked a bit about our bans and picks for the next game.

Gamefy: Opening the second game,  your team’s early game also didn’t go very smoothly. What were the adjustments you made in game to break out of this disadvantage?

xiao8: Actually, in terms of laning we had the advantage in all three lanes, the only thing we were behind in was kills. Their roster leaned towards teamfighting, while ours was more focused on later game. In mid-game after we had an item advantage, we grouped up for teamfights, and gradually leveraged that advantage to get more ahead.

Gamefy: In the third game, ForLove last-picked Lich. As their opponents at the time, can you analyze for us why they made this pick?

xiao8: Because they felt that with me on Enigma, once I got BKB for my ult, they wouldn’t have much to deal with that. Picking Lich allows them to eat and deny creeps during laning, but the biggest thing was that Lich can interrupt Enigma’s ult.

Gamefy: Some fans and forumgoers have expressed worry over your bans and picks, what is your view?

xiao8: Every roster has its own strengths, so as long as one is able to execute to those strengths, it is possible to achieve good results! The only thing is seeing what kind of roster fits which team.

Gamefy: Even though you won this match, it feels like you’re still at the edge of a cliff. You’re set to face DK in a few days, how will you approach that?

xiao8: I think it’s a 50/50 matchup. We will analyze their playing style and try to devise a strategy for beating them.

Gamefy: Thank you xiao8 for the interview.

 

 

Interview with DK.Super after DK’s G-League win over LGD.int

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_28020.html

Dotaland note: Super talks about their win over LGD.int, the Beastmaster axe courier kill, etc. Small interview.

Q: After winning against LGD.int, it can be said that everyone is back to the same starting point in group A. Yet, DK’s performance still had everyone anxious. Talk a bit about the loss in your first game against LGD.int?

Super: I feel like our roster had been countered by theirs, plus we didn’t manage their strengths and tactics well, and let their Chen really shine, especially in his ganking of two lanes early on. We pretty much didn’t win any teamfights in the beginning.

Q: After losing the first game, what changes did you guys make?

Super: We summarized the reasons behind our loss, and made big changes to our bans and picks in the next game, which allowed us to successfully take it.

Q: In the second game, you used Beastmaster’s axes and killed the other side’s courier. Viewers expressed surprise at this; what did you think of it at the time?

Super: When my axes killed the courier, I knew that I had achieved a significant advantage in my lane. Also, this has happened in our training many times before (laughs).

Q: So Beastmaster’s axes being able to kill the courier was something that you learned from training?

Super: Indeed, so I was able to use this in a real game.

Q: Next match is a life or death fight for you guys, and your opponent will be LGD.cn. What do you believe will be key points to focus on?

Super: LGD.cn is an extremely strong team. We both understand each other’s style, so winning will be determined by execution at the time of the match.

Q: Although DK hasn’t had the best of form lately, still many fans support you. Anything you wish to say to these fans?

Super: Hope everyone will continue supporting DK, I believe that we will still make it out of the group.

 

 

LGD has a super fan…

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_27997.html

Dotaland note: She’s a well-known model in China, half a million followers on weibo, yadayada… If you watched the Chinese G-League stream last night, there was a brief segment there where they only described her as a ‘fan’ of Dota’. Supposedly, she’s xiao8’s girlfriend — a common belief amongst Chinese fans. Some other people claim that she also used to be ZSMJ’s girlfriend. Would explain her love for LGD seen here (specifically, LGD.cn)……

 

 

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Meet Vici Gaming

Original: http://dota2.replays.net/page/20121228/1765339.html

Vici gaming photo shoot: http://dota2.replays.net/pic/page/20121228/1765334.html#p=1

Dotaland note: Meet Vici Gaming! This should be all you ever wanted to know about the players for this new and upcoming Dota 2 team, and then some. Very well-produced, impressive stuff.

Team name: Vici Gaming esports club

Abbreviation: VG

Team introduction: Club established September 21, 2012. Based in the city of Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province, China. VG is short for Vici Gaming, the meaning behind it is “I conquer”. The club currently has a Dota2 and LoL squad; the LoL squad is currently under construction. In the future, VG’s goal is to build a dynasty of a club, provide opportunities for more competitors to challenge their dreams, and we welcome more esports lovers to join our family.

Team members

Manager and team lead: VG.PandaPanPan

Players:

VG.Fenrir (captain)

VG.Cty

VG.Xtt

VG.Sydm

VG.Fy

Official Weibo: http://t.qq.com/vg5200

Past honors: GosuCup Dota2 Season 3, third place

Team 2013 motto: Conquer our dreams with skill!

Manager and player introductions

__________________________

Personal info

Name: Panpan Zhang

From: Yichang, Hubei

Birthday: Jan 24, 1989

Blood type: O

Horoscope: Aquarius

Height: 180cm

Weight: 70kg

School/university: Esports Academy

Favorite quote: “Far away now”

Life motto: “What can I believe”

Favorite person: characters I can portray from games

Favorite singer: none

Favorite actor: xB (Dotaland note: rOtk of DK)

Favorite sport: Dota

Favorite pastime: Dota

Gaming info

ID: PandaPanPan

Best hero: Crystal Maiden, Vengeful Spirit

Best position: Support

Mouse: Any

Keyboard: Any

Favorite Dota team: Now it’s definitely my own team

Favorite Dota star: None

Favorite Dota item: Blink Dagger

Favorite Dota mode: AP

First Dota version: 6.48

Favoriate Dota version: 6.51

Other games enjoyed: None

Thoughts and understandings of Dota: If you jump, you lose!

Personal weibo: http://t.qq.com/zpp3531163

_____________________________________

Personal info

Name: Tianyu Chen

From: Taizhou, Zhejiang

Birthdate: Dec 16, 1994

Blood type: O

Horoscope: Sagittarius

Height: 178cm

Weight: 62.5kg

School/university: VG esports academy

Favorite phrase: “I love you”

Life motto: By the time you’ve locked your sights on one person, you’re already behind

Favorite person: My best friends

Favorite singer: Girls Generation

Favorite actor: Fan Bai

Favorite sport: Badminton

Favorite pastime: watching movies

Gaming info

ID: cty

Best heroes: Anti-mage, Queen of Pain, Morphling, Invoker, Shadow Fiend, Templar Assassin

Best position: Carry

Mouse: Steelseries Sensei

Keyboard: Cherry (switches)

Favorite Dota team: none

Favorite Dota star: none

Favorite Dota item: Mask of Madness

Favorite Dota mode: OMG

First Dota version: 6.56

Favorite Dota version: they’re all about the same

Other enjoyed games: Starcraft 1

Thoughts and understanding of Dota: Attitude determines a team’s success or failure

Personal weibo: http://t.qq.com/q838474678

______________________________________

Personal info:

Name: Junjie Tong

From: Changde, Hunan

Birthdate: Oct 21, 1986

Blood type: AB

Horoscope: Nope

Height: 168cm

Weight: 55kg

School/university: None

Favorite phrase: “Smooth player”

Life motto: “Everything is possible”

Favorite person: Qin Hao

Favorite singer: Jacky Cheung

Favorite actor: Louis Koo

Favorite sport: Football (soccer)

Favorite pastime: Listening to music

Gaming info

ID: sydm

Best heroes: Beastmaster

Best position: Solo

Mouse: Razer Deathadder

Keyboard: Cherry (switches)

Favorite Dota team: VG

Favorite Dota star: VG.Fenrir

Favorite Dota item: Blink Dagger

Favorite Dota mode: CM

First Dota version: 6.51

Favorite Dota version: 6.51

Other enjoyed games: Counterstrike

Understanding and thoughts for Dota: Team trust and understanding is very important.

Personal weibo: http://t.qq.com/eterna7

______________________________________

Personal info

Name: Chao Lu

From: Shanghai, Shanghai

Birthdate: Jan 18, 1989

Blood type: O

Horoscope: Capricorn

Height: 168cm

Weight: 49kg

School/university: None

Favorite phrase: “Fuck!”

Life motto: “Everything is possible”

Favorite person:

Favorite singer: Kuraki Mai

Favorite actor: None

Favorite sport: Football (soccer)

Favorite pastime: Listening to music

Gaming info

ID: Fenrir

Best heroes: Leshrac, Bounty Hunter

Best position: Gank support

Mouse: Steelseries

Keyboard: Cherry (switches)

Favorite Dota team: DK

Favorite Dota star: None

Favorite Dota item: Blink Dagger

Favorite Dota mode: AP or clan wars (CM)

First Dota version: 6.48

Favorite Dota version: 6.48

Other enjoyed games: Diablo, Heroes of Might and Magic

Thoughts and understanding for Dota: Details and execution decide everything

Personal weibo: http://t.qq.com/Fenrir1989

_________________________________

Personal info

Name: Linsen Xu

From: Wuhu, Anhui

Birthdate: Feb 12, 1994

Blood type: Don’t know

Horoscope: Aquarius

Height: 175cm

Weight:

School/university: None

Favorite phrase: “Stop joking”

Life motto: “Experience is extracted from the results of suffering”

Favorite person: yxy

Favorite singer: Kim ji-mun

Favorite actor: Wenzhang

Favorite sport: Basketball

Favorite pastime: Sleeping

Gaming info

ID: fy

Best heroes: Rubick

Best position: Gank, support

Mouse: Razer Abyssus

Keyboard: Cherry (switches)

Favorite Dota team: LGD

Favorite Dota star: xiao8

Favorite Dota item: Bottle

Favorite Dota mode: AP

First Dota version: 6.59

Favorite Dota version: 6.74

Other enjoyed games:

Thoughts and understandings for Dota: Teamwork, understanding, execution

Personal weibo: http://t.qq.com/xls5013034

___________________________________

Personal info

Name: Xuntao Xu

From: Taizhou, Zhejiang

Birthdate: Nov 20, 1989

Blood type: This I don’t know

Horoscope: Scorpio

Height: 185cm

Weight: 80kg

School/university: Zhejiang Industrial University

Favorite phrase: “Kill! Go!”

Life motto: “I will not bow, I am not weak”

Favorite person: ZSQ

Favorite singer: Tanya Chua, Khalil Fong

Favorite actor: Brad Pitt

Favorite sport: Basketball

Favorite pastime: To go eat grilled meat~

Gaming info

ID: Xtt

Best heroes: Batrider, Darkseer, Bounty Hunter

Best position: Gank

Mouse: Steelseries Xai

Keyboard: Cherry MX3800

Favorite Dota team: FTD

Favorite Dota star: 2009

Favorite Dota item: Heart of Tarrasque

Favorite Dota mode: CM

First Dota version: 6.59

Favorite Dota version: 6.59

Other enjoyed games: Other than Dota not really anything else…

Thoughts and understandings for Dota: Dota is a team game, without a good team you cannot achieve good results, so trust in your teammates.

Personal weibo: http://t.qq.com/xuxuntao

Mini interview with DK.Dai: “LGD.int will be very tough, we have some issues”

Dotaland note: Interesting bits of commentary from DK team members on LGD.cn’s loss as well at the end of this piece.

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_27948.html

On Dec 26, Team DK, who had previously been crushed 2-0 by ForLove in the first match of the tournament, arrived at the venue to spectate the match between LGD.cn and LGD.int in the G-League Season 2 Dota2 offline tournament. After the first game in the match, Gamefy staff got a quick interview with DK’s Dai-god.

Q: Hello, Dai-god, say hello to Gamefy’s fans?

Dai: Hi everyone, I am DK’s Dai. My name is Zengrong Lei.

Q: Can you reveal to us why you guys are here watching this match?

Dai: Yesterday we lost to ForLove, today we’re here to take a look and scout out the match between LGD.cn and LGD.int.

Q: Yesterday you lost to ForLove, what was the cause of this?

Dai: Yesterday’s loss to ForLove was truly down to our own mistakes, in many places we didn’t play well enough. From our form, to our bans/picks, there were problems throughout.

Q: After losing to ForLove, your chances of advancing from your group aren’t looking great, how will you deal with this in upcoming matches?

Dai: Our next matches are against LGD.int and LGD.cn; both teams are very strong, plus LGD.cn has just won The Asia 2012 and will be on good form, so playing them will be exceptionally difficult.

Q: Then, after viewing their match today, any thoughts or plans on how to counter them?

Dai: Not really anything specific, the most important thing is still to play to our full potential.

Q: Thank you Dai-god for the interview.

The skies of change are always unpredictable — just after our interview with Dai, LGD.int posted their breathtaking 24-0 win over LGD.cn in game two to begin their turnaround.

Afterwards we also managed to speak with other DK members present at the venue and got their thoughts on the match between LGD.cn and LGD.int going on at the time. Super expressed that he was speechless, and that he couldn’t watch any longer. xB, Dai, and 357 all said that they felt LGD.cn tried to play too defensively and ‘camped’ too hard. BurNIng straight up exclaimed that LGD.int was impressive! And DK’s manager Farseer coolly analyized that, from the bans and picks it was already evident that LGD.int would win; they obviously had practiced this roster before, previously they had used the exact same roster before! Commnetator Nekomata (aka Danche 单车) thought that LGD.cn should really ban Chen — Enchantress with no jungle is useless, while Chen with no jungle can still push well. LGD.int’s dual gank worked well, leaving LGD.cn with no real options!

Analysis: Indeed as Farseer and Nekomata said, it was evident from the game that this was something LGD.int had practiced before. It is obvious that in the current patch version, ban/picks are very important, and LGD.cn in the third game decisively banned the excellent Chen, Luna, and Nyx. But nonetheless, for a top tier team such as LGD.cn to lose a game by 24-0… is still a bit hard to swallow.

Mini interview with LGD.Yao: “Against ForLove we must go all out, it is a must-win”

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_27971.html

Dotaland note: Yao talks a bit about their loss to LGD.int, and upcoming match with ForLove

Q: Hello, Emperor-Yao, say hi to our viewers at Gamefy?

Yao: Hi everyone, I am LGD’s Yao, Zhengzheng Yao!

Q: In your match just now, your team lost to your teammates LGD.int, can you outline the reasons behind your loss?

Yao: The two games we lost were because they had good jungling heroes, which overpowered our trilanes. In 3v3 teamfights, our 4 and 5 position heroes were under-leveled, and because of this we were forced into a disadvantage in laning, resulting in more pressure on our lanes. Thus they gained control of the game’s rhythm, ultimately leading to our losing.

Q: Just now xiao8’s Beastmaster went summons as his first skill at level one, was this a purposeful tactic?

Yao: It wasn’t, it was because Steam had an issue, and caused him to skill the wrong thing.

Q: Can you detail exactly what it was, why Steam would have this problem?

Yao: Sometimes when reconnecting to Steam, it will reset all of your settings. This means that it reverts hotkeys to the QWER setup.

Q: Can you tell us what xiao8 originally planned to skill then?

Yao: Xiao8 originally was going to skill his axes. In Dota1 this would be the W hotkey, but because Steam reverted his hotkeys to the new ones, it caused him to skill the wrong thing. He obviously didn’t purposely learn the wrong skill.

Q: Now that you’ve lost to LGD.int, your group chances have gotten significantly more difficult. In your matchup against ForLove tomorrow, what do you think you guys need to focus on?

Yao: I think ForLove has been pretty strong lately, we will discuss specific things later before the match. The biggest thing is for us to be mindful of their heavy pressure in early and mid-game. We absolutely must take this match.

Q: Thank you Yao for the interview.

Analysis: After being crushed 24-0 in the second game against LGD.int, LGD.cn must have lost a lot of momentum and mental edge, which played into their deflating loss in game 3 to LGD.int. As for the 24-0 game, we along with most viewers are quite surprised. Normally similarly skilled teams will never produce such a lopsided score, especially when we’re talking about a top tier Chinese team. So this kind of score really has opened my eyes and excited me to the prospects of LGD.int’s skill. And the next match between LGD.cn and ForLove will thus become a key match for LGD.cn. If they lose again, then they will be as far from glory at this G-League as they could possibly be.

 

 

Best of 2012 posts, stories, and more

Thought we’d do something fun as the end of 2012 approaches, with a short list of the top quality posts on Dotaland this year along with some short commentary. Give it a look; IMO these were some of the most fun and interesting, insightful posts we had here this year. Every one of these posts is worth a read and a share in their original Chinese, and I sincerely hope I’ve managed to capture that in the translation here to share with you all.

Here’s to another year of Dota!

“I met ZSMJ on the plane today” — a fan’s story of meeting his hero

This is honestly half the reason I wanted to make this ‘best of 2012’ post, to grab more attention for this story of a fan meeting one of Dota’s most legendary players, and one who is set to make a greatly anticipated return to the competitive scene soon, no less. It is well-written, down-to-earth, and offers an insight and closeness to ZSMJ that is not often seen. You owe it to yourself to check this out if you’ve ever been interested in the player, the person, that is ZSMJ.

G-1 League theme song official English subtitled version — “My First Person View”

The G-1 League went to great lengths in producing this music video that features the likes of BurNing, Zhou, xiao8, and other pros and Dota people singing about their dreams of Dota and glory, set to music by a big-name Chinese band. Check out the official English subtitled version right here at Dotaland!

17173 series insight into G-1 League setup and prep

This series, written by friend of Dotaland, Felix菜刀, is bits of insight into the G-1 League. Backstage access if you will, and it definitely sheds some light onto the lesser seen but just as important aspects of events. It’s also great for getting a feel of the atmosphere surrounding these things, and overall entertaining writing. This particular entry sets up the prelude to China’s first large-scale Dota2 competition quite nicely.

Reflections of an old-school Dota pro: from 500 yuan to 1000000 dollars

Just read this. It’s a heartfelt set of sentiments, reflected into text, from an old old Chinese pro as he grew up playing Dota to the point of seeing younger versions of himself winning millions of dollars. An excellent bit of introspective thought that isn’t found in abundance, a small classic.

Honorable mention: Chinese commentator DC’s Seattle Dota diaries from VIP-access perspective during TI2

 

 

Dotaland weekly recap: Dec 19 — Dec 25, 2012

This was an action-packed week, as we started off with The Asia and towards the end of the week kicked off the highly-anticipated G-League offline event in Shanghai. LGD won the former, and ForLove have posted a huge upset in the first match of the latter. We’ve got interviews with players from both teams this week posted.

Perhaps just as interesting were a few other snippets that revealed no less than THREE NEW TEAMS potentially coming from the Chinese scene: iG to form a new squad, recruited and trained by iG’s current players themselves; TongFu possibly forming an international squad; and former WE captain xiaoluo, former TongFu player Kabu, and former EHOME powerhouse LaNm coming together as the core of another new team.

For all the goods, check below! Thanks for reading Dotaland and be sure to comment if you have anything to say.

Dec 19

LGD.cn lookin’ good

Bit of fluff: pictures of LGD.cn modeling their team uniforms

Dec 20

iG team interview reveals a new iG squad coming soon?

Additionally, iG players talk a bit about each other

Dec 20

The Asia venue pic in Kuala Lumpur

Looked quite the venue

Dec 21

Old pro ZhaoYun suggests that TongFu.int is on the way

And he also talks his return to Dota, and has some choice words for LoL

Dec 22

xiaoluo, LaNm, and Kabu returning together with a new team

The former WE captain, EHOME core player, and former TongFu player three of five in a new un-named team

Dec 24

The Asia interview with LGD.dd

Wherein he promises that LGD will bring the title back to China…

Dec 24

LGD.cn wins The Asia 2012, interview with xiao8

… and LGD delivers. Here, xiao8 talks about their win, with some analysis for us

Dec 25

Pre G-League interview with ForLove.Hanci

Relatively low-key interview; who would have thought that FL would go on to 2-0 DK in the opening match of G-League?!

Dec 25

G-League 2012 Dota2 Finals begin in Shanghai

Schedule, stream links, groups, etc