Monthly Archives: December 2012

G-League 2012 Dota2 Finals in Shanghai kicks off today at 20:00 China time / 04:00 Pacific time

G-League Dota2 groups, schedule, and streams below! All times are in China local time (UTC +8). Let’s see what surprises are in store for us all this holiday season. Some big matches coming up!

Huge prize pool: first place gets over $32000, second place $8000, third place $1600.

Teamliquid preview here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=389997

Group A: LGD.cn, LGD.int, DK, ForLove

Group A Schedule:

Dec 25 20:00 — DK vs ForLove

Dec 26 20:00 — LGD.cn vs LGD.int

Dec 27 20:00 — LGD.cn vs ForLove

Dec 28 20:00 — DK vs LGD.int

Dec 29 14:30 — ForLove vs LGD.int

Dec 30 20:00 — LGD.cn vs DK

Group B: iG, TongFu, MUFC, Vici Gaming

Group B Schedule:

Dec 30 14:30 — TongFu vs MUFC

Dec 30 20:00 — iG vs VG

Dec 31 20:00 — MUFC vs VG

Jan 1 20:00 — iG vs TongFu

Jan 2 14:30 — iG vs MUFC

Jan 2 20:00 — TongFu vs VG

English stream: http://www.twitch.tv/beyondthesummit

Chinese stream: http://www.twitch.tv/gamefycn — http://www.gamefy.cn/tv/fy1.php — http://www.gamefy.cn/tv/fy2.php — http://www.fengyunzhibo.com/group/13193-43n84q3s.htm

Pre G-League interview with ForLove.Hanci

Original: http://dota2.replays.net/news/page/20121224/1764052.html

Q: Hello, very glad that Hanci can do this interview with us. Say hi to everyone?

Hanci: Hello, hi everyone, I am ForLove’s Hanci.

Q: Today ForLove has arrived once again at the scene of the G-League offline finals. Here I see some new faces, Hanci can you introduce us to your new team members?

Hanci: After last G-League, we now have two new players. One was the former Dota2 coach of DK, AABF, he is our carry player currently, very solid fundamentals. The other is former Nv player Banana, playing the 4 position for us. Right now the team is still gelling, and hopefully we can perform decently in competition.

Q: This is the third time ForLove has fought into the offline portion of G-League, do you have any goals for this time?

Hanci: Perform to our abilities. Goal is of course champions, that is what everyone wants.

Q: Well, this time you’ve been drawn in a group with DK, LGD, and LGD.int. This could be said to be the group of death, what are your views?

Hanci: For LGD, we often practice with them. Even though our win-rate is fairly low, we do at least have an understanding of their playing style. As for LGD.int, they were very fearsome in the earlier online portion, so it’s possible that in the offline competition we won’t be able to handle them, so we aren’t that confident in playing them. And in training matches with DK, we basically haven’t won before.

Q: The format at this G-League has changed as well, the top three go into an additional round, what are you views toward this?

Hanci: Right now I don’t have much understanding of this new format, although if a team wants to make top 4 then they must have the ability.

Q: If you do make it into the additional round, who do you hope to meet most?

Hanci: In terms of other teams here, don’t really want to meet any of them! Perhaps VG, because we’ve played with them the most, and we are very familiar with their style and strategies.

Q: Then do you have the confidence to be able to defeat VG?

Hanci: That’s not easy to say, it can only be said that we know each other quite well, 50/50 chance.

Q: In the new patch version, do you have any new strategies?

Hanci: Must grab solid supports first off, as for carries there are plenty to choose from. Can’t ban them all, so picking them can wait to later!

Q: Then what are some in-style heroes currently?

Hanci: Nyx Assassin and Twin-headed dragon, and Rubick and Luna. Batrider’s and Magnus’ crowd control abilities are also quite imba.

Q: What are the reasons behind these heroes being so popular?

Hanci: High burst, continued team-fight capacities, and escape abilities… a strength in at least one of these areas is what sets them apart.

Q: Right now, what are some mainstream playing styles? What is your team’s style?

Hanci: Our style leans toward 4 protect 1, and overall it isn’t too different from the mainstream style…

Q: Okay, thank you Hanci for the interview.

LGD.cn wins The Asia 2012 — post-win interview with xiao8

Dotaland note: This was a joint interview by Sgamer and GGnet; GGnet has a translation up too but I feel that that translation doesn’t suit Dotaland, so I took a few minutes to translate it myself…

Original: http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201212/148500.html

In the finals of The Asia in Malaysia, LGD.cn defeated MUFC 2-0 to take the title, thus avenging their earlier defeat to MUFC in group stages and taking home $15000

Afterwards, Sgamer and Gosugamers interviewed LGD.cn’s captain Ning “xiao8” Zhang, and director 8 expressed the feeling that there was extra pressure on them being the only Chinese team present. Their loss in the first match of the tournament to MUFC allowed them to cool down a bit and re-analyze their opponents and themselves, ultimately allowing them to get revenge in the finals. After winning they feel great; and in the interview he analyzed a bit on what happened in the finals matchup, explaining that Nyx Assassin is very fearsome in this patch, to the point of being a must-pick hero. Let us delve into the details below~

Q: xiao8, first of all congratulations to you and your team for taking The Asia championship. Thank you for accepting this join interview from SGamer and Gosugamers. Please introduce yourself first?

xiao8: Hello everyone, I am LGD.xiao8

Q: How do you feel right now?

xiao8: I feel awesome. Because we were the only team representing China here, there was some added pressure at first, but right now I just feel great~

Q: So, your finals opponent was MUFC, do you feel that MUFC is stronger with Hyhy?

xiao8: I feel that the addition of Hyhy increases MUFC’s competitiveness, but I felt that as we gradually became accustomed to their strategies in matches and analyzed them, we could defeat them.

Q: Your team only lost one match at this competition, that was precisely against MUFC in the first match of the tournament. When you learned you would be against them again in the finals, what were your thoughts?

xiao8: There weren’t too many specific thoughts, because after we first lost to them, we analyzed the reasons that caused us to lose. We discussed whether it was a strategic problem or individual problem, and in doing so we learned our lesson, so we were very calm.

Q: Your team in both games of the finals picked Nyx Assassin for your counter-push lineup, what were the reasons behind picking him for you?

xiao8: Nyx Assassin is a hot hero in this patch version. He can control the flow of the game, he has burst, and he can easily solo kill enemy squishies, so I feel that he is a must-pick hero in this version.

Q: In the first game, MUFC innovated a bit in their picks of Death Prophet and Necrolyte for a push strategy, yet failed to achieve much of a result. You guys controlled the match throughout. What are your views on this game?

xiao8: On paper, this looks like a very fearsome push strategy. But our heroes were simply stronger overall, plus when they began pushing we were able to disrupt their tactic, and thus the game continuously favored us.

Q: In the second game, MUFC picked Lifestealer along with Enchantress. In the first game, we discovered that MUFC favors fighting you guys 3v3, yet failed to find much success with this most of the time. However, in the second match they managed to gain the upper hand in early game, and the fighting became much fiercer, so what did you guys do to handle their counter aggression?

xiao8: We fell behind because Yao skilled the wrong ability in early game while going bottom lane, which led to us losing that lane. But our lineup was geared more towards countering theirs, specifically for countering Lifestealer, so gradually in mid-game we re-gained our standing. Additionally, Lifestealer isn’t really a great DPS hero.

Q: Lately, the Southeast Asian scene has just wrapped up the SMM 2012 competition, which meant many teams were training Dota, and not training much Dota2. How much preparation did LGD have for The Asia 2012?

xiao8: Indeed, we had been training all along for this competition.

Q: Many people believe that SEA teams are closing the gap with Chinese teams, what are your views on this?

xiao8: I feel that in terms of individual skill, the gap is not very big. But in terms of teams, the gap is still very large, because SEA and most foreign teams all lack the professionalism and communal training and analysis environments that Chinese teams have. So I believe that Chinese teams are still that much stronger.

Q: Christmas is just about here, and now that you’ve won, you have the best gift for yourselves. Before you head back to China, are you guys going to celebrate at all? Buy some gifts for family or girlfriends?

xiao8: We plan on buying some stuff, and then we’re going to invite MUFC to dinner, and we can celebrate together.

The Asia interview with LGD.dd: “we will bring the title back to China”

Original: http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201212/148489.html

 

The Asia’s first day of matches has ended, and after an arduos day of competition, LGD has squeaked by and advanced from their group with a 2nd place group finish. Back at the hotel, we managed to get a text interview with the low-key LGD.DD (they have not taken any video interviews from anyone yet, their focus is to win first and then do interviews!). He shared a bit about his experience so far at The Asia, and analyzed the reasons behind their loss to MUFC earlier. Let us take a look together~

Q: Thank you to DD for accepting this interview with SGamer Dota2, first off say hello to everyone.

DD: Hello everyone I am LGD’s DD.

Q: You’ve been in Kuala Lumpur for two dasys now, and in that time it has snowed in many places back in China! Can you tell everyone a bit about the weather over here?

DD: The weather here is very hot and humid, and it rains often. Everyday it’s around 30 degrees celsius, so it’s all about the t-shirts and shorts.

Q: Even though it’s very hot outside, inside the venue it’s quite cool~ Are you satisfied with the organization and preparation of the hosts this time, for example what are your thoughts on the hotel or venue arrangements, etc?

DD: The hotel is definitely quite good. But for the competition itself, I have to say that today’s matches went on for a bit too long, and ended up affecting our performance to a certain extent. And especially on the main stage, it was a little bit too cool up there, the air conditioning was too strong. We were shivering all over as we sat up there.

Q: Today’s headline match was the first match of the competition, where you guys lost to MUFC. What were the aspects your team faltered in that led to the loss?

DD: Our roster picks and lane arrangements had problems. And their Lone Druid completed his Radiance very early, that in addition to strong pushing in Tormented Soul, Furion… in the first push early on, our defense was too forced, and once that fight was over we’d already lost the momentum of that game, which was made worse by the fact that our roster was only suited for teamfights, not for late-game.

Q: Do you feel that MUFC are strong? Especially since hyhy is also playing for them here at this The Asia tournament.

DD: Pretty strong indeed, their ability is quite decent. Hyhy is also a very experienced played, so his joining only makes them stronger.

Q: After the match, Sylar and xiao8 reflected that Night Stalker could be switched out for Brewmaster or Sven, or the hard support could be switched out for Keeper of the Light, for a greater effect in that these heroes are very flexible. What do you think?

DD: This mainly you have to look at the rosters on each side. Though heroes like Keeper of the Light are indeed very flexible and fit in many places, only needing one other AOE skill to insta-clear creep waves, allowing a team to drag defense out for a long time. Actually, our loss to MUFC wasn’t entirely down to the picks; we simply didn’t expect it to be that tough, added on top of the fact that we played poorly in early game and allowed Lone Druid to get fat.

Q: After this match, xiao8 constantly repeated a phrase: “If we lose another one, we’re done”. In the following matches, you guys completely stomped your opponents. So the first loss was a warning to you all?

DD: Yes, it really was if we lost another match we would be dead. We had been forced to the edge of the cliff, so we could only play every match to the best of our abilities. And we are slowly finding our match form; these first matches can only be said to be warmups — the real matches will be tomorrow!

Q: Tomorrow you face off in the brutal elimination stages, and your first opponent is MITH.Trust. Any specific plans to deal with them?

DD: It’s been a long time since we last practiced with Trust, plus they advanced as winners of their group B, so they cannot be underestimated. Tomorrow’s matches are best of 1, so we must be wary of them and any killer strategies they may have. We will have a team meeting tomorrow morning to look at how to deal with them.

Q: Okay, we hope you will bring the championship here back to China, LGD add oil! Lastly, say something to the fans!

DD: Thank you SGamer for the interview, thank you to our sponsors Taobao, Razer, and LGD, we will bring the title back! Please support us, everyone!

Former WE captain xiaoluo returning with a new team alongside LaNm, Kabu

Original: http://dota2.17173.com/news/12222012/164827365.shtml

During The Asia matches today, at intermission in the matchup between LGD.cn and MUFC, broadcaster Kent invited former WE team captain xiaoluo, and xiaoluo revealed this:

“We are forming a new team, right now there are 4 players, including me, Kabu, and LaNm.”

So now xiaoluo will be returning alongside LanM with a new team for Dota2, and in addition to ZSMJ’s new team, we will have two brand new forces to look forward to on the Dota scene!

TongFu.int squad coming? Old pro ZhaoYun talks this, his return to Dota, LoL being low skill, and more…

Original: http://dota.sgamer.com/201212/news-detail-159152.html

Famed overseas Chinese Dota player ZhaoYun has in recent days been rumored to be considering a return to competitive Dota/Dota2, in addition to returning to China to help build a mysterious new team. Sgamer’s Dota reporter XiaoShou managed to contact him for an interview, and in the interview he revealed that he was indeed making preparations to return to the scene, and had nothing but praise for the recent TI2 in Seattle. And Chinese teams’ performances in TI2, as well as Dota2’s outstanding production quality are the factors that led to his decision. Lastly, he suggested that it was a possibility for him to join TongFu, and help them build a new international squad for competitions in 2013. Let us take a look at the details~

SGamer (SG): Thank you ZhaoYun for accepting this interview with Sgamer.com. First off, say hello to all the Dota fans out there?

ZhaoYun (ZY): Hello everyone, I am ZhaoYun, it’s been quite a while.

SG: Remember that last time we interviewed you, you said you hoped to go back to China to play professionally, but then how come we never heard from you again after that?

ZY: I married the person I loved in my heart, and so I left Dota for a long time.

SG: At the time everyone thought you would go and join Chisbug and LongDD’s team, and thus create the ultimate combo of ZhaoYun and Zilong (heroes in Chinese lore).

ZY: Yeah, at the time it was something I also really anticipated, but that period of time I was way too busy, and then after half a year it seemed like I had lost a lot of passion for Dota.

SG: Can you tell everyone a bit about your recent situation?

ZY: Yep, recently I’ve just been working, when I have a bit of time I go play some Texas Hold’em at the casino, watch some sports, and in spare time play some Dota2 (Dotabuff profile).

SG: What do you see in the future for the development of Dota and Dota2?

ZY: Seems like most players have gotten used to Dota2, I feel that Dota2 has already replaced Dota, and honestly speaking I think Dota2 has been done excellently.

SG: At this year’s TI2, what are your views on Chinese teams’ performances?

ZY: At the time, I hadn’t played much Dota in quite a bit, it’s only been the past few months that I’ve gotten back into playing. But I watched TI2, practically every important match I watched, and Chinese teams performed exceptionally; for Chinese teams their biggest feature is that they are steady.

SG: Do you feel that currently there still exists a big gap between Chinese and Western teams, especially North American Dota?

ZY: This is something that I think everyone is very clear on, TI2’s results say everything.

SG: What do you think has allowed LoL to spread so widely, have you played this game before?

ZY: I’ve watched some friends play it, I think the graphics are too flashy, feels like it’s more geared towards female players. And it seems like its tempo is a bit slower than Dota. I don’t really like LoL, it looks like a low skill game.

SG: Heard that you created a new team lately, can you introduce the team and its players for us?

ZY: Yeah, they’re all former teammates and friends. March, Mystyle, Swissbeatz, and Zaku I’m sure everyone still remembers. And then there is Solara, who should be known by some people in North America. Unfortunately March graduated, and is about to head back to South Korea, so in the future we won’t have many chances to play together anymore. Here I also want to wish this good friend of mine smooth sailing in life from here on!

SG: What are your upcoming plans?

ZY: First try and participate in lots of competitions, practice with the team and build understanding. At the same time, look for new sponsors. There has been contact with some teams back in China, and there’s a possibility that we will take the form of an international squad for a certain team and represent them in competitions that way.

SG: Which club, can you reveal?

ZY: TongFu.

SG: Okay, we hope that ZhaoYun’s return to professional Dota can bring us new things, any last words for our fans?

ZY: Diaoyu Islands are China’s (Dotaland note: aka the Senkaku Islands)!

 

 

 

Netease interview with iG — “playing pro is quite tiring, ChuaN loves air conditioning…” and new iG team in the making?

Dotaland note: A site that doesn’t do much coverage of Dota, Netease, did this interview with 4 members of iG. It’s got some blatant product placement, which is itself an interesting look into the degree of commercialization and sponsorship that Chinese teams have access to. Additionally, Zhou’s responses are stiff and authoritative as usual, there’s talk of them participating in creation of a new iG team (!), and near the end they each talk a bit about each other, which is sorta fun.

Original: http://game.163.com/12/1211/16/8IF4685700314K8H.html

Netease (NE): We’re very happy to be able to interview the members of iG’s renowned Dota team, go ahead and say hello.

Zhou: Hello to all fans of the Netease gaming section, I am iG’s Zhou.

Faith: Hi everyone, I am iG’s Faith.

430: Hi everyone, I am iG’s 430.

YYF: Hi everyone, I am iG’s YYF.

NE: First off, congratulations for your win in the Dota2 competition at WCG2012. Can you talk about how it felt at the time?

Zhou: At the time we were very happy, and very excited. WCG can be described as a dream for all professional gamers, and so for us to take the title in Dota2 can be seen as fulfilling a career dream.

NE: We watched all the matches in the competition, and iG’s advantage was quite noticeable. Was there any specific game that left you the biggest impression?

Faith: The second game in the finals, if we had dealt with laning properly then the opponent would have had no chance against us in the following teamfights. But because we had some mistakes in earlier fights, there was a risk of it spiralling out of control for us, but we gradually rediscovered our feel for it and eventually took the game.

NE: We heard that you guys really took this competition seriously. In order to fully prepare, what were some things you did beforehand?

Faith: In the days leading up to the competition, we intensified our training, and focused on practicing some of the more popular heroes.

NE: In matches, apart from strong player mentality and high-level performances, computer hardware also greatly affects outcomes. What do you feel are the most important hardware indicators for competitive gaming?

430: Usually, there are very high requirements for video cards, processor, and RAM.

NE: We heard that you guys used Lenovo’s Y-series laptop for training at one point before the competition. Normally in training desktops are used more, so what led you to considering the Y-series laptop?

430: Because its hardware specs fit our requirements decently. Its processor is an Intel i7, graphics are driven by a GForce650, plus it has 4GB of RAM, so it runs Dota2 quite comfortably.

NE: We’ve also heard that the Y400 has some special features, were these a factor in choosing this product?

430: Originally the reason we bought this was for its Ultrabay feature, it allows modifications to fit changing needs. For example when we play big games (on full screen) we have greater requirements for graphics, so we can utilize dual graphics card mode and thus achieve very smooth effects. Similarly, if we feel that heat dissipation is becoming an issue, we just switch in a fan, and this problem naturally goes away. The ability to make adjustments to key parts when needed, this is definitely a very convenient feature, and it suits our needs as professional gamers. After using this for a while, we all feel that the experience has been quite good, so we really like it.

NE: Supposedly you guys are planning on a nationwide talent search, where worthy candidates are selected to join iG for professional training sessions, with a chance to represent iG itself in competition. Can you give us some details?

YYF: Soon we will take part in a series of school campus events, the goal is to select five exceptional players, and then we will train them as a team, and they will represent iG at competitions.

NE: As a professional team, in what direction will iG develop for the future?

Zhou: Our team’s development direction is to become an international top tier Dota2 professional team.

NE: Any short-term plans, or long-term goals?

Zhou: Short-term plans are to win every single major competition, long-term goal is simply to become an international top-tier Dota2 professional team.

NE: Any special arrangements to help along the way?

Zhou: Better training, more communication, improve teamwork, practice player understandings, etc.

NE: So you’ve been training very hard lately, you have competitions coming up soon?

Zhou: Indeed, our hard work in training is so we can win more competitions.

NE: You’ve all been on this team for a relatively longer amount of time, in your professional careers, what kind of feel have iG and esports given you?

YYF: I think, when first coming into esports it was holding onto dreams and hopes, playing for the love of esports and gaming. So in the beginning there was a lot of passion, and when you win your first championship there is a lot of excitement. But after that, training day after day, honestly also gets quite tiring. Professional gaming isn’t actually just fun and games like a lot of people think, it is also a kind of work.

NE: Normally, an esports team’s players should have very close understandings, and I see that you guys have excellent teamwork. Are your personal bonds with each other similarly strong, are there any interesting stories to share from this?

Zhou: 430 and YYF often mess around with each other, this is what I think is most interesting.

Faith: ChuaN keeps the air conditioning on cold no matter what the weather is like, even in deep winter he’s gonna want it on.

430: Sleeping at night, Faith grinds his teeth, it’s like someone is eating in the middle of the night.

YYF: I often stand by 430 and watch him play pubs. When he’s solo mid, every time he dies 1v1 he’ll utter a phrase, “This person is so noob!” and then I’ll make fun of him, “He’s such a noob but he still killed you”.

NE: YYF brought it up just now — esports itself is a professional industry, and many people don’t really understand it much. Can you give an overview of it for everyone, is it what everyone thinks it is or is there a distance between reality and what people believe?

YYF: There’s still some difference from what most people think, everyone thinks it’s just fun and play, and while there is a lot of passion and joy at first, over a long period of time, no matter how much interest you have in it, needing to play and train for 10+ hours a day is enough to grind anyone down.

Dotaland weekly recap: Dec 12 — Dec 18, 2012

TongFu’s courier attracted a lot of chatter this week. Dota2 beta in China rumored to be coming next month, with full release along with full localization for China coming later in 2013. BurNIng immortalized in WC3 Dota, and last but definitely not least worthy of attention, the reflections of a G-1 admin on 2012’s first Chinese Dota2 competition.

Dec 12

TongFu team courier approaching

It’s a turtle! With a TongFu sponsor product on its back!

Dec 13

Full speech localization for Dota2 in China

Including over 80 lines from Kunkka to Tidehunter to be voiced over for Chinese fans to enjoy, too

Dec 14

Reflections of a G-1 League admin on the offline finals

From set up,  to event atmosphere, and ending thank yous… an inside look at the G-1 2012 offline finals for Dota2

Dec 16

Dota2 at Digichina Expo with Perfect World, beta to come in January?

And rumors of official public release in China in quarter 3, 2013?

Dec 18

BurNIng immortalized in Dota1 Anti-mage

Reportedly a 1 in 7 chance for Anti-mage to spawn with the name ‘BurNIng’ in WC3 Dota