SGamer did an interview with TongFu’s Hao, focusing on their upcoming Dota 2 Super League Finals showdown with DK…
SGamer: Thank you for doing this interview with us. You’re just about to partake in the DSL Finals now, what is your team’s form like recently?
TongFu.Hao: Our current form is pretty good, because in practice in the past few days we’ve been performing quite ideally. There’s still time before the Finals though, so what actually happens on the day is still uncertain.
SG: Have your practices been the same as usual, or have you undergone specific routines to prepare?
Hao: Our recent practices have mostly been the same as usual, we’ve been focusing on training up on a wider variety of heroes and styles, so we can have them as options to use in the match.
SG: Have you found any particular style to counter DK’s renowned ‘turtle’ strategy?
Hao: Eh, we’ve done some analysis into styles that may be able to counter, but we’ll have to wait until the actual match to see if they actually work out.
SG: How do you feel about your team’s chances at taking the title here?
Hao: This is hard to say, because after all, DK is an old-school powerhouse team. We can only find out after we’ve played and fought, but if you insist on having me make a guess, then I say it’s 50/50!
SG: Many fans have taken a liking to you due to one of your nicknames being ‘Chopper Hao’; now, if you don’t win the title here, then will you follow through on the whole “if I don’t win then I chop my hand off” thing?
Hao: Uhm… actually, that’s hard to say. Actually, it was a misunderstanding at the time that I said that.
SG: Then let us settle this misunderstanding once and for all by taking a look back at what truly happened then.
Hao: It was like this: at the time, I hadn’t gone professional yet, I was still just another amateur player. I was with friends on a team playing at an offline event in Guangzhou, it was a school league. But at the time, we weren’t actually students, so we got reported to the authorities. The person who reported us also happened to be someone whom we had played against earlier, and we ended up flaming each other on the forums. What I said at the time was that, as long as it was an offline event in Guangzhou, if I failed to win then I’d chop my hand off, yet it ended up being interpreted to apply to all kinds of competitions outside of that, so it really was a bunch of misunderstandings.
SG: If you do win the DSL title, are there any wishes you have in you that you’d be able to fulfill afterwards?Hao: Winning the title itself is my wish, plus, my goals are to win more than just the DSL.
SG: What other goals are there?
Hao: Of course to win more titles and championships, haha.
SG: Nowadays, more and more teams are constructing coaching teams. Your team has sydm (战神7） as coach, how have the results been? Do you feel that having a coach is becoming increasingly important?
Hao: I am absolutely convinced by sydm’s attitude towards his work. Why I say this, because he is very professional and treats his work with the utmost respect. Drafting, every team’s style, he takes notes of everything in a notebook. When we lose, he is always there to remind us, to keep our heads up, that we still have chances, and helps us adjust our mentality and help us analyze why we lost. When we win, he’s always there to remind us, to not get arrogant, to not get loose, to work on staying in winning form. I really do feel that having a coach is pretty important.
SG: You’ve been playing professionally for three or four years now, and been in scores of events, small and large. What do you think about DSL?
Hao: DSL is currently the highest prizepool event in Chinese competitions. Due to official support from Perfect World, it has the broadest reach, and does very well at packaging and presenting the players. Gamefy’s work at producing the event itself has also been very professional. Of course, for me my favorite part is the commentators they have, haha.
SG: Do you like the Chinese voice work for the localized edition?
Hao: The voice work is very decently done. Some will sound very sincere and full of emotion, while others are hilarious. Additionally, the Chinese client has been done to be very user friendly, so I believe that as the Chinese beta grows, many people will come to love it.
SG: Currently, it would seem that most professional teams in Dota 2 consist largely of veteran players who have been around for a while. Newcomers seem to lack opportunities to prove themselves, why do you think that is? Speaking for yourself, do you tend to dislike carrying new players?
Hao: I feel that one cause for this problem is that Dota 2, unlike LoL, is not as easy to get into. Most people at the top are there on the basis of many years of practice and experience. I do indeed dislike having to play with newcomers, I basically don’t do it. The reason I dislike it is simple: I don’t want to waste my time, and it affects my mood.
SG: Older players eventually naturally end up in the end of their careers and choose to retire, so will these things add up and cause overall Chinese Dota 2 competitiveness and ability to decline?
Hao: I feel that right now there hasn’t been much of any decline, but it’s not an easy thing to determine.
SG: Do you think that the current TongFu is the strongest TongFu there’s ever been?
Hao: I don’t think so. Reasons are two-fold: first, we have yet to win anything, so there’s nothing for us to boast about. Second, I feel that our previous roster was rpetty good too, it just lacked a bit of teamwork and trust. After this Final, you will see whether the current TongFu happens to be the one that looks the most like champions, haha.
SG: Okay, then go ahead and say something to cap off this interview!
Hao: There’s a lot I’d like to say, but I haven’t earned the right to say it for now. After we’ve won something, I will say it on stage during the awarding! Lastly, thanks to our sponsors TongFu Porridge!
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