Category Archives: Chinese Dota

The International 2013 in my view (part 1)

This is part 1 of “The International 3 from my view”. Stay tuned for part 2, describing thoughts and events from the elimination stages at Benaroya Hall, in the next day or two!

This is a semi-diary, semi post-competition gathering of thoughts and recollections, from group stages at the Westin Bellevue to the elimination stages at Benaroya Hall. I’ve tried to focus on giving a view into what the players are like, as well as some of the casual, random events that happened that I saw or was a part of, that can serve to bring behind-the-scenes stuff closer to normal fans. It’s a long read but worth it, I think, if you’re a fan at all of Chinese teams and players. I’ve not only written about Chinese teams and players, however, and there’s some other stuff too.

I have to apologize in advance, because I am not the type of fan to take a lot of pictures with players, or to really intrude at all. I’ll chat with them if they make themselves available, and offer myself up to assist if it looks like someone needs it, but that’s about it — no autographs, no photos, basically nothing else. So, apart from my words and descriptions, I generally lack stuff to share with fellow fans. Hopefully you’re up for some reading, because there are a lot of words below!

Day by day recollections

7/31/2013 to 8/1/2013 – pre group stage prep time

My first day involved was July 31. Met Hippovic, who showed me around. Then I just hung around at the Westin Bellevue while teams did their photo shoots and promotional stuff. Met various players.

The next morning, Puppey sat down at the table during breakfast where Erik Johnson and I were sitting, and Puppey talked briefly with Erik Johnson about the infamous all-chat incident between xiao8 and Dendi… Then after breakfast, they had me translate for the players’ meeting that outlined some rules, expectations, and a general idea of how the event would go. That went… okay. I am not good in front of large groups of people. A camera is different because even though there are lots of people on the other end, I don’t actually see them.

At the players’ meeting. So much talent in one room.

Later on during the day, Dendi sat down next to a fellow translator, Tracy, and began watching her play, as she was playing a pub match on a laptop. Tracy dismisses this, thinking it was Mouz Black, who had been hanging out with us earlier. Then I tell her to look over, and then she’s like, “omg it’s Dendi”. And Dendi sits there with an innocent look on his face. Then she got a kill, made another nice play, and both were met with Dendi getting up and dancing about nearby. Shortly afterwards, the meeting room internet at the Westin cut out (as it often did), Tracy got an abandon, and Dendi strolled off to entertain (or be entertained) elsewhere.

Coach Dendi

Speaking of Mouz Black, who had made fast friends with a couple of us: We had taught him a few phrases in Chinese. He wanted to meet some of the LGD people, including LGD’s manager Ruru, but was apparently too shy to do so on his own. We taught him how to ask for a team jersey in Chinese (since he wanted an LGD set), and later on I taught him how to say the name of his favorite hero, Anti-mage, in Chinese. Much later on, some other Chinese kids must’ve taught him some not so savory words, because by the last day of the main event at Benaroya Hall, he was slinging them around until we told him that he should save it for when he really hates someone or something. Below, Black is saying 我想要一套队服, which means “I would like a team uniform”.

8/2/2013 – Group stage first day (Wild card)

RattleSnake: LaNm is one of my favorite players. He was the one that I chose as my favorite player in my compendium. He’s a funny guy, brilliant player, and casually approachable in person. After their wild card win, I waited behind with Kabu, who was waiting for the rest of his team to go to the players’ dinner. I knew where the dinner was, they didn’t, so I wanted to make sure people weren’t getting lost on the way (these players had missed the Valve-led delegation over earlier). Incidentally, Quantic were also late and so I told them to follow us too. Was that a bit awkward? Maybe… Quantic looked a bit low energy and hardly ever appeared downstairs for the rest of the group stages afterwards…

Anyway, I tell LaNm, “When I saw you guys pick Storm Spirit, I knew you’d already won. LaNm responds curiously, “Why? I think it was because they didn’t have much in terms of disables.” But my opinion was simpler, “I just think you’re awesome on Storm, haha.” And he grinned.

RattleSnake team interview after Wild Card win

iG: Ferrari_430 was up to play the solo mid matches, so during the players’ dinner at El Gaucho, Erik Johnson grabbed me over to translate to get his picks for heroes, and to make sure he knew the rules. He hadn’t checked the rules before and was surprised that runes were allowed. This revelation in part caused him to change his initial pick from Lone Druid to Templar Assassin. He was sitting with his team and chatted a bit with them before deciding on his hero picks. Ferrari is a really friendly person in a really unassuming manner. I already admired his play and style, and after meeting him, I like him as a person too.

After his and Mu’s first solo match, the TA match, which took over 40 minutes, they looked to me to ask if they could simply do the SF match next. When told that SF had to be third game, they decided to do Shadow Demon instead (whereas originally it was going to be OD as second match) to save some time. When I went downstairs to grab some water for 430 and Mu, I ran into XBOCT at the bar. He was seated, looked over to me, said “I like you”. I don’t think he really knew who I was then (or if he even really knows, now), but his friendliness had me asking him which of the Dota-themed drinks he’d had. He looks at the drinks menu and starts pointing. “All of them?” I ask. “Yes,” is his reply. Cool guy.

During Mu’s solo match against Ferrari, Hao stood behind his chair for much of the time, joking and making suggestions. Hao even brought Mu a drink of some sort. He had two of the same drink, one for himself, one he gave to Mu. Aww. TongFu’s players seem to be the friendliest with each other (this is not to say that the other teams aren’t all quite friendly with each other). While the Ferrari and Mu match went on, several other matches came and went. Iceiceice versus s4 was funny in that iceiceice giggled whenever something happened, especially whenever he used his coal.

The solo mid competition room at El Gaucho. Ferrari_430 vs Mu, Mushi vs xiao8

8/4/2013 – Group stage day 3

DK: rOtK is just as fierce in person and out of game as he is in-game (and at LAN events). He also seems like a very sincere person, and he’s got an amazing sense of humor and quick wit, more than once causing uproarious laughter in the Chinese section of the viewing lounge at Westin. He wears his heart on his sleeve, a rare specimen amongst your average Chinese player.

Here we see DK’s rOtk, in green, animatedly discussing something with the other players

iG: The iG players tend to be more quiet, though YYF can really talk, and talks quite fast, when he has something to talk about. Ferrari is very thorough whenever you ask him about something; in the mini-series with Soe where we asked players for their ID and what it came from, Ferrari_430 was by far the most thorough in explaining. He also likes to hold the mic himself when he’s talking (he was the only player with this preference). I’m not sure why his part was cut out from the final player ID video that was posted online, though. But his ID is pretty self-explanatory anyway: he likes that car, and the name of it was what he went with when registering himself on a gaming platform in the past, and it stuck.

Speaking of player IDs, I wish we could’ve gotten more, especially more of the Chinese players, but unfortunately it was not to be. In the final two days, I did some interviews with Perfect World, helping to translate Chinese questions to Western players, then translating their answers back. Additionally, I worked on the final versions of all the subtitles for team intro clips that they played before each team’s first appearance at Benaroya Hall this year. That took a while, because I needed to fix up the translations, the grammar, and then the timing of the subtitles as well. A lot of fun seeing my work up on the big stage later on, though. Anyway, player IDs. The teams and players were in and out as well, playing matches, going out for dinner, etc. Maybe there’ll be more chances in the future for this.

The player ID vid, as posted, is below. Whenever I’m not on camera, I was the one running the camera! ;P The Orange players were all so polite, and seemed a little bit shocked that anyone would want to ask them anything.

LGD: I think it was on this day that xiao8 was recognized in the lobby of the Westin Bellevue by a visiting group of Chinese tourists. An older Chinese man and his wife are walking out of the elevators while xiao8, his friend, and a few of us are waiting to go up, and the man turns around, peers at xiao8 and goes, “Aren’t you that guy on the TV? The dating show? Were the scenes in the show real or staged? Xiao8? …You’re here to compete!” Xiao8 confirms that the show and its result were not staged, and then just nods a bit, not sure how to respond. The man and his wife grin widely and wish him luck as we walk into the elevator. In the elevator, I remark that he’s a superstar now. Xiao8 smiles lightly in a way that suggests he doesn’t necessarily embrace it, and goes back to whatever he was doing on his phone.

I don’t remember which exact day this is from, but here is xiao8 with two bananas during the group stages. Sorry it’s blurry, camera derped

8/5/2013 – Group stage final day

RattleSnake: LaNm needs glasses. He had trouble seeing the screen while watching matches on the screens in the players’ lounge at Westin and constantly had to squint.  So I told him to go get some glasses. “Yeah, it’s indeed time to get glasses,” he replied.

You can sort of see LaNm straining himself to get a clear view of the screen from where he’s sitting. He’s leaning forward with his arms folded underneath his head in the center of the picture.

As seen in some of the panoramic photos so far, the teams and players mostly mix pretty freely. There’s a pretty clear divide between Western and Eastern, and then within that there’s another less clear divide between Chinese and SEA, and between Russian and non-Russian. But by and large, the players are friendly and cordial with each other, and most every player is willing to meet and get to know another player. A rare few players have the talent of slipping almost seemlessly between all the different groups (though they still have their own preferences). The Chinese teams seem to especially be friendly with one another, and when they weren’t competing, there would be intermingling to the degree that, to an untrained eye, you wouldn’t be able to pick out which players were on which teams at all.

Also, Black^ and Bulba partook in an activity they called ‘Ghost Ship’, in which they would ambush unsuspecting fellow players, pick them up, then put them down unceremoniously whilst shouting “ghost ship!!!” I saw them do this to two or three different people, and I don’t think anyone much enjoyed it. I am also wondering if they meant ‘Torrent’, as in Kunkka’s Torrent, which gushes someone up then drops them down.

LGD.cn and Dignitas played a tiebreaker, a close one. Afterwards, the two teams seemed to be pretty cheerful, even gathering together briefly to chat a bit.

After the tiebreaker: Aui_2000, DD, xiao8’s back, Yao, Waytosexy, Sneyking, Universe, Sylar

TongFu: I’d earlier offered to help the Chinese teams arrange for some Chinese delivery from a local Sichuanese Chinese restaurant located in Bellevue. On the last day of group stages, after everyone had finished playing their matches, there was some time, and TongFu’s manager CuZn came to get my help. We got some menus printed out and I had them go around and mark down what they wanted, then we ordered the food. They got nearly $200 of food, and TongFu’s manager paid for it. When it all arrived, it came in a large cardboard box, and word spread quickly amongst the Chinese teams. Pretty soon, members of every team were gathered in a big circle around a table, eating. Quite a happy sight. With the normal hotel food, the Chinese players would hardly ever look excited about the food, nor would they rush to it. In contrast, this time, they all rushed over eagerly. These players are amongst the best in the world, but in the end they’re all kids and young adults, far away from home, and I was truly happy to be able to bring them a little bit of that comfort…

The players descended upon the delivery Chinese food like… hungry Chinese players

Throughout the group stages, there was an on-going joke amongst the Chinese players that whenever someone stepped out for a smoke break, the Chinese team currently playing would lose. Hao in particular would come back inside after a break outside, and exclaim, “What? Lost again???” This is another reason to not smoke, kids. It was just a joke, but later on in the group stages I did hear comments at least once or twice about waiting to go smoke until after the game had ended. Haha. Either way, the Chinese teams in general seemed pretty loose and relaxed, joking amongst each other, chatting about the games going on and other things. It was cool to see the players in a more casual environment.

In the afternoon, with the group stages finished, there were Valve tours scheduled. A group of 13 of us got stuck in the elevator going up for nearly an hour. Amongst us were Black and Synderen from Mouz. Both of them can be pretty funny. The PC Games reporter that was stuck with us in there was also a funny dude. I think they contributed to keeping morale high in there. It took an hour of rising temperatures in the elevator, and a call to the fire department after the original elevator tech never showed up, for us to finally escape. When we ended the Valve tour, Synderen and I both, on two separate occasions, actually joked to one of the Valve people that “some of the guys got stuck in another elevator”, which brought a momentary look of shock and worry. Sorry to the Valve lady, it was probably not the best joke to make again given the earlier events.

Stuck in the elevator

They did give us some extra stuff in our goodie bags at the end of the tour. It was probably worth getting stuck in the elevator. I won’t bother posting pictures from Valve offices because, well, I didn’t bother taking any, and other people have posted plenty of pictures already anyway.

All in all, the group stage at Westin Bellevue was quite an intimate, low-key kind of event. Players would just sit and hang out in the lounge with the games on screen for hours on end. Food would come and go, Valve admins would come in and shout for the next team up, the team that just finished would come back in and sit down and grab some food and drinks… It would be such a huge contrast to the high pressure, high energy atmosphere at Benaroya Hall and the elimination stages.

This was part 1 of “The International 3 from my view”. Stay tuned for part 2, describing thoughts and events from the elimination stages at Benaroya Hall, in the next few days!

Which players would you like to hear from, and what would you like to ask?

As the title says — I’m gonna be backstage at #TI3 with potential to get players for interviews. I’ll be working with a professional host/interviewer. Who do you want to see and what do you want to ask them?

Tweet at me: https://twitter.com/Dotaland/status/364974098742378498

Dotaland at TI3

Hey everyone, I’ve been sitting on this for over a month now, but I (AutumnWindz) will be at TI3 group stages as well as the main event for some translation goodness (hopefully it’ll be good, anyway). Main things to expect are pre and post-game interviews with Chinese players and teams, as well as an as-yet undetermined amount of potential fun and candid stuff with players and fans alike during the event. The latter may or may not be in collaboration with a certain few other Valve-invited Dota 2 personalities. Exciting, no?

Follow @Dotaland on Twitter and Dotaland on Youtube — if I have any of my own stuff that I find worthy, that’s where it’ll be updated. I plan on at least keeping the Twitter feed active with photos, quotes, and other snippets. For everything else, I’ll be working with Valve and other Valve-invited translators and interviewers to bring all sorts of cool new stuff, and all of that will be up on Valve’s streams and content avenues.

Stay tuned and get ready for TI3! Thank you to all those who support Dotaland, whether in terms of reading content here, or sharing links on reddit and other forums. And speacial thank yous to Valve, IceFrog, and HippoVic for the faith placed in me in inviting me for this role, as well as Mali, Helen, and 17173 for their support and friendship along the way. I hope to do my best.

If you see me and want to say hi, I’ll be the Asian dude with long hair and glasses.

ZSMJ Q&A session on Baidu Tieba: move to the 4 spot, life dreams, 2009

ZSMJ recently made an appearance on the ZSMJ Tieba on Baidu. He asked for people in Hangzhou to come play basketball with him, and also answered some questions in the thread — some of the answers are really excellent and insightful. And sometimes, even hilarious. Who knew, ZSMJ is a comedian too? Additionally, it was revealed that his salary at VG is 5000 RMB a month and his compensation also includes rent and food (not bad at all). Give this one a read!

Q: About the move to the 4 position
ZSMJ: Because the team has lacked results for this whole time, I’ve been very frustrated. Our individual skills are all not bad, yet we just can’t seem to achieve any results. So I thought that maybe I could switch to the 4 spot, maybe this is the final step before we make that breakthrough in our team’s growth. In Fy’s daily training, I’ve noticed that he has a lot of potential in playing the carry role, so we decided to give it a try, and as such, the team is currently in a new build-up phase. The ultimate result of this experiment I do not know yet, but I can only do my best. One must change, adapt, and strive, in order to not have any regrets later on. I’ve always been very focused on following my dreams, so thank you to those who have supported me and helped me all along my journey.

Q: We heard that, before your comeback, you had preferred the quiet lifestyle of retirement from esports, that being on the computer all day was really bad for your health. So what was it that brought you back to all this again?
ZSMJ: I think it was my dreams, I wasn’t satisfied. I thirst for a championship title to prove myself. And I do really like Dota and Dota 2, there’s a very deep emotional attachment. As for computer-related activities and how they relate to my health, I say that because whenever I play professionally, my health and physical state tend to deteriorate. I’ve had surgery before, because of the drain that it has had on my body. That’s also why I’m so skinny. During my retirement, I had manage to gain a few kilograms, and my acne cleared up. But now I’m right back to around 50 kg, and have acne all over my face.

Q: There’s been widespread flaming of CTY for all sorts of problems, what do you think? What is your opinion of CTY?
ZSMJ: CTY is an extremely talented and skillful individual player. But because of a lack of experience, so currently his play isn’t reliable enough, and he lacks some understanding of how to play the mid and late game scenarios. I believe that with time, he will improve on all these things. Everyone has their weaknesses, so going on and on about one new player’s weaknesses really isn’t doing any favors for the Chinese scene in terms of finding new talent. We should all look for their strengths, and help them develop. I myself am a player with relatively stronger execution, relatively weak leadership, so the team isn’t directed by me. Thus, people end up flaming CTY since the focus in that falls on him. Perhaps if I had a stronger pesronality to take on that role instead, it could be better for everyone, so I will also work hard on that.

Q: Outside of training, what kinds of things do you do for fun?
ZSMJ: Lately due to the lack of achievements, I’ve been feeling the pressure of needing to achieve some results, so apart from training everyday, it’s just sleep. I feel like I’ve met a bottleneck myself, so I’ve really been frustrated~~ I don’t know how to solve it. In the past, while playing professionally, I would go work out, go to the movies, and also play basketball. Are there any groups playing basketball near the Xihu District in Hangzhou? Call me~

Q: As a fan of yours since I started playing Dota, I’ve always liked you. Now that you’re switching to the 4 role, I’m all sorts of emotional, but also hope that you can achieve success with this. Will there be a chance for you to return to the carry role in the future? What circumstances would have to be met for this to happen?
ZSMJ: My switch to the 4 is not because I personally want to play the 4 role, but because it’s something to try to help the team’s needs. If there isn’t any success from this attempt, then I will go back to playing carry. I’m just looking for a way to break through. Whatever ends up suiting our needs is what we’ll do!

Q: Do you have a girlfriend? If you’re looking, then would you prefer one that plays Dota? What other things would you look for in a girl?
ZSMJ: No girlfriend. I don’t like girls that play Dota. I don’t want a public bus (everyone gets a ride), and they must have great figure! Large chest! Can cook and clean, house worthy, loyal and doesn’t mind that I’m poor. Due to the fact that these girls do not exist on this planet, I’ve thus gone on the path of homosexuality. I have many boy friends. I like chubby ones, ones with lots of meat on their bones. If you meet these requirements, I only say this: Please contact me.

Q: Your item hotkeys
ZSMJ: ` – 2 – F2 – TAB – Q – F3

Q: What is your ideal lifestlye? Your fans are often categorized as hardcore fans, or braindead fans, etc. What do you think about this? What kind of porn do you like? I’ll PM you some of whatever it is.
ZSMJ: My ideal life is to have a home, have a car, have a woman, and have a kid. The home doesn’t need to be large, the child as long as it is mine, is fine, and as long as the car moves, we’re good. The woman doesn’t need to be beautiful, as long as she’s good to me, then that’s great.

As for fans, I feel it’s pretty nice. I love my fans, no matter what kind you are. I’ve always believed that true support comes in the form of its steadfastness. For me, I haven’t won much in the past year or two, yet regardless of my own poor performances or change of teams, my fans have always supported me. I grew up in the village with my grandma, never received much in the way of a formal education. My parents didn’t pay much attention to me. So the kinds of emotions and relationships that I have from my fans are things that I truly appreciate, it’s just like family, and I really love it. Each and every thanks I say to you all, I fully mean it. I just wanna say, even though I may not be the greatest Dota star, but I am someone worthy of all your support. I believe that I will one day stand up top with title in hand.

As for porn, I haven’t watched any in ages. I’m old… Plus, it’s a waste of tissue — I’m poor, can’t afford that stuff.

Q: What is your relation with 2009 like? Always been curious; is it a tale of two brothers fighting alongside each other, or a Shakespearean story of brotherly love?
ZSMJ: Without 2009, there wouldn’t have been FTD, and wouldn’t have been today’s LGD. I really respect 9-god, and appreciate him. He’s a business genius. At the time of our departures, it wasn’t anything about anyone abandoning the other, more that he just had made the decision to leave LGD. Now it looks like he made the right decision, because nowadays 2009 is doing quite well.

When I first started playing professionally, I didn’t understand anything, I was just a raw kid on the scene. 2009 was a 20-something college student, for him to bring us all along and up through the scene all in the name of chasing our dreams, it couldn’t have been easy for him.

So he will always be my captain, my most respected captain.

Sources: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2474570985 — http://dota.shandian.biz/1006.html

LongDD interview: CDEC, iG, TongFu, and TI3

SGamer: Hello LongDD, thank you for the interview. As a top 10 ranked player in the previous season, you’ve gone even further this season to place first. How do you feel?
LongDD: I’ve actually had a top 4 in the past. Anyway, it’s great. I’ve been participating in CDEC since a few years ago, but never got first, because in the past I didn’t have the time to play much CDEC, but now I’ve finally done it.

SG: Compared to last season, this season’s top 10 sees far fewer professional players, and the overall amount of games has decreased as well, why do you think that is?
LongDD: They’ve all gone to play at events, of course, so that’s why there aren’t as many professional players.

SG: The lack of professional players should mean that there is room for newcomers to prove themselvess. Have you paid attention to any particularly talented players here?
LongDD: I think that xiaohong guy plays decently. Others I really haven’t paid much attention to.

SG:What are the main differences you see between pub games, competitive games, and in-house games?
LongDD: Pub games see different item choices that you wouldn’t see in CDEC, plus there is no points-based ranking system.

SG: TongFu won the DSL title — what do you think about their rise to power?
LongDD: I like the atmosphere they have at TongFu, lots of passion in their game. I can only say that TI3 is right in front of them, and if they want to achieve success then they must continue working hard.

SG: iG of late has been mired in a crisis, why do you think that is, and how do you think they should go about resolving it? Can [their new coach] 121 help them get back to their invincible old selves?
LongDD: iG’s main difference is that they’ve lost their confidence. So then they don’t even know what their strongest points are anymore.

SG: With iG’s fall and TongFu’s rise, what are your views on the current scene amongst Chinese teams? Which team is the strongest right now?
LongDD: Currently I think LGD has the best chance, they’ve been the most stable in recent times.

SG: TI3 is a mere few weeks away. Compared to last year, which team do you think has changed the most since TI2?
LongDD: Surely it is iG. Their current form is so worrisome, but I hope they can get out from it soon.

SG: Compared to last year, it would seem that this year, Western teams will come much better prepared. Alliance and NaVi both came to China and played excellently, what are your views on these two teams? Can they dominate TI3 and defeat the Chinese teams?
LongDD: I can only say, that there’s a chance of it. But I still favor the Chinese teams.

SG: How should the Chinese teams go about defeating these top tier Western teams? What should they do to counter the flexibility that these Western teams show in drafting?
LongDD: Learn, they must learn and analyze their strategies. Chinese teams should be good at that, learning.

SG: Even though you’re no longer playing professionally, you still stream frequently via YY, and have spent a lot of time playing in CDEC and pub games. What exactly do you think has brought so many viewers to your streams of these games?
LongDD: I think because I’m fairly interesting… and there’s still some professionalism about me, yeah!

SG: You’re a very experienced veteran pro player, and you’ve also shown that you can take on the role of a coach. Simultaneously, you also seem to be a very popular streamer. So given the choice, would you lean towards being involved in the pro scene, or as a streamer?
LongDD: If there’s a chance, I’d rather continue playing professionally. This is also the reason I continue to play every day.

SG: You’ve played with both DK and TongFu, and also put in some good performances in a short stint with LGD. Is it safe to say that you still possess the drive needed to be a competitive player? Which team would you favor joining, why?
LongDD: If I had the chance, I would still want to go back to the traditional Big 3 teams, and go for another championship.

SG: Thank you for your time. Anything to say to fans?
LongDD: I hope you all will give me your support.

 

Source: http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201307/151557.html

Easy come, easy go: Royal Club Dota 2 is no more

Long story short, Royal Club’s Dota 2 squad, which was picked up less than two months ago, is no more. The Dota 2 manager made a statement thanking Royal Club, but questioned the timing of the decision, stating that it came too quickly, and that their players are good players with good potential, and merely need more time. As such, the team is looking for sponsors once again, and it was mentioned that they really thirst for an opportunity to truly prove themselves.

Royal Club’s manager, Fantasy, said that the decision was made because they could not see a future for Dota 2 as a game, and that it had nothing to do with the team itself. Either way, apparently ECL 2013 was the event in which the new Dota 2 club was expected to achieve results in, and their lack of results there sealed the decision. However, the club’s statement that they “don’t have hope for Dota 2 as a game” is a questionable one. This much is clear, though: Royal Club’s priorities lie elsewhere, at least for now, and their brief fling with the players — Hanci, 5400, xiaosi, yim, and SN — comprising the team is now at an end.

Interview with ECL’s solo tourney champion, VG.Fy

In this, VG.Fy, the solo mid tournament champion at ECL 2013, talks about the win, what it was like playing against BurNing in the tourney, what’s important to him, and more~~

Replays.NET: Fy, hello, welcome to this interview with Replays.net. In the solo finals here at ECL, you defeated teammate CTY to become champion. Have you guys practiced any Shadow Fiend solos against each other before?
VG.Fy: In DotA yes, but not in Dota 2.

RN: Many people say that Shadow Fiend feels greatly different in Dota 2, what do you think?
VG.Fy: I personally think that it feels a little different, but once you’re used to it then it’s all the same.

RN: In the semi-finals of the solo tournament, you defeated B-God. According to DK’s manager, Farseer, back when PIS was still part of BurNing, B-god had never once lost a Shadow Fiend mid solo against PIS. Yet you managed to win against BurNing, can you talk about this matchup?
VG.Fy: B-god is really good. He’s played carry for such a long time, so his mechanics are immaculate. But perhaps it was because he hadn’t played mid much in a long while, even though he was ahead for a long time in terms of last hits, I still managed to seize on a mistake he made to get a kill, and thus caught back up.

RN: Let’s chat about yourself, when did you first start playing Dota?
VG.Fy: From version 6.59, and I liked the game from first contact.

RN: What led you to playing professionally?
VG.Fy: I achieved a small level of skill in playing Dota, and took quite a few online tournament titles. So the decision to play professionally is something of an answer to myself, to my time invested, and to my friends and family — so I have something to show, for all their support of me.

RN: Before you started playing professionally, what was your main role?
VG.Fy: Mainly leaned towards carry-core type roles. After coming to VG, the team needed to me to play support, and it was something I was willing to give a try.

RN: What was the transition like from carry to support?
VG.Fy: There have been doubts in the past of my ability. As for the transition itself, I can only say that support skill comes with time.

RN: Have you practiced on any specific heroes, then?
VG.Fy: Basically none, unless it’s a hero that I’m absolutely terrible with, in which case I do.

RN: In this ECL, with your team against iG, your Windrunner was a bright point. In prior matches as well, your support has often seen flashy play. Can you share with us your secret in playing such a flashy support role?
VG.Fy: For a support to be a bright spot, it’s still reliant on the team. For example against iG, the only reason my Windrunner had room to execute in that fashion was because we had some tanky core heroes up front in teamfights first and foremost.

RN: You lost to DK in the quarter finals, what do you think caused this loss?
VG.Fy: The reason was probably due to the fact that we did not sufficiently prepare before the match, we didn’t analyze how to counter DK.

RN: Was it because, while DK has TI3 to prepare for, you guys do not, so you skipped preparing for them?
VG.Fy: I think it was just our own problem. We could’ve done more specific preparations beforehand, but we didn’t.

RN: Do you feel that with this solo tournament title under your belt, you at least have some individual achievement to speak of?
VG.Fy: This isn’t really very important to me. And maybe it was because I got lucky, because CTY’s solo is a bit better than mine.

RN: Then what is important to you?
VG.Fy: I feel, to be able to achieve a good result with the team at an important event, that is most important.

RN: What do you think VG is capable of achieving, in this quest to prove yourselves?
VG.Fy: We want to strive for top 3 in the next ACE League.

RN: What do you think are your team’s biggest strengths and weaknesses right now?
VG.Fy: Weakness is that we aren’t focused enough, and we don’t have strong match mentalities, thus our performances at offline events are unsteady. Strengths are that each of our players has good individual skill, and our teamwork and communications are all decent.

RN: This should be your first experience at an offline event where so much trash talk is flying around, both between fans and players, and players themselves… How did you feel?
VG.Fy: Speaking for myself, this stuff doesn’t have any effect on me, because I think I’m the type of player that remains calm.

RN: Then do you have any views on whether or not to use soundproof booths?
VG.Fy: Not having them should be okay, except if the opponent is DK, then they should be used.

RN: You’re very handsome, are there any worries that people pay attention to you because of how you look, instead of how you play?
VG.Fy: I will prove myself to them!

RN: Thank you Fy for the interview with us, any last words for everyone?
VG.Fy: Thank you to those that support us, thank you to ECL, and I wish Replays.net everlasting success.

Source: http://dota2.replays.net/news/page/20130715/1833276_2.html

RattleSnake LaNm interview: ECL, pre-TI3

Replays.NET: Hello LaNm, thanks for accepting our interview. Say hi to everyone!
RattleSnake.LaNm: Hello everyone, I am LaNm.

RN: Starting off, let’s talk about why your team only arrived at ECL on the third day?
RSnake.LaNm: We have two players who have never been to America, so the day before they had to go for the visa interview. ECL organizers were understanding of this and arranged for all our matches to be pushed back to the third day.

RN: On the third day your team had to play five consecutive matches, did this affect your performance at all?
RSnake.LaNm: Not too greatly, though we still didn’t manage to get the results that we wanted, so the hope was to improve later on in the elimination stages.

RN: So RattleSnake has not entered their best form, so to speak?
RSnake.LaNm: Yeah, we’re still adjusting.

RN: In the first two days, you made some cameos as a commentator during matches, and many viewers noted that your commentary was excellent. What do you think?
RSnake.LaNm: I feel that most professional players will have a great understanding of the bigger picture. Plus, I’m usually talk a lot within the team, so I have practice in this regard.

RN: Would you consider becoming a caster/commentator in the future?
RSnake.LaNm: If the chance is there, then yes, but for now I’m still concentrating on achieving better results in my playing career.

RN: Of course, your Tiny at TI2 left us all a great impression with the comeback win, can you tell us about some of what was going on behind the scenes at the time?
RSnake.LaNm: At the time, only in the few minutes where the comeback was on the verge did I feel the adrenaline rushing. For the rest of that game, I was calm and collected, completely in a competitor’s mindset, I didn’t think of anything else, and didn’t think about what people might say or think after a potential comeback win. Also, because our team at the time had practiced this strategy many times, the whole team had the belief that if we held out long enough, we would be able to win it.

RN: There’s an image online from a foreign website reviewing your team, giving you guys an 8 out of 10 in creativity, but only 1 or 2 in all other aspects, do you think this is an honest appraisal?
RSnake.LaNm: I think that maybe this website is trying to bait pageviews… because even though our team does indeed have relatively strong innnovative abilities, it’s not actually that great, plus, I feel that if a team did have good creativity, then their other aspects couldn’t possibly only be 1 or 2 points out of ten.

RN: The roles within your team aren’t very set, and you yourself sometimes switch between solo mid and the 4 spot, why?
RSnake.LaNm: Mainly it’s due to the fact that our play style isn’t particularly set upon any one style, then it’s that our players’ strengths have their differences. For example, Kabu, his offensive ability might be a 9 out of 10, but his defense might only be a 1 or 2. To put it simply, he doesn’t know how to babysit someone. So heroes like Clockwerk are suited for him, yet a counter-initiating Naga Siren wouldn’t suit him. Thus, sometimes I make cameo appearances on Visage, Enchantress, and Chen, as a bit of a substitute player in those situations.

RN: Talk a bit about your hopes and predictions for TI3?
RSnake.LaNm: TI3 is definitely going to see every team doing their utmost to win, us included. We just want to play to our standards and not leave any regrets.

RN: Lastly, some words for fans?
RSnake.LaNm: Thank you for all your support for us, and if I get the chance in the future, I will make more vods for you all.

Source: http://dota2.replays.net/news/page/20130713/1832506.html