Dotaland note: I did not do this translation, this is a repost of English version text direct from Sgamer’s interview with Tobi — so readers who are interested but can’t navigate Sgamer effectively can check it out now! Their English text isn’t the absolute best, but it saves me a little bit of work, which helps because I got my wisdom teeth out a few days ago and have been recovering. 🙂
Original English interview here: http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201210/147347_4.html
Original Chinese interview here: http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201210/147347.html
Q：Hi, Tobi Wan. Thanks for accepting the SGamer-DOTA2’s exclusive interview. First, please say hello to our fans.
Tobi：Greetings to all from Berlin
Q：We planed to make an interview with you in TI2. But on the last day, you had made commentaries for all matches before finals. So we decide to make a text interview with you.You must have seen the “Long live the international”,can you share your TI2 experience with us?
Tobi：My International experience was as always enjoyable. Had a very different feel to last years TI2, was alot more professional, the quality of play was higher and overal it was just a better event. For me I always love LAN events because I get to meet up with all the people I talk so much to online and meeting them in person for the first time.
Q：Although Chinese teams start DOTA2 later than EU, But the first six are all Chinese except Na’Vi, how do you thlnk of it?
Tobi：I have a large respect for the chinese scene and focus that comes from the players in it, it is alot more intense and professional that europe and america and alot of parts of south east asia. If I was expecting China to be that strong, in a way I was and in a way I hoped that europe and the US would perform alot better than they did as my hope at all events and in all casts is for close games that are entertaining to cast.
Q：The great finals between Na’Vi and iG is very impressive,can you comment the great finals and the two teams’ preformance and stratagy for us?
Tobi：I would like to say the strategy did not revolve around Naga and Morphling but it is sad to say that it did as both heroes cause a very passive game style that brings a level of secruity (which is obviously why the strategy was so popular during such a big event) that does really let alot of players skills shine in the heat of combat.
iG for me was always a favourite going into this competition and luckily there were some places the recording my prediction for the Grand Final teams, where I said iG would get into the finals as they are such a dynamic team that can adapt when pushed, and their opponent would be Na’Vi as alot of teams couldn’t adapt to their ‘randomness’, the only question around Na’Vi was if their random style would work and if they would synergise enough as a team to pull off the strat. Which they did against iG and LGD, but the power of iG and their ability to read Na’Vi (also with the help of the safe draft) made it their Grand Final to loose, which they did not obviously.
Q：Puppey picked NA in the last tournment, do yo know the reasons for his choice?
Tobi：We talked to puppey after TI2 about it and his reasoning was to use the ‘Spiked Carapace’ to counter the harrassment of KOTL in the lane.
Q：If you can build a allstar ream, which players(five) would you choose?
Tobi：There are just so many amazing players out there it is impossible for me to assemble a team that I would be happy with as there would be so many people I just could not choose between. Hence I never really have an answer when I am asked this question.
Q：Many EU teams changed the list or rebuilded their team after TI2,such as M5, AL, Darer, Mouz.Which one do you think is more promising？
Tobi：It is difficult to say who is the strongest team atm in EU and well as the US mainly because alot of the top teams as you said have rebuilt so they are having issues finding what works as a squad and the squads which have stayed together are on holidays or just burnt out after the Interntional.
The teams which have got back on their feet fast are Empire and Moscow 5 for Europe, there are only a few teams that are coming close to them atm and that would be the newly designed Quantic and Evil Geniuses. We will see over the next few weeks alot more teams reveal themselves and then all of this will change.
Q：Well, our community fans have some questions to ask you, some of then are very funny, are you ready to answer?
Tobi：Always ready for the community 🙂
Q：You commentary is full of passion, could you tell us how do you protect your throat?
Tobi：Since I was a young boy I have been singing, on stage and off and through that I learnt a thing or two about how my voice functions and have found ways to express my excitement without destroying my voice. There is of course the times when the excitement is too much and you push yourself too far, but I am happy when that happens because it means I am casting amazing games.
Q：You always make commentary stay up late. Do you drink sports drinks? If so, which one?
Tobi：I used to live on redbull for a while and realised it was actually harder to get through the night if I drank it early so I found the best thing you can drink is NesTea and Powerade and when you start to drop too far then you crack open the redbull.
Q：You always have dark circles, is it your girlfriend’s masterpiece?:D
I am catching up on sleep for the 4yrs I wasn’t paid to cast, and even now I don’t get alot of sleep mainly because my brain is so wired after I cast that it is impossible to just lay down in bed and fall asleep. As for the girlfriend, no I don’t have one and if I did maybe I would have a reason to go to sleep earlier.
12.The music you played before matchs are all very awosome, can you tell us these music’s names?
Alot of people ask me for my playlists and all of my music comes from youtube, I normally just type in ‘dance mix’ or ‘epic music’ and find alot of my stuff. The other pieces of music are just favourite songs from my teenage years like ‘blink182’, ‘Infected Mushroom’ and ‘Regurgitator’ to name just a few. Oh, and there is always space for some Kpop.
13.Who do you like most to make commentary together??
syndereN is always going to be one of my favourite choices but I have enjoyed casting recently with Wagamama and Draskyl. I like casting with anyone that is capable of adding more depth to my broadcast but can also have fun while doing so.
14.Do you like Chinese girls? If you have chance, do you want to make commentaries in China?
I actually got to travel around China last year and really China is next to Singapore for the most beautiful girls in the world is just a shame they don’t live here in Berlin with myself. I would love to travel to china to commentate but I fear my english would be lost on the crowd.
15.How many wins do you have on DOTA2 so far? Which hero are you most good at?
I am on my way to 400 wins in DOTA2, but really I haven’t played that many games as I cast most of the time. I actually have clocked 2100 hours in the game and when I wasn’t casting I was spending most of that time playing my well known ‘Crit natures prophet’.
16.Thanks for your time. Any shoutouts you would like to make before we conclude the interview?
Would like to say hello to everyone who watches my stream in China, for all those people who come up to me at LAN events and say hello, to all the boys who work behind the scenes at http://www.joinDOTA.com and to everyone who loves the game we play.
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