Tag Archives: iG

Gamefy G-League preview and predictions: iG favored

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_29633.html

Former professional player Sakray writes a G-League preview piece for Gamefy.

Bans picks analysis

After a long break between the G-League round of 8 and the upcoming finals, the two finals teams shouldn’t have much variation in previous patterns when it comes to bans and picks. Add this to the fact that overall, there haven’t been much new in terms of metagame development, so it’s safe to assume they’ll be fighting for similar bans and picks here.

In terms of the first two bans, iG should likely focus on stopping LGD.int’s favored jungle and roaming heroes (such as Chen), and it’s also very possible they use a ban on God’s Dark Seer or Shadow Fiend. As for LGD.int’s bans, even though iG is versatile to the point of it being impossible to ban everything for them, but it is still possible to see that iG relies heavily on heroes which use Blink Dagger, so Batrider or Brewmaster are good choices here.

For the first three picks, apart from fighting over core carries such as Lone Druid, Lifestealer, Anti-mage, etc, there will also be decisive picks revolving around core teamfight heroes such as LGD.int’s Chen and Enchantress, iG’s Batrider or Magnus. Also relevant here are hard support picks or solo mids, in order to solidify a basic core strategy.

As for the last three bans and last two picks, undoubtedly these will involve banning the opponents supports once a team has gotten their own supports, or the same with carries, followed by filler picks that complement the rest of the early picks. Additionally, if any team has a secret weapon or special tactics, this is when it will appear.

Pick predictions

iG: Brewmaster, Lone Druid, Rubick, Bounty Hunter, Lina
LGD.int: Dark Seer, Enchantress, Night Stalker, Luna, Shadow Demon

Head to head analysis

Zhou vs Pajkatt

From farming mechanics, to item builds, to late game experience, long-time carry Zhou fully exhibits the right to claim “number 1 carry”. After resolving previous issues in farm allocation, iG has managed to give Zhou plenty of room, and Zhou has indeed acquitted himself nicely. In comparison, Pajkatt, while perhaps not lacking in mechanics and skill, still has a long way to go before reaching the same level.

430 vs GOD

In terms of individual ability, the two solo mids of their respective teams are perhaps the closest. God, on the same level as players like Dendi, performed brilliantly in earlier competition, with excellent laning and last hitting, deadly ganking and dictation of tempo, good item usage and choices. So when faced with various solo mid greats, God absolutely does not lose out. If you need something to look forward to, then this matchup between God and 430 is it.

YYF vs Brax

Whereever YYF is, that is his home field. In the 3 role, Brax still has much room for growth, and this matchup is not only a winning opportunity for him, but also a chance to learn and develop. Hopefully this cheerful, optimistic fellow can keep it up, and ultimately learn those traits that are signature of YYF — calm, collected, patient, efficient, and able to take on the role of being a team’s “generator” in making things happen.

ChuaN vs Misery

In carefully watching iG’s replays, you will notice that no matter in terms of finding kills in lane, to teleporting to help countergank, to teamfight participation, to positioning, there is nothing to complain about in ChuaN’s play. He embodies a nearly ideal 4 position in his support-gank role. Apart from maybe a little bit of a liking for stealing kills, that is. As for Misery, he’s got a unique understanding of jungling, and if he gets Chen or Enchantress, there’s potential for him to create some problems for ChuaN and Faith.

Faith vs 1437

Zhou is iG’s eyes, 430 is iG’s hands, YYF is iG’s heart, ChuaN is iG’s blood, Faith is iG’s brains. To be able to play support in such a star-studded team and not fall by the wayside, Faith’s ability can only be described as unfathomably deep. 1437 performed decently in previous competition, but his performances were more linked to Misery’s than anything else. If he can successfully fulfill his own role while injecting more personal flavor into it, he can perhaps bring more life to LGD.int’s play.

Overall playstyle analysis

iG did not drop a single match in the earlier stages. Even though against LGD they met a certain degree of resistance, they ultimately showed their superior decision making ability. The “top three” of old has recently seen iG pulling ahead and away in all aspects, from bans and picks, to individual performances, to teamfights, and even as far as seeing superior creativity in cracking late0game stalemates. iG has indeed become the current world number 1 Dota2 team; the greatest impression this iG team gives is that they are un-beatable. Their playstyle is very efficient and clean: they rely on excellent individual skill to ensure laning goes well, then once key early items are farmed out, they rely on ChuaN and Faith’s roaming to make things happen and create space. Once they’ve achieved a certain advantage, they group up and take towers, always decisive in their decisions at this stage. If the opponent reacts less than perfectly, iG often takes kills in addition to towers, and they snowball out of control. If the oppponent defends effectively, iG quickly makes the decision to adapt. iG is rarely seen to be playing from behind, because they simply rarely fall behind in the early game. In all this, perhaps the best chance to find a hole in iG’s play is to go on all-out offense against them from the start.

LGD.int has not been together for long, yet have gone this far in G-League. Even though they’ve had tough challenges, their progress here is not an accident. Their strength comes from their fast learning; every mistake, defeat, or even spectacular performance from an opponent is something they learn from and absorb. Like a talented but unpolished fighter, their raw talent is enough to defeat many a master.

LGD.int favors jungling and then dual roaming. They tend to use an early Smoke gank in mid to help God open things up, and then shift into a trilane, utilizing controlled jungle creeps to harass the opposing carry’s growth. God will use all this to snowball while controlling runes. If not dealt with properly, teams find themselves in a cycle of teamfights against LGD.int with no space to farm and grow properly, and LGD.int will group up after their carry has core items out, utilizing the solo mid and carry’s earlier advantages to win fights. If LGD.int’s early game roaming and God’s growth can be countered, then LGD.int falters like a car without gas. If LGD.int wants to expand beyond this singular strategic mindset, then they not only need more from the 3 4 5 positions, they also need to show that Western creativity. Without trying, how to know it will not work?

Results prediction

iG 3 — 0.5 LGD.int

Looking at it from various angles, iG will ultimately win by relatively large margins. LGD.int’s 0.5 comes from the possibility of things such as God outplaying 430, or their potential at dominating teamfights. Worth looking forward to, either way, is the fact that both teams like to attack, and so no matter what happens, the matchup should be exciting for viewers!

Catch the G-League Season 2 2013 Finals online at: http://www.twitch.tv/gamefycn — g.gamefy.cn

 

Gamefy commentator BBC hype piece: Previewing the upcoming G-League finals

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_29228.html

Dotaland note: Gamefy commentator BBC writes a long piece hyping up the upcoming G-League. He previews the finals matchups while also reminiscing on what has brought him this far in esports.

To succeed is to give your all.

If one knows one’s own interests, then no matter if one has luxury in food and clothing or has to settle with the simplest of provisions, one can be at peace.

For everyone in childhood, there are dreams, and for each and every one, the answer to the question of what those dreams may be is a different one. Yet, almost surely, for the majority of people, what they’ve achieved in the twenty years following childhood must result differently from those original dreams. Those that successfully stand on their own and achieve success in their dreams undoubtedly are the strong ones in life. Still, those that manage this much are rare; more commonly it is those who, like me, have been constrained, worn down, by time, and ultimately followed the flow of life to settle into whatever average, normal, everyday life we have now.

I remember, before my high school college entrance exams, I got hooked on playing Command and Conquer. As someone who had always seen the days leading up to major exams as the best times for gaming, even I had to retract that preference a bit and bury myself in studies in the face of the final hurdle of high school. And so, immediately following that, in the summer days, I fanatically contributed my savings to a nearby internet cafe as I awaited letters of notice from colleges. It was Starcraft, and then Heroes of Might and Magic 3, Diablo 1 and 2, Baldur’s Gate, Warcraft 3, DotA, all the way to today’s Starcraft 2, League of Legends, and Dota2.

Computer games grew up alongside many a kid, especially boys. Instead of talking about what makes games so interesting, the focus should perhaps instead be on how enticing it is to strive for victory for gamers who viewed winning with such desire.

On the other hand, everything in moderation, and if one gets too hooked on something then the joys of victory no longer remain joyous, and instead become an agonizing trap. The taste of struggling between balancing gaming and studies is one that I have experienced before, wandering between a steady path and the fork in the road, and it’s something I’d never wish to experience again.

Luckily for me, today I can do something I love as my career, even in the face of all the hard work I’ve put in for it. So here I present a soundbite as wisdom and a warning for all my fellow gamers: “If you pursue gaming as a career, then there is no need to have a care about other’s words to you no matter how invested you are. Can those outside understand you? But if gaming is just a game for you, then remember to indulge in moderation; happiness forever exists only in the realm of moderation.”

I remember, in the internet cafe across the street from school, back we were still fighting in Warcraft 3 with ball-mice as our equipment, at the cost of sleep and food, I could always re-create the experiences of pro players such as Shomaru, Magicyang, and briefly feel at the top of the world. Each and every battle, regardless of the outcome, left me pumping with adrenaline, and I was obsessed. Yet, ten years later, my Warcraft 3 is still so noob, and against Magicyang I’m still winless. Still, recalling the memories, those were beautiful times.

Every basketball fan has fantasized what it’d be like to be Michael Jordan, every football (soccer) fan has dreamed of being Ronaldo. And even though we may not be able to achieve that much, still no one can take the beauty of those dreams away. So, even though today we cannot return to the wild days of our youth, we’ve still once had dreams and ambitions, and those won’t fade so easily with time.

For those that like basketball, they have the NBA, the FIBA World Championships; for those that like football (soccer), they have the European Championships, the five big European leagues, the World Cup; then, for those that like esports, is the only thing we have the dubious tag of “video game addicts”?

We must thank those sponsors that support us. Even more so, we must thank those fans that have been following G-League since 2007. Over these years, people have come and gone, time rushes on, yet you fans remain. We remember your praises, your criticisms, and all your warm applause.

From Starcraft, Counterstrike, to today’s Warcraft 3, Starcraft 2, League of Legennds, and Dota2 — from a tiny studio to a finals stage in the center of Shanghai’s Century Plaza, Oriental Pearl tower, all the way to this year’s Mercedes-Benz Center. Every year, every iteration of competition has its own stories and unforgettable moments. How will the brilliance manifest itself this time?

In Warcraft, there are three Orc Kings: Grubby, Lyn, Fly. Each of them has their followers, debating amongst each other who truly is the king of kings. Nowadays, Grubby has switched, and this last finals may be the last time we ever see a battle of Orc Kings. As I recall it, Lyn is a graceful assassin, under a handsome exterior lies a determined soul and heart. In a past G-League match against Ted, with only two heroes left after losing his base, his mesmerizing micro steadfastly brought him back from the brink, leaving us memories that are unforgettable to this day. And Fly gives us a much more direct, aggressive impression, from his early inspired play to his peak performances of straight back and forth fighting. A bit shy in person, he attracts quieter fans. March 9, these two kings of orcs face one another once again, and we look forward to finding out the king of orcs!

In Starcraft, it’s always been dominated by Korean players. In today’s age of Starcraft 2, the best success for Chinese players so far has been second place at WCG — belonging to Xigua. Being able to snatch a second place from the grasps of the Korean players can be considered a great achievement, yet fans will always hope for even better. For Starcraft fans, that thing that they’ve always hoped for yet never dared to truly hope for is for a Chinese player to be world champion. Jim says, Xigua’s playstyle is too easily countered. Well, for 17 year old kids, they may not quite understand tact in their words, yet within those words is confidence gained from so much dedicated practice. March 9, the hope of Protoss challenges our Zerg King, and we hope for a world-class battle!

The explosive popularity of League of Legends is undoubtable. In LoL teams, the explosiveness of team WE is even more obvious. Ever since they appeared, their performances in taking most every domestic competition, ending in their taking a world title in the end of 2012, WE have firmly established themselves. “Beat WE? S2 might’ve been a bit harder, but in S3 it’s more up in the air”, iG’s PDD replied in an interview. To become the alpha, one must defeat the alpha, such is the world of LoL. March 9, iG brings the challenge to WE, and we anticipate a great fight!

Dota2, as the official successor to DotA, has long since been China’s strongest esport. In 2012’s TI2, just as NaVi looked set to sweep all Chinese teams out and take the title, iG stood up. In the music hall in Seattle, in the waves of cheering for NaVi, all of China, from spectators, commentators, to fellow players yelled their voices hoarse in support, just to let the exhausted iG know that they were not alone. And iG finally proved themselves with a world title, in the process defending the honor of Chinese Dota. Afterwards, LGD.int was formed with players from five different nations, and gathered in China to train. Today, their ability pushes them close to the NaVi of TI2. March 9, iG faces the challenge of LGD.int, what promises to be a battle for the ages!

This time, there aren’t only matches. G-League has also, for the first time, invited supporting guests, and they’re ones that most everyone will know — singers Zhang Zhenyue and MC Hotdog. I personally like Zhang Zhenyue’s “Missing you is a sickness” and MC Hotdog’s “Mr Almost”. Nine to five everyday, the days just sort of pass by like that. Yet, a life without passion is unbearable. Sometimes a week goes by with over 60 hours of live broadcasts, and so when my work has me drained, I hope for some passion and change. Every G-League finals becomes just that type of passion and change, giving me an outlet. This time, we’ve mixed esports, rock and roll, rap, for what is certain to be a passion-filled party!

March 9, 2013 will only appear once on our calendars. On that day, in Shanghai’s Expo District, at the Mercedes-Benz Center, there’ll be a grand finals for a certain G-League. In your heart does there still burn the fire of esports, or perhaps are you still youthful?

Who will ascend to the heavens of victory; how many more people will join us in our love of esports? We give it our all, if only so you can enjoy yourselves fully.

March 9, G-League, the Battle of Mercedes-Benz Center, we invite you to witness it together!

 

The life and times of iG.YYF — Gamefy G-League Documentary [video]

Original: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTEyODU2MjQ0.html

iG’s YYF takes us home, talks about his past, and gives us all an intimate look into where he’s come from and the people that helped him on that path… really, really cool.

MAKE SURE YOUTUBE ANNOTATIONS ARE ON! Be sure to give the original at Youku a click too, for views!

 

 

 

DK.BurNIng playstyle and skills analysis by Gamefy

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_29171.html

This is following the previous analysis by Gamefy of iG.YYF, translated here

Xu Zhilei (徐志雷), renowned Dota player from Anhui province. Ever since making a name for himself, he’s been under the intense bright-white of media lights. From his first achievements with  7L, then an explosion in fame during his Ch time, to ten titles with EHOME, nine titles with DK, and four finals appearances in the re-formatted G-League — with two resulting in wins — this steadiness in his performances and results have brought him the formidable title of being “Number 1 carry in the world”. In 2012, with the meteoric rise of iG, BurNIng’s star has faded somewhat, yet he still remains within the top echelons of professional Dota players by virtue of his exceptional individual ability, even earning the greatest of honors in the form of IceFrog naming Anti-Mage after him in-game.

Overall ability:

Awareness rating: SS

For a carry player, economy and space to farm and grow provided by teammates’ protection are the most important aspects influencing a team. While your teammates go to great lengths to provide these conditions for the carry, it is the carry’s responsibility to best make use of the conditions and turn them into effective items and resources to in turn contribute to the team; this is something that every carry must learn and practice. BurNIng is a prime example of a carry that has this ability — he very rarely makes the wrong choice in itemization, has great laning ability, and possesses deep knowledge in the details and key points of the heroes he plays (for example, getting Quelling Blade at start on Alchemist in order to play aggressively in lane). Additionally, he has the ability to adapt item choices in accordance to what is happening on the battlefield: for example in 2010 with EHOME, his choice to go Diffusal Blade on Alchemist in order to help Dai’s Sniper escape from the powers of Sheepstick was heralded by viewers everywhere. In that same year, his full-agility Morphling with Ethereal Blade wiping PIS’ Nevermore in mere seconds, can be said to be a highlight of his career.

Rhythm rating: A

BurNIng has never been a great one when it comes to dictating tempo and rhythm in a match. In matches, he rarely is the one to direct the entire team’s actions, and as such he is more of a legendary warrior than a unifying general. His style leans more towards focusing on his own growth and farm in early and mid game rather than pressuring the opponent. His is a safe playstyle: if the chances of failing a tower dive are more than 20%, then he will pretty much not go for it. Since going pro he has rarely played a number 2 position, instead it is the norm that when he does finally emerge from farming to fight, he is able to dictate the entire match. His mega-fat Anti-Mage was caught on camera at TI2 and surely left a great impression for fans all around the world.

Mechanics rating: S

Dota is definitely not a game where mechanics are everything, but without a solid base of fundamentals in mechanics, you will have nothing to play on. At BurNIng’s peak, he was an absolutely ideal carry player, with superb laning, top level last-hitting, quick reflexes, and perfect late-game team-fight decision making. His experience playing Chen during his time with Ch, plus his early experience in competitive Warcraft, gave him a great base in terms of micro and control. To put it in simple terms, BurNIng is a giant farmer that can effectively perform in teamfights, but some major mistakes and lacks of communication in 2012 are worth further consideration, because the small details determine everything.

Heroes diversity: S

As a top tier carry, hot picks in the current version include Anti-Mage, Faceless Void, Lone Druid, Phantom Lancer, etc, and these are all heroes that our man Xu Zhilei is closely familiar with, and can unleash all of the potential of. But if his own team fails to grab any of these carries for him, and instead gives him mid-game heroes such as Naix or Luna, his performances betray an obvious unfamiliarity with the styles required to play these team-fight centric carries. His Naix falls in fierceness to YYF’s, his Luna makes her presence less felt than either Zhou’s or Sylar’s, in the first half of 2012 his Chaos Knight was weaker than Hao’s. And so these are all places where the “universe’s number 1 carry” can make improvements. In the increasingly fast, increasingly team-fight oriented modern Dota versions, strictly afk-farming for a super late game carry is a very easily countered strategy. Finally, his understanding of Anti-Mage’s core item choices nowadays also seems to have fallen behind Zhou by a little bit.

Playing uphill: SS

BurNIng in 2010 and 2011 won 19 different titles. Amongst those wins, how many times did we see him ‘save the world’ in situations where his team were at a large disadvantage in early game, utilizing his amazing late-game ability to come back. No matter if it’s an online competition with thousands of viewers or an online tournament, BurNIng has always been calm and serene, in both ways: he can not only ignore massive pressure and harrassment in times of being behind, but also ignore a huge advantage for his team. What this means is that he never allows the big picture of what’s going on around him to affect his individual performance and execution, and thus very rarely fails to recover from a terrible start. This makes him the most mature, stable carry player. As for his latest three competitions since Anti-Mage was named (G-League, G-1 League, and WCG) where he has yet to use Anti-Mage, whether the reasoning behind this choice is because his team has never needed it or he is afraid of the pressure behind it, if you’re reading this BurNIng, I would like to know too.

Individual skill:

Last hitting: 97

For the universe’s greatest carry, his last hits are something that you need not worry about at all. Even though it isn’t as impossibly amazing as ZSMJ’s farming, BurNIng’s last hitting regardless of under tower, free lane, or under lane pressure, can and does always satisfy. In terms of fundamentals, when given free-farm he’s even more reliable, so if you want to practice last hitting, please peruse BurNIng’s vods, it’s beyond worth it! Taking a popular saying, BurNIng belongs to the class of players that “can be outplayed, but can never be out-farmed; can be pressured, but can never be stopped from farming”.

Laning: 95

B-god’s laning is absolutely first class. Amongst the big three carries, his solo ability is undoubtedly the strongest, and he rarely allows the opponent to control him. Fast reflexes, lots of experience in using vision and positioning, he’s a scarily reliable all-around carry player. His Lone Druid, especially, regardless of whether he’s on the safe lane with support or solo mid, can always reliably farm out core items and levels. BurNIning plays very aggressively in lane, yet rarely gambles his own life — if the chances of him dying while getting a kill surpass 30% then it is certain that BurNIng will choose to back off and ensure his own growth.

Decisions: 91

BurNIng has always been good at making decisions based on the situation in-game. His timing in entering the fray as a carry has always been seen as a textbook example for other players to learn from. With such perfect timing in each teamfight, Burning Show Time is thus born. Yet, going into Dota2, BurNIng has been repeatedly tripped up by tiny details in items and execution, sure to be a lifelong regret. The greatest example of this was in G-League versus LGD, in the second game DK had taken a comprehensive advantage and BurNIng’s Phantom Lancer was six-slotted, yet failed to consider the cooldown on his Boots of Travel and thus he was forced to walk back to the fight after buying back. But all was too late as in the time being, his teammates, Cheese and Aegis in hand, fell one by one to the might that was Anti-Mage, who had himself bought back and rejoined the fight faster. At that moment, BurNIng’s fans must’ve been shocked beyond the point of words. One TP scroll, a 12 second cooldown, all of BurNIng’s short-fallings and regrets of 2012 embodied within.

Positioning: 96

Positioning is a Dota player’s most basic action, achieved by only moving and clicking the mouse. But truly understanding the intracacies of positioning is not something that every player learns to the same level. Over-extending and getting picked off, staying too far back and missing out on combos, these can be seen in almost every match. Using positioning to take the least amount of damage, or using it to bait the opponent, these are all basics for every player yet some of the hardest things to get right. BurNIng’s positioning as a carry could be said to be one of a kind during his peak, rarely ever showing any mistakes. Always in the right place to get kills, always perfectly getting into or withdrawing from a fight, thus fully projecting a carry’s strength. Especially worth mentioning is his control of blink heroes, on those heroes B-god indeed has practically no weaknesses.

Ability usage: 90

Perhaps because of his role, BurNIng is not a player centered around his ability to use abilities. More often, it is by his farming, laning, experience, and reliability in his role to influence matches. It seems that he rarely appears in flashy top 10 compilations. Heroes like Naix and Chaos Knight that rely quite a bit on technique and abilities usage, BurNIng has significant room for improvement. Still, his understanding of how to use the ults of Faceless Void and Anti-Mage is exceptional, always effective.

Counter-gank: 98

Top, top-tier counter ganking sense. He very rarely ever gets caught in a gank; it’s almost as if BurNIng has a gank-radar installed inside him. Once the opponent disappears off the map he can pretty much figure out where they’ve gone, what path they’re going to take for a smoke gank, where he should blink to safety if they do find him, and whether his teammates can come support in time. These are all things that require greast amounts of practice and training. With Smoke becoming an ever more important item, experience becomes all the more important, and his talent becomes the separating factor for players looking to be the best.

Current version Carry scores:

Anti-mage: 98 — IceFrog honors him, a B-god named hero. Understanding of the hero is practically watertight.
Lone Druid: 97 — DK’s 9 title run in 2011 had this as their signature hero. Steady 16 minute radiance, IceFrog personally praised
Faceless Void: 95 — Lots of spectacular plays, excellent usage of the ult
Phantom Lancer: 92 — A new-age carry, not many examples of success. BurNIng had a chance to make a name with this hero, but one mistake with Boots of Travel, and the result is sadness.
Luna: 90 — Not many uses, solid performances.

Overall: 96

Overall BurNIng’s main strengths are reliability as a carry. Aggressive, tempo-dictating plays are relatively rarer compared to other carries. Teams that BurNIng has played for basically all revolve around him as the core in their strategy. His style leans toward helping himself over the team early on, and he certainly possesses the skill to go 1v5. All the titles over the years have said more than anything else. Compared to his old rival in Zhou, B-god has more attributes as a carry, and whenever he’s played as a super late-game role he usually performs excellently. Zhou instead has transitioned into more of a team-fight carry, sacrificing more of his own growth in games. Both carry players have their reasons for their styles, but it is clear that in current versions, having more heroes farmed up provides more room for error. In 2013, when BurNIng once again meets his old rival in Zhou, whether he can regain old glory and break iG’s current dominance will depend on whether he can cut out key mistakes, whether he can escape from real-life issues, whether he can play his Anti-Mage of old again. 2013’s G-League, TI3, we look forward to BurNIng’s answer.

Transfer value estimate: 150000-200000 RMB (considering his age, plus rumors of retirement, his estimated value is lower than his actual ability would otherwise dictate, plus he’s currently steady with DK and chances of a transfer are miniscule)

iG wishes a Happy Chinese New Year to all!

Original: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTEyNzIzNDYw.html

Only translated the Dota team’s greetings. Their section starts at 1:00 in. Before them is the LoL team, after them is the SC2 team, as well as iG team administration.

Happy Chinese/Lunar New Year to all who celebrate! It’s truly the happiest, most boisterous time of the year in many Asian cultures. 🙂

 

iG.YYF playstyle and skills analysis by Gamefy

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_28998.html

Written by Gamefy’s Sosa, this is a piece looking at what makes YYF so successful in what he does, and what he does for iG. (Spoiler: he’s steady, reliable). Translations in a few places are altered slightly to keep the flow of the writing smoother for reading. Haven’t done one of these types of articles in a while, so, enjoy.

Overall ability:

Awareness rating: SS

YYF has a very comprehensive and complete understanding of the game, second to no other player. YYF nowadays as a player relies more on his experience and understanding of the game, as opposed to mechanics, to defeat opponents. In the 3 position, he has an understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, quirks in abilities, when a hero is strongest, and how the hero plays with the rest of the team, as well as concise and reasonable item choices, YYF has it all. On the battlefield, it is exceedingly rare to find him unaware of what he can do to perform what is needed. In the 3 position, worldwide, if YYF was ever placed 2nd, we believe that no one would ever dare to claim number one.

Rhythm rating: S

With the nickname of “Stone Buddha”, YYF’s playstyle overall leans towards steady. Like baseline-style players in tennis, YYF rarely gets in over his head, rarely makes errors. Illustrating this, in 1v1 laning situations, he will typically choose his own growth over denying the opponent, often resulting in both sides of the lane getting fat in early game, then he utilizes his experience and ability to defeat the opponent in mid-game. In an off-lane situation, YYF’s plays even more steadily and safely; he’d rather be level one at five minutes in than to give up a kill to the other team. Even with a slow start in early game, YYF has the ability to quickly make up lost ground afterwards to ensure a strong mid-game. A long tenure in the 3 position has since dulled a bit of YYF’s early-career aggression and tempo dictating ability and instinct. Even back when he was in LGD at solo mid, compared to the other solo mid star of the time, Dai, he always seemed a bit less powerful in these skills, often falling behind. Despite all this, YYF’s game on Beastmaster, with a level 7 gem for map control, going on a killing spree across the map, is something that the world saw, and all remember to this day.

Mechanics rating: SS

In terms of flashiness, YYF’s general performances can’t be rated alongside examples such as 430’s Invoker, PIS’ Nevermore, or Dai’s Lion. But what YYF can offer is the fact that when he’s on a hero, he practically makes no errors in execution, ensuring that every hero’s every ability is used to its maximum. His positioning on Bounty Hunter for example, he’s always in the action, always takes a lot of damage, yet rarely dies. His Windrunner, with a frighteningly high success rate on shackleshots, regardless of whether he’s been playing uphill or downhill, in his hands, the shackleshot is a steady 3.5 second stun. And at TI2 his panda was the cavalry that rode in to save the world, and ultimately place him and his performance at the top by way of the championship.

Heroes diversity: SS

As a 1-2-3 position style player, YYF’s hero roster is huge. Never can a team hope to counter YYF by bans and picks, because he can play far too many heroes. The reasoning behind this ability of his is simple: he works hard, he has the passion, and outside of Dota, YYF practically has no other hobbies. When there is no training and no competition going on, YYF is mostly playing pubs. He takes pub games very seriously: large amounts of his experience and thoughts on the game originate from inspiration gained in pub games. One thing doesn’t work in a competitive match? He’ll go and develop a new tactic. Knowing many heroes, apart from not allowing opponents to counter him, can also provide more diversity to a team’s strategies in game. No matter if it’s an aggressive in your face ganking style, or a teamfight style, or a puhsing style, or a protect the hard carry style… YYF’s 3 position can always provide a suitable level or support for the team in helping the rest of them open up the path to victory.

Playing uphill: SS

No matter if you’re an amateur team or you are iG, there will always be times when you must play uphill, against the odds. Of course, when playing downhill with everything in your favor, well, everyone is 430, but the key is that playing uphill, not everyone can be like YYF. YYF’s biggest strength is that he does not falter against massive pressure. He doesn’t die, and always, always performs. He’s steady, steady, steady. From online matches, to million dollar offline matches, from G-League group matches where iG rolled through, to TI2’s loser’s bracket facing a 4 BKB and 6-slotted Morphling, YYF maintains caution in victory and steadfastness in defeat, leading his team to make the huge comeback. Even if he may be human before the game starts, once he’s got his mouse in hand, he becomes “Stone Buddha” YYF.

Individual skill:

Last hits: 95

YYF has deep fundamentals when it comes to last hitting. Long time experience in pubs, plus his early experience in LGD as their carry… in Dota where economy is important and hard to come by, last hitting is a very important requirement for every player.

Laning: 90

Laning ability isn’t necessarily the best part of YYF’s play, yet his laning is absolutely not weak, and in 1v1 lanes he will rarely lose. In 1v3 situations in the off-lane, YYF also utilizes all of his experience and knowledge of how heroes play, along with cautious and watertight positioning, to ensure safety and not allow the other side to feed off of him.

Decisions: 98

In small fights, his ability to quickly analyze the situation and take into account all parties’ positioning and statuses, and then decide whether to fight, who to target, whether to retreat, and overall positioning, has YYF a cut above the rest. His ability to handle all of these considerations in a short amount of time makes decision-making his greatest strength. In what can be said to be the most important teamfight of YYF’s career, the fight of the Panda with three lives, he perfectly displayed this by soaking up as much damage as possible while hitting the most important targets, and then quickly bought back when he died to blink back in, thus countering the opponent’s biggest push almost singlehandedly. If his buyback had been just two seconds later, the opponent would’ve dragged the fight past BKB, and the result would’ve been far different.

Positioning: 96

Positioning in Dota is not less important than any other skill. Those deaths caused by poor positioning, or inability to contribute to a fight on time, are things that occur in almost every match. It’s important for every pro player, and YYF’s since making it professionally has been known for reducing unforced errors caused by poor positioning. This is the key to his steadiness, for an offlane player, positioning is the one thing that ensures he can grow while avoiding unnecessary loss. Watch some of YYF’s positioning, and you will learn much.

Ability usage: 94

Not as flashy as ‘pianist’ 430, not as brilliantly aggressive as PIS, yet YYF is, of course, steady. His Bounty Hunter is guaranteed to have all the right abilities on the right targets, and his Windrunner will rarely be seen missing a shackleshot, or his Dark Seer a whiffed wall. On the battlefield, YYF’s usage of abilities will always fulfill their potential.

Counter-gank: 90

Ever since Smoke of Deceit was added, the map has in general lacked any safe haven apart from perhaps the fountain. So how to maintain safe last hitting while there are heroes missing on the map, instead of blindly hiding in fright, relies on something of an instinct for ganks. What is the opponent doing now that they’ve disappeared? Every player draws their own conclusions. Within pro players, YYF is very reliable in this, yet DK’s BurNIng seems to have taken it to another level from years of avoiding ganks.

Overall: Steady, reliable, no real weakness is YYF, and these are also the biggest assets that have helped him to where he is today. As a 3 position, he has played the position to the utmost. Even though his style leans towards safe and thus means he is a bit less suited to big-picture strategic decisions, his on-the-fly decisions in smaller fights within the game itself are without equal. In iG, they rarely rely on a single source for their leadership like LGD does. Every player has his own decisions, yet over a long period of training they’ve built up a great understanding, and thus have inherently increased their ability to execute as a team. This was ultimately the reason behind iG’s rise to power in 2012.

iG special events during Chinese New Year holiday

Chuan and 430 stream, YYF documentary? Read on to find out more, and how to view the streams!

With the Chinese New Year coming up, and teams on break, fans still have things to look forward to! Gamefy recently revealed via a teaser video that a YYF documentary is in the works and set to come during the Chinese New Year holiday.

And iG announced this week that ChuaN and Ferrari_430 would be streaming first person gameplay via the iG YY streaming channel. As of this post, the next streaming session is scheduled for 20:00 China time on Jan 24 (04:00 Pacific time, Jan 24), the streamer being ChuaN. YY requires an account to access live streams, so see below for instructions on how to go about that. So far, the streams have had player voice chat, and the occasional cameo by other iG members, so be sure to check it out!

edit: ChuaN also just set up a twitch stream, follow it!

Watching streams via YY.com, click to enlarge (for imgur, here):

1yy 2yy 3yy 4yy

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[fluff] iG members pay the price to play with pop superstar JJ Lin

As reported last year, Dota2 has quite a few celebrity fans, one of whom is the Mandarin-language pop superstar JJ Lin (not to be confused with NBA star Jeremy Lin, who also plays Dota2). Recently, he’s been grouping with iG members. Today, a group of two iG members, Mr Lin plus his friend, along with commentator Beat_kid, appeared in ‘very high’ bracket matchmaking…

JJ Lin’s ID is [S.M.G]***Dark Knight, and he took his two International 2 champion teammates down with him as his Clockwerk went 1-14-5. What did he have to say for himself?

“don’t know how to play”

So, even the biggest names have things they aren’t so great at! 😛

This bit of fluff is not meant to be serious, please take all in good humor.

screenshots from: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2111446657

 

 

G-League interview with iG.ChuaN: “We cannot allow LGD.int to win”

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_28204.html

Gamefy: Congrats to iG for their 3-0 win over LGD.cn to make it to the G-League 2012 Season Finals. Say hello to our viewers?

ChuaN: Hi everyone, I am iG ChuaN, Wong Hock Chuan.

Gamefy: So far your team has been undefeated in this G-League, how are you able to achieve this?

ChuaN: Nothing special really, we just play our own positions well, and execute to the best possible.

Gamefy: Your teamfights are perfect, can you tell us who is usually supposed to initiate for you?

ChuaN: Usually it’s whomever feels there is an opening, and they just go!

Gamefy: Your Rubick earlier was spectacular, stealing Beastmaster’s Roar on multiple occasions and helping to lock down LGD’s main damage sources, any comments?

ChuaN: Mostly it’s about finding the right timing, and apart from that I think their Beastmaster’s skill progression had some problems today.

Gamefy: In the finals you will meet LGD.int, will you defeat them to defend your G-League title?

ChuaN: We will do our best. We cannot leave the title to a bunch of foreigners, just one foreigner in me is enough.

Gamefy: After the semi-finals there’s a period of time until the finals, what are your plans?

ChuaN: We’ll probably first break to celebrate the Lunar New Year, and then come back to make some preparations for the finals.

Gamefy: Though the Dota2 competition has come to a temporary halt, other G-League events such as the LoL and SC2 tournaments are still on-going, and iG has players in those as well. Anything you want to say to them?

ChuaN: Of course I hope that iG.LoL can defeat WE and take that championship, and in SC2 hopefully Xigua can once again take the title.

Gamefy: Alright, thank you for the interview.