Tag Archives: iG

G-League interview with iG.Faith: “defeating LGD to go on to the finals shouldn’t be a problem”

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_28158.html

Gamefy: Congrats on your 2-0 lead over LGD.cn, say hello to our viewers?

Faith: Hi everyone, I am iG’s Faith.

Gamefy: Let’s start by talking about the games today, in the second game what caused your team to pick Juggernaut?

Faith: Because Juggernaut is pretty good in a trilane, plus he’s got a healing ward, which comes in useful against Keeper of the Light when we need to push.

Gamefy: Halfway through game two, things weren’t actually going so well for your team, what kind of changes did you make to turn things around?

Faith: Early on we had a tiny advantage from laning, so we wanted to force a fight. But then after a few fights we found out we couldn’t actually out-fight them, so we went decided to drag things out into late-game.

Gamefy: Before G-League began, iG had been busy with many events and promotions. How did you all so quickly get back into competition form and condition?

Faith: Because we’ve all come so far together, so our mutual understandings and teamwork all persist.

Gamefy: Yesterday Misery also mentioned that he had high hopes for you guys, do you feel that you can successfully defeat LGD.cn to advance to the finals?

Faith: I think there shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Gamefy: Who do you think is stronger betwen LGD.int and LGD.cn?

Faith: I think LGD.cn is a bit stronger. Their play is more consistent, while LGD.int is still newer and more unknown so must be faced more cautiously.

Gamefy: Okay, thank you for the interview.

 

 

Top 10 Stories in 2012 Chinese Dota

Original: http://dota.sgamer.com/201301/news-detail-160432.html

Dotaland note: Written by Felix菜刀刃, friend of Dotaland, and translated at his personal request — this is a look back on the last year of Dota in China, where so many things have changed, grown, and in some cases, disappeared… Looks back on teams, controversies, achievements, and a hint at Perfect World having their own ‘International’? This and more, read on below!

10 — Disbandment

Nirvana, sponsored by Loveen, winners of prestigious titles such as G-League in 2010, WDC, WCG China, once upon a time stood amongst the three giants of Chinese Dota, alongside EHOME and LGD. WDC, the World Dota Championships, catalyzed in part by Loveen, was a top three competition in Dota. Going into 2011, Nirvana and the WDC both entered a turning point, where Loveen, citing a new marriage faded out of the scene. In the beginning of 2012, Nirvana officially announced their end, with WDC being their swansong.

PanDa, sponsored by a Hang Yu (this was PanDa’s second iteration), with Efeng as manager, established in 2012. Players under their tag included Hao, Mu, Yaobai, PanPan, 830God, and Sansheng. Their results were not bad, but then the boss disappeared, Efeng quit, three core players transferred to TongFu, and that was that — the team disbanded.

WE’s Dota team was established in 2011. At one point or another, they had new at the time, but now-familiar names such as Sylar and Veronica. After TI2 ended, their Dota players left one after another.

CLC’s Dota team, after a short existence including players like 357, ultimately disbanded after 357 returned to EHOME. Afterwards, the remnants of CLC merged with LOH to form Noah’s Ark. Following investors pulling out from NA in 2012, the team ceased to exist.

DT Club, once 3rd/4th placed finishers at ACE League, suffered an unexplained resignation from their manager, a loss of financial backing from their boss, their players floated off to other teams.

9 — Rebirth

“A thousand sails drift past the sunken ship, a thousand trees flourish upon the dying stump” — in 2012, though quite a few teams left us, new teams appeared to fill their spots and bring with them a new wind of hope. The most inspired of these is none other than LGD.int, where we must give credit to LGD.RuRu’s eagle-eyed wisdom for her skill in building another super-team in the hyper competitive Dota scene. And LGD.int’s performances so far have shown us all that Western players do not necessarily lack talent, they only need an environment to focus and train better.

Post-TI2, the biggest dark horse newcomer should be ViCi Gaming. Mostly comprised of new players, they first took the GosuCup by storm, only losing to Zenith and ending up third place. And then it was in the G-League group B, where they escaped death by eliminating MUFC, pushed LGD.cn to the limit, ending the year in a satisfactory manner.

Apart from that, there’s still the new as-yet-unnamed team led by ZSMJ and Ch, as well as a potential new team with LaNm. And then, there are rumors saying that former DT Club players have re-convened to fight anew in this new year.

8 — Perfection

After a seemingly neverending wait, Perfect World finally was confirmed as Dota2’s official Chinese partner. Despite many fans and industry people alike eagerly and impatiently awaiting this news, Perfect World played this to their own leisurely pace, perhaps with confidence in a long-term approach. While they prepared a new Dota2 official splash page and beta signups, Perfect World has also been ramping up recruitment in preparation. There are reports suggesting that Perfect World also has plans to hold independent large-scale events a-la Valve’s International, and perhaps this act could serve to disrupt the current balance between third-party events. Either way, no matter what comes from Perfect World, it will greatly influence the Dota2 scene as we know it.

7 — Reputation

For WCG, its name recognition is matched only by its controversy. As one of the key forces in early Chinese esports development, WCG holds an almost mythical reputation amongst Chinese fans. Yet, recent developments in gaming have almost left WCG behind, with WCG attempting a shift towards mobile games. And plus, as a modern-day esports giant, the new generation of Chinese gamers have the ability to look beyond what the Koreans can provide. Increasingly refined experiences and production from domestic competitions, plus huge moves from American gaming companies have left the Samsung-led WCG by the wayside.

This year’s World Cyber Games was held in Kunshan, China, and its production fully catered to the host nation’s tastes. Dota2 became a main competition, with its predecessor Dota included as an exhibition event. In Warcraft3, Ted’s Undead had a classic come from behind victory, and the Sky-Moon rivalry played out another emotional chapter; the whole of it meaning that viewers got more than enough. But still, the worries were apparent underneath the surface at WCG, and its future remains unknown.

6 — Surprises

G-1 League’s 4th Season quietly snuck up on us, and it brought with it China’s first Dota2 competition, a first for Chinese and English simultaneous broadcasting, the first Chinese competition with an in-game Steam ticket. Out of many firsts, what it served to do most was to set an example and kick off the future of Chinese — and even Asian — competitive Dota2. Even so, of course, there were many places for improvement; wonder what surprises the next iteration of G-1 League will have for fans?

5 — Breakout

As China’s longest standing and most well-known esports media organization, Gamefy’s 2012 wasn’t a typical one. In fact, it could be said that their summary for the year is a long list of achievements. The first season of G-League in 2012 managed to put on an exuberant celebration of a Grand Finals, despite being trapped between a spectacular ACE League debut, and a certain million-dollar tournament in Seattle. And speaking of TI2, Gamefy also successfully acquired broadcasting rights to the competition. Yet, not long after these successes, Gamefy commentator SnowKiss resigned controversially, leaving in her place a long series of accusations leveled at Gamefy and former coworkers there. Although Gamefy successfully cooled the situation down, the storm clouds from this incident remain difficult to disperse. Afterwards, Gamefy’s Daily Report show negatively reviewed WCG, and Chinese WCG media partner NeoTV responded, causing another wave of arguments and controversy in the public eye.

So it was in this atmosphere that the new season of G-League began at the end of 2012. Unprecedented production quality along with unpredictable and exciting matches seemed to sweep away the haze of past disputes, finally helping Gamefy to break out from a series of negative events. In 2013, a reformed SiTV (parent company of Gamefy) thus must continue their role as one of Chinese esports forces.

4 — Professionalism

The ACE League, as a collaboration between the ACE Esports League and GTV Channel, provided Dota competition in its debut event. In the roadmap of Chinese esports development, the ACE League holds a milestone-like status. In terms of production and packaging, it’s erected a new standard for other competitions. But an awkward reality cannot be ignored, that is that half of the original participating teams have by now disbanded, and a second season of the league never materialized in 2012. In what way will ACE re-appear in 2013, all is still unknown to us now.

3 — EHOME

EHOME is (or was?) China’s oldest esports name. In many different events and games, especially Dota, they at one time or another represented the top China — or even the world — had to offer. In 2011, BurNing and KingJ left the team, and DK and iG arose, and EHOME’s kingly aura faded as it never had before. In 2012, EHOME made high-profile roster changes: DC as a coach, ZSMJ et al recruited to compete, yet no goals were achieved. Afterwards, old EHOME veterans 357, Dai, and LanM were recruited back into the fold, and because of rule-breaking in these transfers EHOME ultimately were excluded from the new ACE Esports Alliance — EHOME became the ‘Horde’ to ACE’s ‘Alliance’. After TI2, 357 and Dai joined DK, team lead 71 left, and EHOME once again fell apart. Rumors say that EHOME’s been bought by iG owner Principal Wang, but no one knows if we’ll see EHOME make another return.

2 — Royalty

As we review the Dota scene of 2012, we come to find that unfortunately, ‘mess’ is still a word closely associated with everything, to the extent that the China Esports Magazine of 2011 below can be used again for 2012 with little changes. Paid smurfing to boost Dota 11 platform account ladder rankings, Dota2 keys and profiteering, the “100% focused” statements, Taobao’s antics… from one side to another, insults, maneuvering, and politics covered everything from fairness to profits and everything in between. The end result of all this being, for better or worse, we saw many more sides of players, commentators, organizers, tournaments, and clubs than we would have otherwise ever known about. Interestingly, all of this seemed to die down quite a bit after TI2. Perhaps it was because everyone saw first hand that there’s a quality in professionalism, and there’s a power behind a million dollars.

1 — Crusade

Because of Valve’s million-dollar injection into The International 2, the competition was seen as a ‘crusade’ of sorts by players. The first International in Cologne was not particularly important to Chinese teams, with seemingly only EHOME taking even a week of time to prepare for it. But then, EHOME’s $250000 prize for second place had everyone waking up. CCM, who finished outside the top four last time had turned into this year’s iG. Equipped with the best training environment Beijing could provide, and having just taken a G-League championship, with a lead in the on-going ACE League, it could be said that they had all the forces of nature alongside them. In the end, they didn’t disappoint, and successfully planted the Chinese flag on the greatest stage of Dota2.

This TI2 also served to completely rewrite the order of the worldwide Dota scene. China’s iG began their dynasty, Chinese competitions transitioned to Dota2, and the former big three Dota competitions faded away, all while Dota2’s gravity shifted ever so much towards the East. All indications point towards the fact that with TI2 and iG’s title, a new age has begun.

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iG CEO Efeng recaps 2012

Original: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4a69021b0101cmo3.html

Dotaland note: Really cool reflections on 2012 written by Efeng, CEO of Invictus Gaming, and before that, manager of PanDa. Looks into behind the scenes stuff, his reflections, happenings, events and more. Just an overall excellent read for anyone interested in going through the past year in Chinese esports.

“2012, a transitional year”

January, PanDa set out to Beijing for the WGT, a very important competition at the time. At the time, this competition would directly influence PanDa’s sponsorship situation in the upcoming year, so every player was going all out — it was such a heart-warming scene to see, because the atmosphere was one where you could feel every member of the club was in it together, with a willingness to fight for the club, and exceptional teamwork and togetherness. Sadly a miscue in the form of accidentally denying the Aegis meant that their goals were ultimately not achieved, yet in the end we all felt fulfilled in one way or another, Lyn took the SC2 title, Toodming took third place for the same, and in Dota it was a second place finish, leaving us as the best overall results as a team at WGT.

“How come I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

February, PanDa moved their team base to Nanjing. Upon arriving in Nanjing, I commented, “How come I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” The weather there in February was very cold, PanDa’s new base was located next to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, everyone arrived on time. But because it was so cold in the dorms, our entire Dota team chose to sleep on the floor in the training room. Thinking back a bit now, the scene was quite moving… despite the conditions, there were few complaints at all. At the time, all Hao had to say was “I only want results this year, nothing else”; no one could predict what might happen afterwards. This month, I was very disorganized, and the club’s direction ended up creating a gap between the boss’s wishes. Mr Yu, the boss, was constantly un-contactable, our monitors at our new base did not support Dota2, our players couldn’t practice, Lyn’s salary went unpaid. Plus I had family issues back at home, my relationship wasn’t going well, so my emotions were frayed and all over the place, and all of a sudden I wanted to just get away and take a break… and then I managed to talk with Mr Yu, who said he would deal with the club’s problems as soon as possible, and I went to Hangzhou to clear my head and heart, and ultimately decided to resign from that position.

Compared with WE’s ups and downs in no less than the past 10 years, where regardless of financial, sponsors, or any other problems, they always stuck closely with one another and ultimately were rewarded with glory, just one month of missed salaries and everything fell apart, it was something that made me think quite hard.

March, I had resigned from the position of manager for PanDa. PanDa was the club that I had put the most blood and sweat into at the time, and so the decision was extremely hard to make. But the situation at the time led me to no other choice, and afterwards I began a life in Beijing of playing poker. At that time, when chatting with Old Liu we came to the topic of iG. In 2011, iG had actually approached me, but at the time I was putting everything into PanDa and so I had laughed it off. Yet now, I had no job, and had not given up on esports management, so I was immediately interested. The conflict at the time was between going on to play poker professionally, or to come back to this industry that I was familiar with. I chatted with many people, asked their opinions, and decided to go to iG and give it a try. I still felt I could contribute something, and additionally there was another big reason, that at the time I could only keep to myself. At the end of the month, Yaobai (of PanDa) suddenly messaged me on QQ, said he was done with his work with the team, he hadn’t been paid, Mr Yu was out of reach… I tried to talk with him about it, but he said he was really upset, and wanted to just leave, at least until people were paid again. At the time no one thought too much of it, and it just happened. Who would have expected this all to lead to the earthquake that was PanDa disbanding. And so it was a series of events, and fortunately in the end nothing terrible happened, everyone managed to find a stable new place to call home. Thinking back, PanDa at the time was solidly in the ranks of top4 Dota teams, and its SC2 team ahd Lyn, Toodming, Ash, and its sponsor situation was stable. Compared with WE’s ups and downs in no less than the past 10 years, where regardless of financial, sponsors, or any other problems, they always stuck closely with one another and ultimately were rewarded with glory, just one month of missed salaries and everything fell apart, it was something that made me think quite hard.

April, I officially joined iG, and began my professional manager career with them. IG’s Dota team, ever since SMM hadn’t achieved much in any way, and were undergoing a fierce practice regime. The NGF competition at the end of the month everyone felt must-win, yet in the end iG lost to LGD, who had barely trained. ChuaN cried tears of real sorrow below the stage, yet it was just that type of atmosphere that let me know that this was a team that was destined to achieve results, because of that hunger for victory, one that exceeded anyone else’s.

One loss after another drew them each closer to one another, and the arguments and disagreements of wayward days lessened, in its place there appeared more trust and understanding.

May, the ACE League began. A glorious new page in the history of esports, ACE League is to-date the most ambitious and large-scale project and competition, and was also the hope and dream of every team that joined hands in the alliance. That month, iG started training on Dota2, starting at a worldwide Dota2 team ranking of 447. So it was under these conditions that YYF began his 30 games per day training regime. One loss after another drew them each closer to one another, and the arguments and disagreements of wayward days lessened, in its place there appeared more trust and understanding.

June, iG’s management had stabilized, and a formerly messy situation gradually calmed down. This month, because of internet issues, the decision was made to move the LoL team to Shanghai, and after that iG’s YY channel (a live audio streaming platform, popular in China) went online, marking an effort to build up our Fan Club project.

July, was CCG, and iG’s SC2 team getting crushed to wrap it up. But perhaps because of just this devastating loss, iG’s SC2 team became more motivated. On the 15th, at CCG’s evening reception, I met a girl.

On the 29th, we arrived in Seattle, and five days later, iG were up on the stage of the finals. When NaVi typed out GG, we all broke into tears.

August, on the 5th, the whole team arrived in Shanghai, for what could be said to be the most important competition of the year for iG — G-League. Fate finally smiled upon us, and iG successfully took the first big title of the year, thus writing the first chapter in our Dota team’s glorious journey. Teams under me had taken Warcraft 3, SC2, and FIFA championships, and watching them accepting their winnings up on stage was truly an emotional event for me; it could be said that we finally achieved a goal of ours. On the 29th, we arrived in Seattle, and five days later, iG were up on the stage of the finals. When NaVi typed out GG, we all broke into tears. As they waved Chinese flags on stage, and as they hoisted the Aegis of Champions up high, we all knew that that 447th-ranked team from three months ago were the ones now standing on top of the world. Additionally, we would continue the glory, TI2 undoubtedly became iG’s most meaningful competition of the year, yet the reason I labelled G-League the most important was because winning G-League was what gave the players the confidence and desire to win more, ultimately serving as the door to triumph for the team.

September, iG’s management changed, with Old Liu leaving. Looking back on the year, he has absolutely been an amazing mentor and friend to me. I’ve truly been lucky, every time I enter a tough period, I always meet someone who can give me a hand up, so here I truly thank Old Liu for his unwavering faith and trust in me and his help. On the 14th, iG took the ACE League’s first season championship, taking home the year’s third major trophy. On the 19th, the team headed back to Xi’an for WCG qualifiers, and were very lucky in that the FIFA team took the Xi’an regional title without training at all beforehand. At the end of the month we learned that Leiyu Esports had met problems with finances, and after contacting them we were able to give a whole new face to our CF team by signing their former members, and the new team repaid us all by winning the CFPL.

October, all of iG’s teams officially made the move to Shanghai, settling in the Xujiahui district. The various teams thus began another phase of dominance, achieving 3 golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze at the China region WCG finals, to place as the best team present. And, in the beginning of the month, that girl I had met at CCG became my girlfriend, and apart from that I devoted all of myself to the business side of things.

November, a month of business development!

December, iG took the Dota and CF titles at the WCG World Championships, putting a perfect end to the year. The LoL team began to undergo planned changes.

This past year, a year of joy and sorrow intertwined, endless challenges, changes and rebirth, ends with a gladness that I went on with my original dreams and didn’t go down the path of poker. There are too many memories, I’ve learned more than ever, and it’s ultimately been a very lucky year of the dragon for me. Thank you to all the friends who came to celebrate my birthday at the end of the year, I’ve never had one with so many people. Hopes are that next year will go smoothly for all, that the team and the ACE League can achieve all goals and ambitions, and that everyone does well!

 

 

G-League semi-finals interview with LGD.DD and LGD manager Nicholas

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_28064.html

In last night’s G-League 2012 Season 2 Dota2 elimination match, LGD.cn managed to snatch a last-gasp victory against new and improving VG, and thus stride into the semi-finals. Afterwards, we got an interview with LGD player DD/Sc and LGD team lead Nicholas to hear what they had to say about this match, and any hopes for the semi-finals.

Gamefy: First, congrats to LGD for winning over VG and making it to the final four, how do you feel?

LGD.DD: I’m feeling decent, pretty happy.

Gamefy: Where do you think you lost in game two?

LGD.DD: We lost early game in the 3v3 lane. We did not deal with it very well, and then we made a bunch of mistakes, resulting in all three lanes growing very poorly. That tripped us up and we never recovered, so we lost.

Gamefy: In the beginning of the third game, you were also slightly behind. What kind of adjustments did you guys make to pull the game back, and ultimately achieve the win?

LGD.DD: Because VG is a new team, so we were waiting all along for them to make mistakes, since they cannot possibly be as experienced and savvy as teams like DK, iG, and shut their opponents out completely. They overextended in that assault on the top lane high ground, which let us counter-wipe them there. At that point, the game’s momentum had begun swinging back in our favor, and by the time we had two Sheepsticks on our team, the game was favoring us 60-40 at that point. In the end, their Lifestealer couldn’t buy back, and it was then that were sealed the win.

Gamefy: After having fought against VG, what thoughts do you have on this team?

LGD.DD: This team previously trained with us in Hangzhou, and we often went to each other’s team house to play. They’ve got excellent training environment and benefits, so if they can focus and continue improving, they will absolutely produce results.

Gamefy: Your opponents in the next match are iG, whom can be said to have cruised through their group like a hungry person eats soup. Facing a team in such great form as them, have you found any weaknesses with which to attack them?

LGD.DD: Let’s just hope they don’t drink us up like they drink soup, and we at least have some back and forth action.

Gamefy: Now that both LGD squads have made it into the semi-finals here, as team lead what are your feelings?

LGD.Nicholas: Very pleased. After all, G-League is one of the major competitions for us here in China. Our LGD.cn squad has been together for relatively longer, and have always had pretty good results, so their progress at this tournament was within my expectations, even if the path they’ve taken so far hasn’t been the smoothest. As for the LGD.int squad, their advancement from their group made me very happy. Because they joined LGD around the same time I was brought on, their achievements in just two months of time has left me really excited, and thanks goes to our boss for making such an epic decision in forming LGD.int.

Gamefy: Your two squads are facing iG and TongFu respectively, which of them do you think has the better chances of making it to the finals?

LGD.Nicholas: Shouldn’t say which is more likely, although LGD.int versus TongFu has slightly higher chances, while LGD.cn facing in-form iG will definitely have a tough fight. Of course, my hope is that both squads make it to the finals, but I feel that playing iG will be very hard.

Gamefy: If both squads make it to the finals, will there be any bonuses from the club?

LGD.Nicholas: Haha, after this interview I should call Ruru, and ask her what might come. Firstly the boss will certainly be delighted, and as for any bonus, it’ll have to wait ’till we have a team meeting.

Gamefy: There should be a gap between the semi-finals and finals due to Chinese New Year, how do you plan to handle that if one or both squads make it to the finals?

LGD.Nicholas: For LGD.int, they should be participating in some foreign online competitions, because in Europe and North America there are plenty of these kinds of competitions. Although, they’ll be in five different countries, and online conditions might be unstable, so they’ll probably mostly play some pubs. As for LGD.cn, because most of them are from Hunan, training should still be pretty convenient.

 

 

iG Dota wins Tencent’s Esports Team of the Year Award

“This Year’s Exceptional Esports Achievement Awards” by Tencent QQ’s Games section has iG.Dota placed as number 1 esports team of 2012.

Their criteria gave points based on three aspects: online fan voting, media scoring, and score based on competition results. iG easily won both the media scoring and competition results segments, and perhaps predictably, placed second in fan voting on QQ.com to the WE.LoL team.

Additionally, iG’s YYF placed second in the Esports Player of the Year award, losing out to some LoL player.

 

 

iG on their way to selecting a second Dota squad: “Hundred battles makes a god” — the iG second team selection series

As noted here, iG is in the process of recruiting a second squad to their Dota2 section. This is a nation-wide recruitment effort sponsored and in partnership with Lenovo, promoting the Y-series gaming laptop. Lenovo is also providing an overall cash prize pool of over 35000 RMB (over 5000 USD) to top teams.

According to this, signups ended on Dec 19, 2012, and the online portion of competition took place from Dec 20 to Dec 30, 2012. The top 32 produced from this can be seen in brackets here.

Next, from matches played in this bracket, iG players and coaches will select a small group of their own favored players and invite them to a ‘Masters Training Series”, taking place from Jan 7 to 9, 2013. During these three days, the selected players will be trained and coached by iG players and coaches for the next and final stage.

Lastly, iG Dota2’s current team will meet with a final group and hand-pick ten players, who will be invited to the “Lenovo Y-series iG New Year party”, on Jan 9, 2013, where they will face off against each other and the winning team of 5 players will officially win the title of “Y-series iG reserve team”, earning the right to represent iG club in future competitions, as well as taking home cash prizes.

For all the detailed rules and regulations, go here. Just like the 242-team university tournament that recently ended, this series is also using Dota 6.74c.

 

 

Interview with LGD.Sylar — LGD.cn punches the last ticket out of G-League 2012 Group A, DK eliminated

Original: http://gleague.gamefy.cn/view_28038.html

In the last match of G-League 2012 Group A, LGD and DK met in a battle to the death of the titans. The loser of this match would be out of G-League S2 2012 entirely. Ultimately, LGD took the match and the last group advancement spot in a hard-fought 2-1 victory over DK.

Afterwards, we got a hold of Sylar for an interview, and he shared with us his joy after their victory and some post-match thoughts.

Q: Congratulations to LGD for the win over DK, allowing you to successfully advance from your group. Please say hello to all your fans out there!

Sylar: Hello everyone, I am the carry player from LGD — Sylar.

Q: Can you tell us your feelings at the time?

Sylar: Very happy! Once again we have the chance to make it to the finals.

Q: Watching the match today, we got the feeling that your team’s bans and picks were quite educated, what preparations did you make beforehand?

Sylar: Because after we lost the first game, we realized that if we did not first pick Lone Druid, they would certainly go for him. So we banned Lone Druid, then we managed to grab Anti-mage first, meaning we wouldn’t be afraid of playing it out to late game. Yet, in the second game we still made mistakes, otherwise we could have ended the game earlier.

Q: In the third game you selected a relatively less-seen Undying, what were your considerations in selecting this hero at the time?

Sylar: Actually, Undying has been a good pick recently, where he was either picked or banned constantly. But lately perhaps because of changes to their systems, various big teams have picked him less. Still, this hero is very strong in trilanes where you need to protect someone.

Q: Now that you’ve secured advancement from your group, you guys have a few days of down time, any plans?

Sylar: We should take a small break, and then we’ll be looking for a team to do some training, to prepare our next matches.

Q: Any plans to have some fun around Shanghai here?

Sylar: Maybe, will have to look at the team’s arrangements.

Q: Tomorrow will see B group matches kick off, can you give us your view on the four teams there?

Sylar: IG should be pretty familiar to everyone, they’re a very strong team. And then there’s MUFC, I don’t know if it’s the version with Hyhy, that version of MUFC is stronger. TongFu is also a strong team in China, but they haven’t played much with us lately so I don’t really know what they’re like now. Even though VG is a new team, they are still quite good, in scrims with them we win some, lose some.

Q: In the end, any words for your supporters and fans?

Sylar: Thank you to all those who support LGD.

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

Group A Schedule:

Dec 25 20:00 — DK vs ForLove

Dec 26 20:00 — LGD.cn vs LGD.int

Dec 27 20:00 — LGD.cn vs ForLove

Dec 28 20:00 — DK vs LGD.int

Dec 29 14:30 — ForLove vs LGD.int

Dec 30 20:00 — LGD.cn vs DK

Group B: iG, TongFu, MUFC, Vici Gaming

Group B Schedule:

Dec 30 14:30 — TongFu vs MUFC

Dec 30 20:00 — iG vs VG

Dec 31 20:00 — MUFC vs VG

Jan 1 20:00 — iG vs TongFu

Jan 2 14:30 — iG vs MUFC

Jan 2 20:00 — TongFu vs VG

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Faith: Hi everyone, I am iG’s Faith.

430: Hi everyone, I am iG’s 430.

YYF: Hi everyone, I am iG’s YYF.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NE: Any special arrangements to help along the way?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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