Tag Archives: LGD

D2L S4 in my view

Prefacing note: Big thank you to the fans in Vegas who helped out in various ways. Getting food for the teams, helping me out, etc. You guys are great. On that note, same goes for the fans at MLG Columbus last year, who I don’t think I thanked enough either. Thank you. Thanks to all the passionate fans that come out to these events to show support in each of your unique ways. Thank you to D2L and EG for the event in Vegas here and letting me be a part. Below is D2L S4 in my view.

It was another early morning flight out of Seattle for D2L in Las Vegas. A quick two hour flight meant that I’d arrive in Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport before noon on Jan 6. Upon arriving at the hotel we’d all been booked at for the event, Harrah’s across the street from Caesar’s Palace, the first thing I saw was all of VG checking in at the front desk. I’d been in contact with their manager JaL beforehand, so I went up to him, introduced myself, and made sure they weren’t having any problems with anything. We chatted a bit about their stay in Vegas so far — they had arrived a day earlier on their own expense in order to be better prepared.

After we got everything checked in, I got a call from the VG manager saying they were gonna go out for lunch, asking if I wanted to come along. With nothing else going on for the time being, and needing to make sure we got VG to the venue at Caesar’s around 3pm for their sponsor interviews (the one where rOtK told someone to kiss his ass), I decided to tag along. Some Chinese fans who had made their way out to Vegas graciously took us to a Yunnan Chinese restaurant a few minutes away by car, and we had a pretty tasty lunch there.

Lunch with VG

While eating, another completely different group of dudes came into the restaurant to eat, and upon entering, one of them muttered, “Aren’t those Dota pros?? What are they doing here?” To which his friend deduced, “They must be here for a competition!” When we went to get the check for our table, we were told that it had been paid already, with the waitress gesturing towards the back of the room where these guys had earlier gone to sit down. This was after the Chinese fans who took us to this restaurant in the first place were insisting on paying for us all in the first place, and the various camps of fans joked that they were competing for the players’ love at this point. Anyway, Sylar looks to rOtK and suggests that they should send someone over to thank this other group of fans. ROtK agrees, tries to get Sylar to come along, ultimately failing in doing so (Sylar seems to be satisfied at having suggested it), and goes over on his own to meet and greet and pause for a few photos with the fans.

Everyone

Shortly afterwards, we leave the restaurant and hang around outside for a bit, with the players mingling with the fans and taking a few group photos. I should note here that all of VG were very gracious and approachable with fans. I might be ruining Sylar’s quiet badass image but he’s a nice kid that isn’t afraid to make a joke here and there, and he smiled more than anyone would’ve imagined him to be capable of (if all you see of him is on streams). I’ve liked Sylar since first meeting him at TI3, really, I think he’s misunderstood sometimes. Fy was exchanging cigarettes with a fan (Chinese smokes), rOtK chatting about local attractions, and Super and Fenrir both casually hanging out. 3pm approaches, and loathe as I am to break up what has turned into a pretty relaxed hangout, I herd everyone back onto their respective vehicles, the destination being the Emperor’s Ballroom at Caesar’s Palace.

Hanging out

Caesar’s Palace is freaking huge — most everything in Vegas is freaking huge — and once my vehicle arrives, I know we’ve made a mistake in not clarifying exactly which part of Caesar’s we should gather at. The manager, my girlfriend, and I disembark only to see zero trace of any of the VG players. They could be anywhere, and the only one of them that has local phone service is the manager. We split up in three ways to look for them, and in some dash of luck, everyone is rounded up within minutes. After a fun (as would be seen later), and pretty short and painless, interview session, I make sure VG know their schedule for the next day (room opens at 9AM for early practice, first match at 12PM), they head back to the hotel. Later that night, we would run into all of VG again at the McDonald’s next door, as word got around that this McDonald’s was one of the only places nearby with free wifi. ROtK made plans to go see a David Copperfield show, which it seemed he enjoyed, but the rest of his teammates declined the opportunity.

“Kiss my ass”

During the rest of the afternoon on Monday, EG’s Jay Todorow and I have been trying to figure out the time we should go pick up LGD at the airport. Apparently no one had their exact flight info, and some of what we did have ended up being incorrect. Earlier in the morning, I had seen a Weibo post from ddc saying that they’d been delayed six hours in Shanghai, which meant they would ostensibly be at least six hours late getting into Vegas as well. In the end, I confirmed their flight information by way of snooping Yao’s Weibo, where he had posted a boarding pass, and by confirming this information with LGD’s boss Ruru. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to all, the earliest post I’d seen from ddc regarding the six hour delay was the one with the real information we needed — LGD had been delayed taking off in Shanghai, which meant that they were to miss their connecting flight, which meant that there never was any chance of Jay and me finding them at the airport on the two occasions we went and tried. Eventually, I got in touch with a local contact whom LGD had contracted to help with the team. After much waiting and checking on statuses, we were told that LGD would be taking ground transport from Los Angeles to Vegas due to them not being able to be on the original flight out of Shanghai, with an ETA of around 5AM on Tuesday morning. Crazy, but it actually worked. Big thanks to ReborN, the LGD contact for Vegas, for helping me handle this situation and for all the work he did in helping LGD.

820 and LGD in the house

The next morning, I headed over to the venue around 10am and caught up with VG on the way, who were making their way over a few hours early in order to get set up and warmup before their match against Alliance at noon. The machines provided for the event seemed to have just been used at another event in China, and some of them were loaded with random Chinese software that caused compatability issues all through the event. Additionally, there was no shortage of crashes, lockups, and lag spikes, which hopefully is an explanation for the too many pauses that occurred during the two days. VG get setup, and around noon LGD shows up at the venue to watch the match and get ready for their later match against Fnatic. Accompanying the LGD squad is none other than legendary captain and heart of 2010 EHOME, 820 himself. In the LGD interviews later on, I would get 820 to answer a question as a part of LGD here. Xiao8, as has always been, took the lead for his team in arranging the interviews. Upon first seeing me at the venue, DD waved happily, and I waved back. For the rest of LGD’s interviews, they were professional and down to earth, as has been the norm for this old school team.

Interviewing with xiao8 and Yao

After VG’s match, LGD were up, so I helped them get setup just as I helped VG. Once LGD were on stage, I went and sat next to 820 for a brief while and chatted randomly with him for a bit. Asked about him returning to the scene, his words were, “There’s not really any chance of me coming back as a player, I never said I would, that must’ve been something some editor made up somewhere. It’s definitely possible for me to continue being a coach, but no guarantees yet which team it will be in the future.” We chatted a little bit more about the drafts and games as LGD played, but I was soon called away on some other duty. 820 is a chill, approachable person who isn’t afraid to chatter, very down to earth guy.

While LGD were playing, Twitch.tv’s Eleine came and asked me to invite VG to a dinner paid for by her, so I did, and VG decided they would go back and take a nap so as to be more awake in the evening. Only Fenrir stayed behind, watching the LGD vs Fnatic match. By the time LGD were done playing, I was leaving the venue as no more Chinese teams would be involved for the night, yet Fenrir was still staying behind. I guess he wanted to watch Fnatic vs Alliance as well, and he didn’t come for dinner, instead just going straight to bed afterwards.

Dinner was originally scheduled for 8pm, but got pushed back to 9:30pm due to everyone being passed the hell out and me not being able to get anyone up until then. By then, the original planned destination of Caesar’s Palace buffet was closing up, so we just went to the buffet in Harrah’s. Out of VG, only rOtK seemed to eat much. He looked at my clam chowder and asked what it was, then resolved to go get a bowl of it for himself as well. The rest of the players just sat around after one plate of food and chatted. Sylar ate all of a few pieces of fruit, and then announced that he’d go straight back to sleep after dinner.

The atmosphere was lighthearted and laid back, and we slowly meandered from one topic to another. We asked rOtK if he knew about what ‘DK’ stood for, and he said he had no idea, though theories were thrown out, including ‘Dota Kings’, ‘Donkey Kong’, ‘Dragon Knight’, and ‘Da kuan’ (pinyin for rich guy). We prodded fun at Super, who had just turned 21, and on his first day in Vegas had spent over $300 gambling only to have lost it “within two minutes”. I joked that it was a birthday gift to himself, and we all laughed. Super elaborated, “Manager and I went to the gambling floor and we observed for over half an hour trying to find an easy table (blackjack). We singled out one that we felt was the most noob, I went in, and came out two minutes later $300 poorer.” At one point, Sylar noticed that rOtK and I were amongst the last ones eating, and noted the fact. I said to him, “I haven’t really eaten all day, not even breakfast,” and he was like, “Wow, that bad?” with a look of compassion. Like I said, Sylar’s a good kid.

We wrap up at dinner and the players head back up to their rooms. ROtK and the VG manager take up our offer to come up to the executive suite which Twitch.tv’s Eleine has rented out for the event, one of the only places within the hotel that has wifi, and they come up to get their fix of internet for a while. We chat a bit more about random things, amongst which is the current meta-trend on the Chinese servers. “Alchemist, Slark, Earth Spirit, Doom, and Broodmother,” they explain, are the most imba heroes that are seen in every single game. Looks about the same elsewhere too, I guess. ROtK is playing some games on his iPad, including Clash of Clans, if there’s anyone out there that plays that game (I know it’s popular).

VG’s rOtK and manager JaL hanging out after dinner

The next day it’s LGD vs VG in the upper bracket finals. VG gets knocked down while LGD continues looking strong, and everyone is surprised that Fnatic has taken out Alliance. In the words of Fenrir regarding the last game in Fnatic vs Alliance, “Don’t even know how to lose, yet Alliance lost”. Of course he went on to add, “We have those games too, where we think we don’t even know how we can possibly lose, then we lose anyway.” The day is strewn with technical issues as lag, update problems, hardware issues, and more abound. Between doing interviews (both on stage for the event and off stage for Kingston), helping resolve technical issues, and running after players to make sure they’re on time, I don’t eat nor rest much for the entire day.

View of the stage

In the end, VG crash out at the hands of a Fnatic team that no one rated highly, yet noticeably grew in stature with the event. VG quietly filter out to the side room, where they sit in contemplation for a good half hour, then they all come back into the venue to watch LGD play against Fnatic in the Finals. ROtK sits next to 820, and on and off through the games, they chat about what’s happening on screen. Sylar and Super go back to bantering about things, Fy mostly sticks to his phone screen, while Fenrir eventually heads backstage to get on a computer back there and chat and watch the games himself. During one of the finals games, I corner him in this setting and we have a really nice chat just about random things. Life, what brought us to this spot at this point in time, EMS One, etc. “It’s been really nice having you here this time, in Poland for EMS One it felt as if we were on a different planet. It was like we were back in the Stone Age, we could only communicate by hand gestures,” he offered, after I explained to him why I’d be here and how someone like me might be fluent in both Chinese and English. EMS One was his first time overseas, and Vegas was his first time in the US. “Keep qualifying for international events and you’ll eventually learn plenty of English too!” I suggested cheerfully. He chuckled. He told me about how their team owner gets really happy whenever they win anything, and after their successive first place finishes in the Sina Cup 2 and EMS One, they were all given bonuses and gifts, but their third place finish here might mean they get less Chinese New Year bonuses.

VG watching as LGD fight in the Finals against Fnatic

On stage, LGD are playing the Finals against Fnatic. During this event, between every game, they went off-stage with their coach 820 to discuss tactics and approaches. After this first loss against Fnatic, 820 is forcefully stating his thoughts, “Just take each game one at a time, don’t worry about anything else!” He addresses each player individually, giving them a sentence or two on what he wants them to improve or focus on in the next game. “Xiaotuji, you’re a more fighting-focused carry, remember that for next game!” he says to the carry, then he reiterates to the whole team, “Fnatic are indeed aggressive, but that doesn’t mean you can shrink back in the face of it! You need to increase your own tempo, dictate the pace!” Xiao8 answers this with a shout, “Let’s go! Anyone that still feels drowsy, go splash some water on your face and let’s do it!” LGD head back on stage, 820 shouts one last time at them from below the stage, “Get excited! Get into it!” and as the horns sound across the speaker system, first xiao8, then Yao, answer back, both to their coach and to themselves “Let’s do this! Add oil!” Yao and xiao8 are making calls, shouting, and just generally moving their team along. The rest is history, as LGD takes the series 3-1.

LGD win

The ‘gg’ comes scrolling across the screen, and the LGD team huddles on stage for a quick team celebration. One of them shouts to go grab the coach, 820, and the six of them, ever so briefly, and perhaps for the last time ever, do a team hug. Then, also as a team, shoulder to shoulder, they bow to the live crowd in appreciation, and begin to pack their gear up. After the award ceremony, the team seems a bit muted (though LGD are generally a more reserved group). Twitch’s Eleine offers to buy them dinner as well, but after some debate, they decline and say they’re heading back to the hotel to rest. We end up finding them at the hotel cafe downstairs, and Eleine buys their tab anyway. As LGD are leaving, they find out their tab has been paid for, and they all come back to our table. Yao is saying “How can we accept this kindness, this is too much.” It’s okay, we explain, Eleine wants to do this. They all look at us, and soundly voice their appreciation. Xiao8 looks straight at us in his unique fashion and says the most determined “Thank you!!” I’ve ever heard from anyone.

LGD return victorious…

It’s nearing 2am at this time and after saying our goodbyes with LGD, the rest of us head back up to Eleine’s room for an afterparty of sorts. Everyone shows up, DeMoN, Fnatic, Aui, Merlini, Ayesee, even Alex Garfield. By this point I’m too drained to do anything much but listen. Thundertoss of SC2 fame has come along too, he’s a cool dude, along with a few other esports friends that we’ve picked up. Fnatic are some funny guys and Aui seems like fun to hang around with. Speaking of Aui, the Chinese scene thinks he’s pretty good. Anyway, it was nice seeing everyone again even though I’m 99% occupied with the Chinese teams during these events, one day I’ll do better with really getting to know the Western players and personalities, etc.

That was that for the D2L S4 Finals in Vegas. VG would head back to China on their own after scheduling an additional half day to spend recreationally in Vegas. The next morning as I’m leaving the hotel, I come across LGD waiting outside the lobby to head to the airport as well. Taking the opportunity, I go to them to say my goodbyes one last time. Yao looks at me goofily and says “Good morning!” enthusiastically, a greeting which I return to him and the team probably even more goofily. I make sure with them that all is okay, that they’re ready to head home, then I turn to leave for my own ride… but not before I turn back again. I sit down briefly next to xiao8; I look at him and he looks at me… “You’re leaving?” His reply, eyes unwavering, “Yes.” I’m not sure he hasn’t misinterpreted my question as asking whether they’re leaving Vegas at that moment, so I ask again, “You’re going to a new team?” This time his gaze shifts a bit, but his voice remains steady and straight, and even louder and more determinedly responds, “Yes!”

Blurry morning goodbyes

I pause for half a second, then I reach over and hug him, “Thank you. And good luck.” Standing up, I repeat the gesture, a light hug and a wish for them, with each of the other LGD players. Yao offers his thanks, and ddc offers to give me an Ursa micro-plushie, which I turn down and ask him to keep for himself. Lastly, I put a hand on 820’s shoulder, “Bye!” and that was that.

Out of the three events I’ve been involved with backstage, TI3, MLG, and D2L… D2L has been the only one where the players I’m helping have won the event. Even if for different reasons, this last bit means that D2L may be another bittersweet memory……

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Chinese Social Summary: Dec 29, 2013 — Jan 10, 2014

Link to previous issue: Dec 10 — Dec 28, 2013

Lots of stuff… New Year wishes, WPC-ACE responses, D2L responses… Translations of Chinese pros and personalities public Weibo posts and responses.
Description of ‘add oil’ here.

LaNm

Feed MMY: “Captain Duck hasn’t been given enough food, has become unhappy”
Regarding his WPC-ACE Finals keyboard smash: “No need to be concerned about my keyboard, lost a few keycaps, which will be returned to me after event cleanup for me to keep as a memory. In some future offline event, I’ll give them away to DK fans.”

xiao8

Regarding LGD’s WPC-ACE semifinal loss: “I’ll take all the blame. Sick and feverish for many days, and it’s affected our training. Sorry I’ve let down those friends who support us. On another note, would also like to wish everyone an early Happy New Year.”

DD’s response to xiao8: “Our captain persevered through sickness and still insists on taking the blame, this is too much, the blame cannot be yours.”

Watching DK vs iG at WPC-ACE Finals: “This…..”
A perfect ending with D2L S4 (with pics): “Thank you to my teammates, a perfect ending. 2014 will see a new beginning. It’s been more than three years with LGD, our Dream five forever.

820’s response to xiao8: “Add oil in the new place”
KingJ’s response to xiao8: “An end is another beginning”

Yao

New Year: “Another year has passed just like that. Ups and downs, joys and sorrows, in the end it feels like it’s just me alone with all of this, so tiring. There have been some negative emotions, I hope for understanding. Happy New Year to all, and good luck for the next year.”
D2L S4 win (with pic): “happy ending…”

rOtK

New Year and WPC-ACE: “Thank you to sydm for his best efforts in WPC-ACE, the matches are over for us so let’s not talk about that anymore. Tonight is New Year’s Eve, and I hope you all take some time to spend with family. To those I love, and those that love me, Happy New Year :)”
Entertainment in Vegas (with pics): “David Copperfield! Flashy, cool magic, the price of entry worth it.”
D2L S4 loss: “Things couldn’t always go so well for us playing overseas, but it was unexpected that we would lose in this manner. We played too ugly, sorry to everyone. Good luck to LGD in the finals, I hope for a good result.”

MMY

WPC-ACE Finals win: “We’ve completed a miracle, thank you to my teammates!”

820 response to MMY: “Awesome :)”

BurNIng

WPC-ACE Finals win: “This has been the most exhilirating match I’ve ever played!! Thank you to my amazing teammates!!”

Zhou response to BurNIng: “Never would have thought, a miracle has happened.”

Wishes for Super and VG: “Happy birthday (to Super)! Add oil for D2L!”

Black

DK winning: “Thanks to DK I can leave China happily 🙂 so happy!!”
LGD winning: “LGD DID IT!!!! wohoooooooooooooooooooooooo good job guys!!!”

820

Before D2L Finals: “The title we must bring back to China, we will do our best!”
After D2L Finals: “Mission accomplished, nice”

ddc response to 820: “A great coach of China!”
DD response to 820: “A 1-in-100 year rarity of an excellent coach”

ChuaN

On iG’s side for WPC-ACE: “I hope iG can win the title, add oil!!!”

Mushi

WPC-ACE Finals win: “Haven’t posted in a while! This post is to thank those who have believed in me all along, as well as to my family for staying with me! And my teammates for their hard work! We will work even harder in 2014! Thank you.”

Faith

Loss in WPC-ACE Finals: “We were indeed not as strong as our opponents. But what really makes me feel bad is the fact that 430 played through sickness for the entire day, he doesn’t even sound right anymore. And we still lost in the end.”
Talking about Alliance losing to Fnatic at D2L: “The patch changed so much :O”

YYF

Loss in WPC-ACE Finals: “We still aren’t working hard enough, let’s keep at it. We let our fans down again. Ferrari_430’s play today was excellent despite his sickness, but sadly we still lost. We will absolutely redeem ourselves in the future!!!”

DC

Watching DK and LaNm win: “At first, upon seeing LaNm slam his keyboard, I felt like it was funny, it was an act of excitement in a moment of impossible comeback. Afterwards, watching LaNm’s heartfelt shouts over and over on repeat, I somehow began to feel sad. Just as this match will go down in history, LaNm’s career has been filled with twists and turns. In comparison, 430, who came of age in the scene at the same time as LaNm, has had a relatively smoother experience in contrast. It’s been four years, truly hasn’t been easy for you. Old friend, fight on with all your battle scars!

ZSMJ

Comedian ZSMJ (with very good pics): “Going out with the girlfriend, a coat caught her eye. Upon seeing the price tag, she exclaimed in despair to me, “So expensive, it costs 3800”. I reply, “3800? It’s just the price of a Relic. Buy it! Wait seven minutes for me!” She threw me a look, and then, and then … there was no more~~~~ T_T”

Fenrir

D2L loss: “I wanted to be able to have a nice New Year but it’s so hard ~”

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WPC-ACE 2013 interview with RStars.Sylar and LGD.xiao8

This post-match interview came after RisingStars and LGD.cn fought out to a 1-1 draw in the WPC-ACE League 2013. Former LGD carry, current RStars player Sylar, and LGD captain xiao8 were the ones chosen for the interview… An interesting choice, given the way Sylar departed from LGD.

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Behind the scenes of 2013’s Chinese shuffle: ACE, processes, and transfer fees

According to this report from Replays.net, this is how transfers have been standardized under the ACE Alliance in Chinese Dota 2. The latter half of the article reveals the transfer fees and related details of some of this year’s biggest moves.

If Team B wishes to buy Team A’s player C, then B must first approach A and confirm whether the player is available for transfer. If A agrees, only then is B allowed to approach the player C. If player C is open and willing, then Team B can lay out their transfer conditions and offer. If player C does not agree to these terms, then he will remain at his current club; if player C agrees, then all three parties, A, B, and C need to communicate with ACE via email and receive their confirmation. In the ensuing days, the involved parties need to come to the ACE offices in order to sort out paperwork and related processes, and then they are allowed to make official announcements regarding the news. If the new team and their new player decides to use existing contracts, then they perform a trade of contracts while at ACE. If they decide to sign a new contract, then the new contract will be signed and backup files stored with ACE. In the case later on that a party fails to uphold their end of a contract, then ACE will be abe to lay penalties according to existing policies.

Below are images from the transfer of KingJ from TongFu to RisingStars:

RisingStars manager CC signing

TongFu manager CuZn signing

KingJ signing

In addition, Replays.net also received information regarding the details of this year’s transfers, as below:

TongFu <–> RisingStars

1. KingJ transfers from TongFu to RisingStars
2. XTT is part of the transfer terms, and joins TongFu from Rstars, his contract is exchanged for KingJ’s
3. RStars and TongFu respectively pay to XTT and KingJ their owed prize moneys and promotional fees

TongFu <–> iG #1

1. Banana transfers from TongFu to iG
2. TongFu pays to banana all owed prize moneys and promotional fees
3. iG pays TongFu a transfer fee totaling 100,000 RMB for the rights to banana

TongFu <–> iG #2

1. iG and TongFu agree to collaborate on themed promotional product(s)
2. iG pays TongFu a transfer fee totaling 110,000 RMB for the rights to Hao
3. Zhou is part of the transfer terms, and joins TongFu from iG, his contract is exchanged for Hao’s
4. iG and TongFu respectively pay to Zhou and Hao their owed prize moneys and promotional fees

VG <–> RisingStars

1. CTY transfers from VG to RStars
2. RStars pays VG a transfer fee totaling 45,000 RMB for the rights to CTY
3. VG pays CTY’s August salary and previous promotional fees

LGD <–> RisingStars

1. xiaotuji’s contract is exchanged for Sylar’s
2. xiaotuji is traded for Sylar, each player’s official transfer fee consists of the other player’s transfer rights (Dotaland note: they were essentially traded 1 for 1)
3. LGD is to pay Sylar his promotional fees for China Joy, as well as DSL prize money

 

It is easy to see from all this, that the ACE Alliance has a certain amount of influence watching over transfers and related activities, helping clubs and players maintain their rights in the process. The current scene seems to allow both player trades as well as straight cash purchases of transfer rights, akin to something of a mix between what is commonly seen in the sports of basketball and soccer (football). If a new club is willing to spend millions and buy out an entire team, what is to stop them? Additionally, it was not hard to see during this reshuffle from the weibo posts of various team managers that, despite this structure, things were still very chaotic. We hope that ACE can make further improvements to the details and processes.

Source: http://dota2.replays.net/news/page/20130917/1852014.html

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Sylar’s responses to official LGD statement on his situation

In response to LGD’s official statement regarding his situation, Sylar has made some responses on his QQ Weibo.

After responding to rOtk’s statement on how he was forced out of DK, Sylar further reiterated his position in response to the LGD statement. See below.

1. http://t.qq.com/p/t/243171040890578

“I think the difference is that, I learned beforehand that the club was looking for a replacement for me. So as for when I would be notified that I’ve been kicked, I have no idea, but as a player, I don’t want to wait until all the other teams are done restructuring and regrouping, only for my own club to then tell me that I now have no team. I think if that happened, then at that time I would only get to be one of those ‘lucky’ AFK players.”

2. http://t.qq.com/p/t/247295047657321

“On the surface, the club tells me that there’s been no talk of replacing me. But what I want to know is, how would the external world all know exactly who was going to be replaced? With even the replacement player confirmed, then any talk of there being no thoughts of kicking me, at most equates to having me sit around until someone pays a transfer fee for me. So why sugarcoat it thus?”

3. http://t.qq.com/p/t/245271049520603

“Contracts nowadays are thus: if the player wants to leave, then he has to pay up. If the club wants to kick the player, then the player can only be hung out to dry until someone pays for you. I don’t even want to talk about how disadvantaged players are.”

4. http://t.qq.com/p/t/264884008289901

“The ‘outside’ that I refer to is not the entire world, it is people within the scene — commentators, casters, and other professional players. Practically all of them already knew, they even knew the replacement player. Could this possibly still be fake? I can say with 100% certainty, that there had already been contact in place regarding recruiting someone to replace me. You don’t need to say one thing and do another, just go ask the players then come back and make another statement.”

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LGD official statement on Sylar situation

Source: http://p.t.qq.com/longweibo/index.php?lid=7211878964803435087

In contrast to Sylar’s response to rOtk… LGD makes an official statement.

1. LGD Gaming Club has never, in any setting, discussed replacing Sylar, and has also never talked about having Sylar leave.

2. If Sylar personally believes that “I heard from outside sources that the team wants to replace me” is equal to “I have been kicked”, then from an emotional standpoint, we express our understanding. But from a logical standpoint, there is absolutely no sense. A club’s decisions must come from a consensus agreement, things cannot possibly be decided based merely on a few opinions and voices, and more importantly, cannot possibly be determined by what outsiders say.

3. In the same vein, Sylar himself, after the defeat at TI3 in Seattle, on multiple occasions suggested doubt in his teammates ability, and requested replacements. But we all believed that these were due to emotions at the time. Those teammates whose ability was doubted, none of them immediately came to the conclusion that this meant they’d been kicked. The club’s latest collective meeting was held in Seattle the day before heading home, with a focus on addressing internal concerns. Afterwards, the club’s only ask of players was to go home and rest, adjust, and reflect.

4. After returning back to China, Sylar, upon “Hearing from outside sources that the team wants to replace me”, took the decision to leave without consulting anyone from the team or club; it was a unilateral decision made by himself. We believe that this was not a reasonable response; and cannot condone this type of action.

5. Currently in the Chinese Dota 2 scene, free agents are a rare commodity, with top tier carry players even harder to come across. LGD would have had no reason whatsoever to replace an excellent player that has been growing with the club for nearly two years. We thus sincerely ask and request Sylar to please not allow outside voices and rumors to destroy something that has been nurtured over the past two years: your bond and growth with the team and club.

6. Lastly, under any circumstances, we will respect Sylar’s final decision. But we do hope that the player can come together with the club, and respect and follow contracts in place. Even if it ends up being the last time we stand side by side.

– LGD Gaming Club
2013.8.22

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Sylar’s reaction to rOtk’s statement reveals a bit more of his own situation…?

Source: http://t.qq.com/p/t/289558083799071

rOtk posted on his own QQ Weibo a response to being taken off of the DK roster. In response to this, someone posted, “The first one” (essentially saying that this is the start of the official changes within Chinese Dota).

Sylar then responds to this person, “You’re wrong, I was the first one. I was put in the same position [as rOtk]”

This all comes in the midst of rumors amongst fans that Sylar was to join DK soon… the plot thickens?

Follow DOTALAND on Twitter for instant updates: twitter.com/Dotaland

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!