Tag Archives: The Asia

LGD.cn wins The Asia 2012 — post-win interview with xiao8

Dotaland note: This was a joint interview by Sgamer and GGnet; GGnet has a translation up too but I feel that that translation doesn’t suit Dotaland, so I took a few minutes to translate it myself…

Original: http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201212/148500.html

In the finals of The Asia in Malaysia, LGD.cn defeated MUFC 2-0 to take the title, thus avenging their earlier defeat to MUFC in group stages and taking home $15000

Afterwards, Sgamer and Gosugamers interviewed LGD.cn’s captain Ning “xiao8” Zhang, and director 8 expressed the feeling that there was extra pressure on them being the only Chinese team present. Their loss in the first match of the tournament to MUFC allowed them to cool down a bit and re-analyze their opponents and themselves, ultimately allowing them to get revenge in the finals. After winning they feel great; and in the interview he analyzed a bit on what happened in the finals matchup, explaining that Nyx Assassin is very fearsome in this patch, to the point of being a must-pick hero. Let us delve into the details below~

Q: xiao8, first of all congratulations to you and your team for taking The Asia championship. Thank you for accepting this join interview from SGamer and Gosugamers. Please introduce yourself first?

xiao8: Hello everyone, I am LGD.xiao8

Q: How do you feel right now?

xiao8: I feel awesome. Because we were the only team representing China here, there was some added pressure at first, but right now I just feel great~

Q: So, your finals opponent was MUFC, do you feel that MUFC is stronger with Hyhy?

xiao8: I feel that the addition of Hyhy increases MUFC’s competitiveness, but I felt that as we gradually became accustomed to their strategies in matches and analyzed them, we could defeat them.

Q: Your team only lost one match at this competition, that was precisely against MUFC in the first match of the tournament. When you learned you would be against them again in the finals, what were your thoughts?

xiao8: There weren’t too many specific thoughts, because after we first lost to them, we analyzed the reasons that caused us to lose. We discussed whether it was a strategic problem or individual problem, and in doing so we learned our lesson, so we were very calm.

Q: Your team in both games of the finals picked Nyx Assassin for your counter-push lineup, what were the reasons behind picking him for you?

xiao8: Nyx Assassin is a hot hero in this patch version. He can control the flow of the game, he has burst, and he can easily solo kill enemy squishies, so I feel that he is a must-pick hero in this version.

Q: In the first game, MUFC innovated a bit in their picks of Death Prophet and Necrolyte for a push strategy, yet failed to achieve much of a result. You guys controlled the match throughout. What are your views on this game?

xiao8: On paper, this looks like a very fearsome push strategy. But our heroes were simply stronger overall, plus when they began pushing we were able to disrupt their tactic, and thus the game continuously favored us.

Q: In the second game, MUFC picked Lifestealer along with Enchantress. In the first game, we discovered that MUFC favors fighting you guys 3v3, yet failed to find much success with this most of the time. However, in the second match they managed to gain the upper hand in early game, and the fighting became much fiercer, so what did you guys do to handle their counter aggression?

xiao8: We fell behind because Yao skilled the wrong ability in early game while going bottom lane, which led to us losing that lane. But our lineup was geared more towards countering theirs, specifically for countering Lifestealer, so gradually in mid-game we re-gained our standing. Additionally, Lifestealer isn’t really a great DPS hero.

Q: Lately, the Southeast Asian scene has just wrapped up the SMM 2012 competition, which meant many teams were training Dota, and not training much Dota2. How much preparation did LGD have for The Asia 2012?

xiao8: Indeed, we had been training all along for this competition.

Q: Many people believe that SEA teams are closing the gap with Chinese teams, what are your views on this?

xiao8: I feel that in terms of individual skill, the gap is not very big. But in terms of teams, the gap is still very large, because SEA and most foreign teams all lack the professionalism and communal training and analysis environments that Chinese teams have. So I believe that Chinese teams are still that much stronger.

Q: Christmas is just about here, and now that you’ve won, you have the best gift for yourselves. Before you head back to China, are you guys going to celebrate at all? Buy some gifts for family or girlfriends?

xiao8: We plan on buying some stuff, and then we’re going to invite MUFC to dinner, and we can celebrate together.

The Asia interview with LGD.dd: “we will bring the title back to China”

Original: http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201212/148489.html

 

The Asia’s first day of matches has ended, and after an arduos day of competition, LGD has squeaked by and advanced from their group with a 2nd place group finish. Back at the hotel, we managed to get a text interview with the low-key LGD.DD (they have not taken any video interviews from anyone yet, their focus is to win first and then do interviews!). He shared a bit about his experience so far at The Asia, and analyzed the reasons behind their loss to MUFC earlier. Let us take a look together~

Q: Thank you to DD for accepting this interview with SGamer Dota2, first off say hello to everyone.

DD: Hello everyone I am LGD’s DD.

Q: You’ve been in Kuala Lumpur for two dasys now, and in that time it has snowed in many places back in China! Can you tell everyone a bit about the weather over here?

DD: The weather here is very hot and humid, and it rains often. Everyday it’s around 30 degrees celsius, so it’s all about the t-shirts and shorts.

Q: Even though it’s very hot outside, inside the venue it’s quite cool~ Are you satisfied with the organization and preparation of the hosts this time, for example what are your thoughts on the hotel or venue arrangements, etc?

DD: The hotel is definitely quite good. But for the competition itself, I have to say that today’s matches went on for a bit too long, and ended up affecting our performance to a certain extent. And especially on the main stage, it was a little bit too cool up there, the air conditioning was too strong. We were shivering all over as we sat up there.

Q: Today’s headline match was the first match of the competition, where you guys lost to MUFC. What were the aspects your team faltered in that led to the loss?

DD: Our roster picks and lane arrangements had problems. And their Lone Druid completed his Radiance very early, that in addition to strong pushing in Tormented Soul, Furion… in the first push early on, our defense was too forced, and once that fight was over we’d already lost the momentum of that game, which was made worse by the fact that our roster was only suited for teamfights, not for late-game.

Q: Do you feel that MUFC are strong? Especially since hyhy is also playing for them here at this The Asia tournament.

DD: Pretty strong indeed, their ability is quite decent. Hyhy is also a very experienced played, so his joining only makes them stronger.

Q: After the match, Sylar and xiao8 reflected that Night Stalker could be switched out for Brewmaster or Sven, or the hard support could be switched out for Keeper of the Light, for a greater effect in that these heroes are very flexible. What do you think?

DD: This mainly you have to look at the rosters on each side. Though heroes like Keeper of the Light are indeed very flexible and fit in many places, only needing one other AOE skill to insta-clear creep waves, allowing a team to drag defense out for a long time. Actually, our loss to MUFC wasn’t entirely down to the picks; we simply didn’t expect it to be that tough, added on top of the fact that we played poorly in early game and allowed Lone Druid to get fat.

Q: After this match, xiao8 constantly repeated a phrase: “If we lose another one, we’re done”. In the following matches, you guys completely stomped your opponents. So the first loss was a warning to you all?

DD: Yes, it really was if we lost another match we would be dead. We had been forced to the edge of the cliff, so we could only play every match to the best of our abilities. And we are slowly finding our match form; these first matches can only be said to be warmups — the real matches will be tomorrow!

Q: Tomorrow you face off in the brutal elimination stages, and your first opponent is MITH.Trust. Any specific plans to deal with them?

DD: It’s been a long time since we last practiced with Trust, plus they advanced as winners of their group B, so they cannot be underestimated. Tomorrow’s matches are best of 1, so we must be wary of them and any killer strategies they may have. We will have a team meeting tomorrow morning to look at how to deal with them.

Q: Okay, we hope you will bring the championship here back to China, LGD add oil! Lastly, say something to the fans!

DD: Thank you SGamer for the interview, thank you to our sponsors Taobao, Razer, and LGD, we will bring the title back! Please support us, everyone!