Tag Archives: Zenith

DK.iceiceice interview: talks career choices, teammates, DK so far

It would seem that this was an interview for an esports magazine in China, conducted last month (prior to DK’s WPC-ACE win).

Q: After coming to China, you have used your excellence in conquering the hearts of many Chinese fans. Do you recall how you first came to play Dota?
iceiceice: I’ve played games from a very young age. Later on I got into Warcraft 3, as well as various custom games. After that, more and more people began going to Dota, and thus I became one of them.

Q: What is it about Dota that most attracts you?
iceiceice: There isn’t really anything that specifically attracts me. For me, Dota just generally is a game that can get my attention, and if there are other games that can do the same while providing opportunities for me to earn money, I would try them as well. For example, I played League of Legends for a period of time earlier, at first I was very into it, but after a while I stopped liking it. So even if League of Legends potentially has more money, I wouldn’t go play it.

Q: What led you to becoming a professional esports competitor?
iceiceice: Because I’m good. And also, because I’m really good!

Q: How does your family view your career?
iceiceice: They are very supportive, because they want my prize money. Yeah, they’ve taken half of my prize money.

Q: In the past, you’d expressed on many occasions that your desire was to come to China to continue your career. When you finally had the chance to make this come true by joining DK, what did that feel like?
iceiceice: I’d already wanted to join DK last year, but they rejected me. Now my wish has come true, so of course I’m very happy. But on the way to China I was constantly thinking, would I be able to live healthily? Because I’d always felt that living abroad might be dangerous for me. Upon arriving in China, the team sent someone to pick me up, it was an old person, and at one point I thought he was going to kidnap me.

Q: Apart from Dota 2, you once were keen on becoming a professional Starcraft 2 player.
iceiceice: I have a lot of interest in all games. At the time I was feeling that Dota wasn’t as fun anymore, so I picked up Starcraft 2 and began practicing that. I had always really liked watching Starcraft matches, for example Jaedong and Flash, their matches are great to watch, you can see their skill.

Q: Why give up on Starcraft 2?
iceiceice: That period of time was when I had to fulfill my national military service (for Singapore). Even though the plan was to go to Korea to play it professionally, but in the end because of the military service I gave up on that. During the service I had thoughts about continuing on this path, but it wasn’t realistic. To become good in Starcraft 2 requires large amounts of time, and I completely lacked that kind of time, plus I felt that there was no future for Starcraft 2 in SEA, so I gave up on it.

Q: Outside of Dota 2, what are your biggest hobbies?
iceiceice: I have very wide interests, such as photography, cooking. Apart from those things, I also like to travel, especially going to those places I haven’t been to before. Even though I’m very afraid of flying, there are no alternatives. Who can I blame for me liking to try new things? Although, in terms of girlfriends, one is enough.

Q: We’ve seen you wearing an AC Milan shirt during events before, you are a big fan of football (soccer)?
iceiceice: No, I don’t like it, I just think their shirt looks nice.

Q: After training every day, what do you do?
iceiceice: Usually, go out to eat, or play some pubs. If possible, I definitely try to get out and relax a bit. But right now, there are more and more events, and we must work even harder, thus I don’t have much time to go out and relax. Even though this is the case, I still feel that being able to have time to unwind is very important.

Q: During TI3, you defeated all other world-class solo players to win the solo mid championship. And after coming to China, you’ve proved your ability time and time again through making spectacular plays. How do you do it?
iceiceice: I feel that the TI3 solo mid title doesn’t really say that much. There, it was about everyone having fun more than anything. As for having good performances after coming to China, I think this has a lot to do with my teammates. They’re very strong players, and allow me to focus more in games.

Q: During your time with Zenith, we saw you mostly as a 1 or 2 position player. After coming to DK, you’ve transitioned to a 3 position. How would you rate your performances in this new position so far?
iceiceice: I really like my new position. In the 3 position, my advantages are that my mechanics are relatively strong, and thus if I get a solo matchup then I can usually gain an advantage. But in a suicide offlane situation I often die because I underestimate the opposition, and then sometimes if I die a few times I go on tilt and die all game.

Q: DK’s recent results in various tournaments have all been quite good. What do you feel has been the reason for these victories?
iceiceice: Currently we haven’t won anything, so for us all these tournaments are just practice, they don’t count for anything!

Q: Before you and Mushi joined, it could be said that BurNIng’s play played a part in DK’s losses. But after you two joined, BurNIng seems to not be as important in dictating the team’s results.
iceiceice: I feel that this isn’t because BurNIng plays badly or whatever, more that our opponents are too weak, and don’t do what they should do. In the future I think BurNIng’s value will definitely show. Everyone’s role on the team is important, except MMY.

Q: Talk a bit about your impressions of each teammate.
iceiceice: LaNm is old; MMY is handsome, but has too much pressure, and has gotten fat; BurNIng and Mushi go to bed together every day.

Q: For the future, what are your hopes for DK to achieve?
iceiceice: To win all the titles!

Q: Lastly, some words to our readers.
iceiceice: Thank you to all our supporters, especially those who come from faraway to watch us play. We will work even harder to do even better! Hope everyone can lend DK even more support! And thank you to our sponsors Tt Esports for their support!

Source links (but not original magazine source, which I can’t find after a brief search): http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201401/154337.html — http://dota2.uuu9.com/201401/459824.shtml

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More G-1 Interviews: RSnake.Icy and TongFu.Mu

RSnake.Icy Interview: No reason to stop here

Icy of new team RattleSnake, featuring the veteran likes of LaNm, luo, Kabu, and Neo alongside him, gives an interview talking about G-1, the team, and his insight into playing Gyrocopter… Come read and learn, on the eve of RattleSnake’s Group A showdown against MUFC.

TongFu.Mu Interview: We want to beat Zenith

Unfortunately, shortly after this interview, TongFu lost their first round game 2-0 and crashed out, without getting the chance to fight Zenith as Mu wanted. Nonetheless, Mu gives some good answers here and it’s worth a read.

G-1 Champions League Season 5 qualifiers continue on. Catch the livestream and latest updates at the official G-1 portal!

 

Uncertain futures: Roundup of TI2’s 10 most disappointing teams (Sgamer)

Some light analysis and overviews of ten not-so-successful teams that were at TI2, where they are now, and what brought them here from the eyes of the Chinese scene, as written by Sgamer. A lot of the subtitles for each section say quite a bit about each team as well.

Original: http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201209/147153.html

Continue reading →

DC’s Seattle Dota Diary #5: Analyzing TI2 Elimination Matches

As promised! This is the 5th on-site analysis ‘diary’ entry from big time Chinese commentator DC from during TI2. It covers the first half of TI2. Doesn’t seem that he wrote another one for the end of TI2, but entries 4 and 3 have both been translated in earlier entries here, and here, respectively. Some good insight on all the Chinese teams halfway through TI2, as well as a look at opinions on many EU and NA teams.

Original: http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201209/147013.html

Continue reading →

(Sept 2 quickies) Chinese appreciate Zenith and iceiceice, iG vs NaVi — iG overconfident?

Note: DC’s Day 5 Dota diary just went up. I’ll probably get translations of that plus all the rest of DC’s diaries up starting Monday, so stay tuned for that! Until then, enjoy some random snippets of comments and reactions from around the Chinese internet. Not meant to be a complete sample of all Chinese opinions, just a window, so it could be biased one way or another.

1. Chinese appreciate Zenith and iceiceice

Original: http://dota2.replays.net/page/20120902/1723974.html

In the loser’s bracket fifth round, Zenith clashed with DK. Sadly, Zenith came out as the losers of this battle. At the end of the match, Zenith’s iceiceice used all of his gold on Sentry Wards to write out ‘gg’ in large letters in the middle. He ran out of Wards halfway and only made one ‘g’, and informed that he was out of money. This ‘gg’, though, not only signified the end of the match, but also Zenith’s well-wishes for DK’s next matches.

Iceiceice is a legendary player, and this time in Seattle he has been the center of attention many times, including excellent plays and strategies, but especially when he went on stage and played without pants on. Now he’s out of the tournament along with his team, and it is definitely a bit disappointing to see, but we only wish him and his team good luck and good performances in the future.

2. iG vs NaVi — iG tweets show overconfidence?

Original: http://dota2.replays.net/page/20120902/1723939.html

After three games, iG lost 2-1 to NaVi and dropped into the lower bracket. After an easy first game win for iG, NaVi was widely seen to have lost out in the bans and picks for the second game yet managed to read every single one of iG’s moves, and then the third game iG basically lost at the bans and picks stage.

But, shortly after the bans and picks concluded for the second game, iG’s CEO Efeng tweeted:

Efeng: Bans and picks are exactly as we predicted and wanted! In terms of game intellect, we have achieved a flawless victory, let us go forth do battle!

This tweet would’ve been innocent enough if everything had gone as planned, but just as Efeng sent the tweet out and it began picking up notice, iG was also choking on the main stage at Benaroya Hall.

Before the match, iG people ranging from Efeng to ChuaN had tweeted reflecting their confidence:

Efeng: 7 Asian teams came to TI2, now in the top 8 all 7 are still alive. The only non-Asian team left is NaVi, it’s about time we send them out too!

Efeng: NaVi and their TI1 championship rings said to us, “you don’t have this!”. We can only answer, “enjoy it while it lasts”, it is not 2011 anymore.

ChuaN: I hate the waiting, time to let it out on NaVi!

After iG dropped into the lower brackets at the hands of NaVi, these tweets were retweeted furiously. And as for the statement from iG CEO Efeng, “in terms of game intellect, we have achieved flawless victory”, well, later on during game 3, the Chinese commentator Miss said, “NaVi has such great game intellect!”

Many fans have pointed at Efeng, saying his tweets lack respect and decency. Regardless of the facts, we hope that iG picks it back up, and that all the Chinese teams remaining can stay calm and composed in the face of these big matches! Truly, we shouldn’t be overly proud of our game knowledge or anything like that.