Tag Archives: Zhou

Interview with CuZn: TongFu manager talks new roster, potential new squads, and more

In this interview with CuZn, the TongFu manager reflects on recent changes, and talks about the future for the club.

SGamer: Thank you CuZn for this interview with SGamer.com. Now that TongFu’s new roster has been confirmed, are you finally able to breathe a sigh of relief?
TongFu.CuZn: Yes indeed, I can finally breathe easily now, and it feels great to relax.

SG: Following TI3, did you expect to see such huge changes come to your team?
CuZn: I did think of it, because there are always changes following big tournaments!

SG: Were there some ‘transactions’ being discussed already during your time in Seattle, then?
CuZn: During the time I was only focused on the matches, didn’t pay much attention to things outside of that. But I do know that there have been some foreign players expressing desire to come to China to compete, but I feel that communication and cultural differences is a huge issue there.

SG: Recently, TongFu players have become hot commodities. What preparations did the club have in case of a worst-case scenario?
CuZn: A complete restructuring along with a creation of a feeder/secondary team.

SG: What if this team that you’d personally helped build completely fell apart, did you consider giving up your career as an esports club manager as a whole?
CuZn: Yes, there were definitely thoughts regarding that. But as long as there is a player willing to stay, then I will continue my work.

SG: Was Hao’s departure a surprise to you?
CuZn: No, this was within my expectations. Hao’s performances this year have been excellent, and the scene has a relative lack of carry players, so having teams coming to ask about him is to be expected. Plus, it’s possible for any change to happen after an International.

SG: Hao, in a weibo post of his, stated that he would be playing with an added TongFu label on the end of his ID even though he’s joined iG now. Were the tears flowing for you after learning of this gesture?
CuZn: Nah, but I did feel that he’s grown to be more and more professional. He knows what he wants to do nowadays. TongFu is our club’s name as well as our sponsor, and TongFu Porridge has released products specific to each of our players. 🙂

SG: What are you going to do with those bowls of porridge that have Hao and Banana on them?
CuZn: We’ll just sell them through our T-mall store, or give them away in events. Our T-mall is at tongushipin.tmall.com, we welcome everyone. 🙂

SG: In this big reshuffle, what kind of role has the ACE Alliance played?
CuZn: A supervisory role. Just as Efeng says, without the Alliance, there would have been quite a few teams that get poached to the point of dissolution.

SG: How do you rate Zhou and Hao as players?
CuZn: Born in the same year, Zhou’s personality is more stable and steady, suitable for being captain. Hao is more aggressive and impulsive, suited for making big plays. In terms of results, Zhou has more than Hao I think, but Zhou’s form this year has been fairly low. Hao on the other hand, via his own hard work as well as his team’s growth, has been able to improve and even largely escape his old label of ‘feeder Hao’. The two players both have room to improve, so we’ll have to see what happens in this next year!

SG: A team’s captain seems to be very important, who was your team’s captain before? Has Zhou been confirmed as the new captain now?
CuZn: The captain before was actually banana. After banana left, we held a team meeting, and confirmed Zhou as the new captain, and the main drafter for us.

SG: ZSMJ’s transition to the 4 role has been fairly recent, do you feel that he will be able to fulfill the needs of this role?
CuZn: Yes he can, he is a very focused, very hard-working player, and we have a lot of confidence in him successfully playing the 4 role in our team.

SG: Whose idea was it to pick up ZSMJ?
CuZn: We made a list of all players who currently are able to play the 4 position, and then this was the result of a collective discussion.

SG: How do you rate this new roster?
CuZn: We’ll still have to see how they gel together. Their current level of play I think can only be given 70 out of 100, but there was some training today, and the results weren’t bad!

SG: Apart from winning TI4, what other goals are there for the next year? For example forming a youth squad to go play the NSL in Korea?
CuZn: Of course there are other goals, such as winning the ACE League, or defending our DSL title. This next year we might have three different squads. As for which team gets sent to play in the NSL in Korea, this needs to be kept a secret for now. After the big reshuffle this year, we’ve realized the increasing importance of having sub/feeder-teams, so we will definitely be creating a youth squad.

SG: How will you guys go about selecting players for the other two squads, then?
CuZn: We’ll have our coaching staff filter the choices. We’ve already got some new players in our sights.

SG: Apart from sydm, who else is part of the coaching team?
CuZn: Kabu, Gx, and one of Zhou’s friends. Of course there’s me too!

SG: Do you feel that coaches are a necessity to Dota 2 teams nowadays?
CuZn: I feel that it’s something you cannot lack, because coachs can arrange schedules, scrims, they can monitor the players and help them grow, thus allowing the players to focus on practice and competing.

SG: What do you think is the greatest challenge currently facing your club’s Dota 2 team?
CuZn: Lack of talent. Whether in terms of management or players, there is an acute lack. Because Dota 2 in China still lacks accessibility, the playerbase is still relatively small, so it’s very hard to find people. Many sponsors aren’t that interested in Dota 2, and so from a club’s point of view it is difficult to find additional investment.

SG: Do you think that things will improve once Dota 2 truly opens up to the masses?
CuZn: More or less, yes it will improve. Lots of loyal Dota fans will be able to play this excellent esports product, and as the playerbase grows, lower level tournaments increase in number, and thus more new competitors and sponsors will appear. I do believe that the future will be better!

SG: As a club, do you guys prefer league-format or cup-format tournaments, and why?
CuZn: It’s definitely the league format. Stable and reliable scheduling as well as publicity, this is good for both the players and the fans, and the regularity of the league format allows the club to plan things more easily.

SG: Okay, go ahead and say something to cap off this interview then!
CuZn: TongFu 3.0 awaits your support!

Source: http://dota2.sgamer.com/news/201309/152606.html

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Summary of the 2013 Chinese shuffle – as of Sept 5

For everyone trying to keep track at home, but are having trouble… here’s a rough collection of the main newsworthy events in 2013’s Chinese shuffle and relevant source links. From top to bottom, the order goes from the most recent to the earliest. Items that are mostly at the moment unsourced rumors will be in italics.

– LGD confirms RStars.xiaotuji as their new carry, Sylar to RisingStars

This rounds out LGD’s lineup once more, and the situation bears similarity to when LGD first brought Sylar on — xiaotuji is another promising relatively new player to the scene. Can LGD repeat history and become dominant once again? Sylar on the other hand replaces xiaotuji in RisingStars — can Rstars continue their upward trajectory?

– DK announces new all-star lineup

BurNIng remains as carry, Mushi joins as solo mid, iceiceice as offlaner, with Dai/MMY and LaNm on support — this is said to be the role specification of the new star-studded DK lineup. On a sidenote, DK’s manager Farseer would like to state that the so-called ‘dream team’ that had been rumored earlier is not actually DK: “it has nothing to do with us, please don’t call us the dream team.”

– XDD and xiaotuji of RisingStars both leave, said to be joining ‘top teams’

The Rstars owner talks about both of them leaving. The big rumor regarding xiaotuji is that he is LGD’s new carry player.

– Zhou rumored to be changing his mind on going to TongFu

Zhou publicly flames Efeng, part of the management at iG, for “being two-faced, your words are worth nothing”. Speculation is that this is referring to the fact that prior to Zhou leaving iG and going to TongFu, he was promised that iG would not try to recruit other TongFu members away, but after Zhou left, iG made one or more approaches for TongFu player(s). TongFu’s manager Cuzn looks to be meeting these new developments with a mixture of surprise and dismay.

– Zhou leaves iG, joins TongFu, while Hao goes to iG

Zhou leaves iG, Hao comes to iG. The two players essentially switch places on their respective teams. Additionally, some sort of ‘strategic partnership’ has been formed between the two clubs as a result of this transaction. It is also said that KingJ and Mu are both leaving TongFu, and possibly Banana too. The split of Hao and Mu is a saddening one.

– rOtk and Super to VG, ZSMJ and CTY out of VG

ROtk and Super quickly find a new home with VG. At the same time, ZSMJ and CTY are said to have left VG, with VG stating that they made every effort to get ZSMJ to stay, whether as a coach or otherwise. ZSMJ himself has said that he will continue playing… but not with VG, apparently.

– Kabu (and LaNm) leave RattleSnake

Kabu reveals that he’s left RattleSnake. In his farewell post on Weibo, he tagged Luo, Icy, and Sag, but not LaNm, indirectly further confirming the latter also no longer being part of RSnake, something that had been rumored since after TI3. LaNm would go on to join DK.

– Mushi leaves Orange, eye on China

Mushi announces that he’s left Orange, with his goal being none other than China. He would go on to join DK.

– LGD statement on Sylar situation

LGD attempts to address the beyond-awkward situation with their now-former carry, but Sylar responds in his own way (his responses have since been deleted), basically refuting their claims and refusing to reconsider.

– DK statement on rOtk situation

DK’s manager Farseer tries to clear the air regarding the huge changes that left only BurNIng in the team. ROtk seems to be understanding, and ultimately caps off a bittersweet ending by wishing everyone well…

– rOtk kicked from DK, unwillingly; Super and others out too

In which rOtk outlines why he felt unfairly treated, in a fiery, empassioned statement. The rest of the DK players seem to be just as shocked, and respond in their own individual ways. A few days later, DK confirms that only BurNIng remains in their roster. MMY would return to DK as a member afterwards.

– Sylar leaves LGD.cn of his own accord

“I’ve left the team,” with this statement, LGD is short a carry player, and what a carry Sylar was for the team.

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Some iG and LGD player reactions to G-1, Alliance, and their own performances

LGD

xiao8: Opportunity always goes to those who prepare for it. Alliance’s performances were outstanding, so their title is well-deserved. Thank you to longDD who has stuck with us as we made our transitions, and thank you to G-1 for the chance to learn and grow, I wish all the best to G-1.

DDC: GG. We were lacking, and must continue to work hard. Chinese Dota teams must all work hard now! Alliance is truly too strong.

DD/Sc: (suggesting that Chinese teams are having trouble keeping up due to a lack of domestic competition) I hadn’t played Dota 2 in three months yet only trained for half a month and was still able to keep up with other Chinese teams, this can only mean that there is a lack of domestic events.

Yao: We still ended up losing, congrats to Alliance. We still have many weaknesses, but we did manage to rediscover ourselves in this process. We have no regrets this time, isn’t Dota all about sharing exhilirating and tearful moments with good friends? Now it’s time to give it our all, and fight our way back to Seattle!

Sylar: G-1 was excellently done, and I hope there will be another season, add oil.

iG

Ferrari_430: Can’t fall asleep (we don’t know exactly why 430 is losing sleep, however)

YYF: We ended up doing the best that we could, let’s try harder and not leave any regrets with our next efforts. Our fate is still in our own hands.

Faith (before being eliminated from G-1): Let’s add oil brothers, I feel that our greatest enemy is not others, but ourselves! Hope that we can find ourselves tomorrow!

Faith (after): No matter how many times one falls, the most important thing is to be able to get back up! Let’s add oil together!

ChuaN (after tough losses on the first day of G-1): What happen???

ChuaN (after being eliminated): Back to the team base, didn’t expect that it would be in this manner in which we depart from the G-1 stage. I’m very thankful and very sorry to all those who’ve supported us, from our club’s staff to our fans, to those who came to the event to cheer us on live. We lost. Not much else to say. I hope LGD or DK can take the title.

Zhou (after tough losses on the first day of G-1): Recently iG has been in poor form, and I must bear a large part of the responsibility. Thank you to all the fans who continue supporting us through our poor form, we will not fall like this. Even if we have to fight back from the bottom, we will be back one step at a time!

Zhou (after being eliminated): This hurdle is one that we absolutely will overcome.

 

Crisis of Spirit: One Chinese point of view on iG’s recent losses

DOTALAND note: Pretty interesting, yet perhaps a bit overreactive. Well-written, this is one point of view. Is this the fall of iG or just a major bump in their path? We can all speculate, and this piece does so unabashedly, with some assumptions, rumors, and analysis all in one.

We all know that there would never be one singular force to always dominate the Chinese Dota scene, but what looks like a sudden and drastic decline in iG’s fortunes has taken us all by surprise. From “Best in Universe” to GGing within 20 minutes, what exactly has happened?

In-game analysis

These are all things that we’ve seen with our own eyes: iG’s players first lost their motivation to continue innovating and improving, their picks seemingly stuck in a pre-Chinese New Year rut of old styles and tactics. At most they take an idea or two from other teams’ strategies, something that might allow them to maintain some semblance of respectability in online matches, but nothing more.

This by itself isn’t necessarily irredeemably bad for them, what is, however, is what appears to be a loss of fighting spirit and temperance in their play, replaced by what looks like pridefulness.

Let’s talk about ChuaN first. He was the worst out of them all earlier against LGD.cn. Perhaps he was not wrong to rotate over to help Furion, but he didn’t wait to cast his stun, thinking he could show off what he must think is a 100% accuracy spell for him, yet sadly this time, luck shows that it does not always stand on the same side, and he missed. He could’ve waited for Furion to trap the enemy in place first and then get the sure stun as any pro team would do; clearly this was not a lack of communication, but an exhibit of players making pub-level mistakes.

Then there’s Farmer Zhou. Confidently skilling at level 1 before leaving fountain, perhaps because he’s a pro, there’s nothing wrong with using Treants to scout. But since you’ve done that already, what was the point in running your hero to the river? To contest a rune with Dark Seer? The lanes at this point are obvious, you will be up against Dark Seer, do you really think you can win the rune over a DS at level 1? And then DS gets a haste rune, you’re 99% dead, but still why don’t you summon some more trees and try some blocking, and perhaps change that 99% to a 90%? Instead you do nothing, jog casually back towards your lane and feed first blood before making it, you’ve gotta be kidding me!

Faith, brah, your IQ has been eaten by your woman too? What was that ban/pick? They’ve banned five physical damage cores, then picked a Spectre, leaving you guys with no physical damage to choose from, hmm? Fallen into their trap, haven’t you? But still, you could make some better picks even after that, yet you pick Tinker and Furion as your last two, two pushers to go up against a lineup with Nyx and Spectre? Were you afraid that they wouldn’t have enough fun ganking already? Your entire lineup had one hard stun in Lina, and uncertain stun at that. Apart from that, you have Shadow Demon’s Disrupt. They’ve got the likes of Dark Seer, meaning that once they go rush you, you can counter kill at most one hero. So this entire draft left iG on the back foot from the start.

YYF this game missed last hits, so many easy last hits. Perhaps it’s because you were coordinating with teammates, or perhaps it’s because you’re supremely confident and do not need measly last hits, or perhaps you were reminiscing about that last threesome you’d had in your dreams… whatever, thousands of reasons, but missing those last hits in such a game showed to everyone that iG is missing that concentrated determination that they had in the past.

Watching Sylar patiently going back and forth adjusting even the slightest of problems with his equipment, watching him complete all his last hits under the tower, this LGD squad right now has an impressively superior mentality and attitude compared to this iG squad, that is for sure.

Ferrari_430 is the only one that performed normally, but everything had gone too far beyond his control, and he couldn’t save them.

Out of game analysis

There is no invincible person or dynasty, because the world is always changing, and no one can forever keep up with what happens at the top. However, people always desire more, and their desire is an impatient one. For iG’s players, they are at the peaks of their respective careers, what comes after the peak? Decline, then retirement.

No matter how strong they are now, time will always take its toll, and they are all clear about this. So in a recent livestream, we heard Zhou asking SJQ how to go about setting up a Taobao shop. We’ve seen the typically reserved YYF go from an occasional streamer within the team’s streaming rotation, to the constant streamer now. And big, simple ChuaN, streaming, but away from the bright glares of the domestic scene — he has selected to stream on a foreign platform.

Streaming. The advantages are as a great tool for promotion and name-recognition, and in this day and age, these are valuable things for those looking to carve out a new path after retirement as players.

And finally, Zhou began streaming.

There was that incident between YYF and Zhou; looking back, that was to be expected. YYF streaming solo, his popularity soaring, and more or less affecting the interests of the rest of the team. These things perhaps are all just surface level, but it is maybe just that allocation or split in interests that is affecting iG’s performances, that has shaken their roots as a team.

When Zhou spoke of the “spirit of Dota” in his recent interview, little did we know that they were already mired in a crisis of their own spirit.

Original: http://dota.shandian.biz/867.html

iG lose 3-43 to LGD.cn in their G-1 Season 5 LAN finals debut; zhou’s thoughts on the defeat

In iG’s debut match against LGD.cn at the LAN finals for G-1 Season 5, iG unexpectedly lost by an enormous score disparity of 3-43. Here is what iG’s carry player zhou had to say…

http://t.qq.com/p/t/306103032964039

“Recently iG has been in poor form, and I must bear a large part of the responsibility. Thank you to all the fans who continue supporting us through our poor form, we will not fall like this. Even if we have to fight back from the bottom, we will be back one step at a time!”

Gamefy G-League preview and predictions: iG favored

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

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

Bans picks analysis

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

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

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

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

Pick predictions

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

Head to head analysis

Zhou vs Pajkatt

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

430 vs GOD

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

YYF vs Brax

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

ChuaN vs Misery

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

Faith vs 1437

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

Overall playstyle analysis

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

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

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

Results prediction

iG 3 — 0.5 LGD.int

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

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

 

DK.BurNIng playstyle and skills analysis by Gamefy

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

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

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

Overall ability:

Awareness rating: SS

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

Rhythm rating: A

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

Mechanics rating: S

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

Heroes diversity: S

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

Playing uphill: SS

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

Individual skill:

Last hitting: 97

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

Laning: 95

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

Decisions: 91

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

Positioning: 96

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

Ability usage: 90

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

Counter-gank: 98

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

Current version Carry scores:

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

Overall: 96

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

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

iG wishes a Happy Chinese New Year to all!

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

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

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

 

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.