Interview with MiSeRy

MiSeRy and his team The Last Try managed to basically walk through DreamHack Summer '09 with only one lost game and was able to claim first place in that glorious tournament. Today we caught up with MiSeRy for an interview and talked about goals, picks and islands.

GG: Hello MiSeRy, first of all: congratulations. I guess we don't need any introduction here, so let's start with the interview. What was your goal for that tournament?
MiSeRy: Our goal with the tournament was of course to win it. I wouldn't go there if I knew we had no chance of winning.

GG: Was there any special preparation for DreamHack? Surely lots of practice games, but besides, did you make something like a boot camp?
MiSeRy: Yeah, I guess we did practice some before DreamHack. But it was mostly just scrims with stand-ins, it was rare that we actually had 5 of the DreamHack players online to play and when this happened, it was really hard finding opponents that could give us a good challenge.
We didn't boot camp or something like that and we played only a few games with Miracle. But, apparently Miracle fits so well into the team so there was no need to practice with him.

GG: Many fans wondered about the line-up of your team. zoN playing the first games for Loda, Miracle instead of Rene or png. Any special reasons for that?
MiSeRy: Well, Loda had to work when the first game was played, so we had to use stand-in. zoN was sitting just next to us at DreamHack and we knew each other, so it was logical to use him as stand-in.
When Kebap (Rene) told us that his airplane was canceled two days before DreamHack, we had to make a decision. We didn't feel that png was ready for DreamHack at that time and we needed a support player in replacement for kebap, so we asked Miracle. Fortunately he was up for it. :)

GG: Do you think the outcome of the tournament would be different if you had played with Rene or png?
MiSeRy: I don't know.. maybe.. we'll never know :)

GG: Since Ks.Int did not attend Dreamhack, Ravens and you were fancied by most of the people out there. Did you really expect such a cake walk until the Grand Finals?
MiSeRy: To be totally honest, I was really confident with the team and I was certain that no team at DH could beat us if it really mattered.

GG: What can you say about this first encounter with Ravens? Nerub and Maiden were both not banned, but Maelk chose PotM instead as first pick. Are both heroes so-called overrated?
MiSeRy: There's not much to say about the first game, we just played better and were more prepared for that game imo. I dont want to comment on picks cause it's different from team to team, what they think about heroes and what heroes they first pick, etc..

GG: Was picking Morphling part of your preperation? Did you practice with him or was it more or less a spontaneous decision?
MiSeRy: Well, we just talked about picking Morph against ravens, cause its such an awesome hero in the early-mid game stage and also in late. And of course that Loda plays the best morph out there makes it an even more viable pick.

GG: In the Grand Finals, Maiden was again not picked or banned. Did you have an agreement with Ravens about that hero?
MiSeRy: Haha no we didn't. I just think maiden is on the way out of competitive DotA, at least as first pick or second pick.

GG: In the first game of the Grand Finals, Ravens also picked Morphling and together with Undying, they went for a straight-forward win. Outpicked? Outplayed? Or did you want to make it a thrilling grand final?
MiSeRy: Yes, we wanted to make it exciting for the viewers. ;)

GG: Hehe, Ok. And in the second game, you went for a Spectre + Lich combo. It's nothing really new, but has not been played much in 6.59d. But it worked. Whose idea was that?
MiSeRy: This was a strategy we actually practiced a bit and it turned out to be really good in all the games we played. About the idea.. Loda wanted to try to play with Spectre, and we just discussed what heroes could be nice together with Spectre.

GG: After losing Game 1 of the Grand Finals, how did you manage to motivate yourself again for the last match?
MiSeRy: We didn't do anything to win the motivation back. It was just natural that we had the spirit to win.

GG: Who is the mastermind behind the strategies of TLT? Like Maelk in Ravens, Puppey in Ks.Int etc.
MiSeRy: I'm the mastermind in general. But in-game we just discuss the heroes we want to use during the picks etc..

GG: There were a lot of streaming problems in the Grand Finals. Fans out there were forced to watch a more or less lagging stream. Why no Waaaghtv or GarenaTV? It has been gathered that Loda didn't want that.
MiSeRy: I don't know anything about the stream tbh. It has nothing to do with Loda not wanting the stream at least..

GG: How would you describe the atmosphere at DreamHack? How was the feeling to play on a stage with the spotlight on you and fans yelling at every kill. (not to forget the orange boys)
MiSeRy: It was really awesome to play on the stage. It was much bigger and much more professional than I thought when I was told that we were gonna play on stage. We had to use some special headsets, so we couldnt really hear when the fans were yelling or anything, But it was really cool to play there I think. :)

GG: Since you have won against your former clan, whom decided to continue without you, were there any specific emotions during the games against them? Like giving twice as much energy into the games?
MiSeRy: No, not really. I played vs these guys as I would play vs any enemies. I guess it was epic to beat my former team in the finals, but I don't see it as a "revenge" as many people already said. It's not like I hate them or bear some grudge towards them or something. ^^

GG: What will you do with the huge amount of money and the hardware? Buying an island and live there for the rest of your life? ;)
MiSeRy: The "huge" amount of money is a relative term. I haven't thought about what I'm gonna do with it tbh...

GG: Are there any upcoming tournaments where we can see TLT playing? What about The Experience?
MiSeRy: Maybe the Experience, it's not planned yet.

GG: Since traveling to such tournaments always costs money, do you have a sponsor? Or any offers from promising clans?
MiSeRy: We didn't have a sponsor for this DreamHack but maybe we will in the future.

GG: Ok, thanks for the really long interview, I wish you all the best for your team and your personal future. Now is the time for some shoutouts ;)
MiSeRy: Shoutout to Valeur, Donald and Cola for making shoutcast in the finals, really nice job. :)


The red-eye squad: Miracle Twistd Loda MiSeRy KwoM


Sk-Gaming caught up with Loda before the Grand Final for a video interview.