As many of us countdown to Gamescom, GosuGamers continues its special feature on the historic event in e-sports. Today we bring to you an exclusive interview with OK Nirvana International's Dominik 'Lacoste' Stipic.
Formerly part of a seven man crew at MYM, Lacoste started seeing less and less of play. Fans started seeing him play more and more as a stand-in for OK.Nv.int, then known as Browned Potatoes. Eventually the switch was made official. Lacoste plays as a semi-carry/ganker, playing under the leadership of captain america, Fear.
In a GosuGamers special, we speak to the experienced player about Gamescom and OK.Nv.int's preparations.
The roster of OK.Nirvana.int going to Gamescom has been confirmed, could you shed some light on Ducky and s0ny’s inactivity and maybe elaborate on the roles each player will be taking for Gamescom.
-"Ducky was on a long vacation and only came back few days ago. Sony4ce stopped being active, so he is no longer part of the team. We are still trying things out with regard to the roles, seeing what fits each of us the best."
How has it been like balancing DotA 1 practice, since your team are involved in so many competitions, and Dota 2 practice, bearing in mind the one million dollar prize money up for grabs?
-"As soon as we got Dota 2, we switched to it. We played some official matches in DotA1, but we stopped practicing, since we have priorities; the 1 Million Dollars." *Smiles*
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we have priorities; the 1 Million Dollars”-"We are not bootcamping, instead we have just been practicing online for many many hours! We wanted to go and bootcamp but unfortunately I couldn’t get free days from work!"
How has practice been like, especially since OK.Nirvana.int is made up of players from so many different nations?
-"We are using all the time we can to practice! We don’t have any problems with finding time for practicing even though we are an international team! I have been sleeping 3-4 hours only so we can practice."
What is your target at Gamescom? Have you or your team been practicing with specific strategy in mind? How about studying (the replays) or training to counter any particular team(s)?
-"Our target is very clear; The 7 digit number! We watched a lot of DotA 1 replays so we would be more informed of the other team’s style of play. But more importantly, through our practice we have seen what fits us best and we are going to stick with that. We are just going to play our game there and do the best as we can!"
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We don’t fear anyone since we got FEAR”-"We don’t fear anyone since we got FEAR! (Other teams should fear us). We are not looking to meet anyone in particular but just beat who we meet, simple as that."
OK.Nirvana.cn, your Chinese counterparts will also be competing in Gamescom, do you feel any extra pressure to finish better than them? What about your ex-team MYM, any added incentive to beat them?
-"We are already under a lot of pressure at the moment thus we have not put much thought to that, since we don’t want to heap more pressure on ourselves. It is always nice to beat MYM and flame them after the game! Jokes aside, I’m still keeping a good relationship with everyone in MYM except Demon. "*Smiles*
What do you intend to do with the money if you win?
-" That's a big 'If'! *Laughs*. I’ve been occupied with that question for quite some time so if anyone has any ideas for what I should invest in feel free to contact me!"
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Dota 2 is going to be legen.... wait for it.... dary”-"Their time is ticking and they know it! Dota 2 is going to be legen.... wait for it.... dary!"
Any final words or shoutouts?
-"Shoutout to our sponsors zextard, demon and boc! And also shoutout to GosuGamer’s admins for banning me, again!"
Best of luck to you and your team.
-"Thanks!"
OK.Nirvana.int roster:
Clinton 'Fear' Loomis (c) Saahil 'Universe' Arora
Craciunescu 'ComeWithMe' Alexandru
Pelle 'Pajkatt' Olsson-Lille
Dominik 'Lacoste' Stipic
Theeban '1437' Siva