Generally speaking, the tournament was well organized in terms of game-hosting and admin-availibility. As far as the level of play goes, I must say that, except eu4ia, we didn't get to face a 'big' opponent, thus would describe our series as rather easy. Though when I look at the other brackets, the competition overall can be considered as quite tough.
When we take a look at the team, you played with, we mostly see the good old Competo. Not everybody kept playing on a top level as actively as you did in OK.Nirvana.int. Were you able to establish a lead in skill over your mates?
I have to say that I missed my mates, ever since we disbanded, even when I was in OK.Nirvana. I think that we built up a better "Competo" now however, especially through the addition of hex0r and v1ctory who are both strong players. Everbody contributes individually to the team and through that we gain a lot more flexibility when picking line-ups.
I dont regret the time, I spent in OK.Nirvana though, as I grew a lot as a player, through Fear's guidance and general experience in DotA, as well as his play-style and drafting skills have been an asset to me.
Other than that everybody plays his role in the team very well right now. Once in a while a certain "pub-instinct" breaks through, that causes a lot of mistakes (*smiles*).
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I think that we built up a better 'Competo' now, especially through the addition of hex0r and v1ctory”Rivalry exists everywhere. I mean everybody wants to be superior towards the rest (*laughs*). We kept in touch with hex0r the same way as now, in the past, so nothing changed in that regard. I would also say that the publicly displayed rivalry was merely caused by SaM- who is just a wannabe-pro; shoutout to Samsonite (*smiles*)! Other than that, I would describe our relationship to the dmZ players as neutral, especially since we don't have much to do with each other anymore. We even planned to become traning partners in Dota 2.
Generally speaking from what we have seen in the past, German players mostly stay among themselves. As one of the few, that played for a bit longer in an international team, where do you see positive and negative aspects, compared to your stays in Competo or now .exe, mentally and skill-wise?
If I had to look at this from my point of view, I would see that the focus in international teams is much higher, as they want to achieve more. I wouldnt say that the Germans are not eager to make it far, but the primary aspect here is having fun with friends. I think the obvious advantage of being able to communicate in your first language, which by the way explains why Germans stay among themselves, makes it easier and at times allows to casually "flame" each other without everything getting taken too seriously. Everything is getting discussed later and the issue is solved. A disadvantage of all-German teams is the lacking "perfection", as everybody is not playing as concentrated as some situations demand.
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Fear's guidance and general experience in DotA, as well as his play-style and drafting skills have been an asset to me. ”I think it does matter. As most high-level players know, a team gains a lot of motivation through suchlike support, because it enforces players to not only fight for themselves but also the good reputation of the sponsor. It is sad, that the German sceen falls rather short when it comes to business relations for DotA-players and I hope that changes as soon as possible after the release of Dota 2. It would help making the German scene more attractive again.
Could you think of an explanation why comparatively few German teams and players made it to the top. Especially when we take into account, that the premier institution in terms of DotA-competition, DotA-league, is german-based. Does it come down to the engagement of investors after all?
Generally speaking, players do not get a lot of opportunities to prove themselves; I had a tough time improving as well. The constant flaming from better players, that followed after every minor mistake one made are only bearable for a small percentage of people; many collapse, due to the lack of motivation in making it further.
I believe that dmZ was one of the most successful teams in the German scene, because the organization was solid and made a lot possible for them. The situation today is, that you still get offered to play in an organization, but these opportunities cant be considered fruitful. A lot gets promised, but not much of these promises are kept.
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The constant flaming from better players, that followed after every minor mistake one made are only bearable for a small percentage of people”I think its a completely false assumption by the community and there are a other countries that get ridiculed as well. Maybe this is all caused by the line-ups of German teams and at times, a lot gets reduced to, I dont want to badmouth them, ze Germans who disband every two months and find together again.
Would other countries do similarly, the result would be the same. Manners are in my opinion not a crucial aspect; this is no different in other countries. When I think back, I would say that it was damn tough, even if you only made a small mistake, everybody makes a mountain out of a molehill. What I would advise every player with potential is work on yourselves and keep the experiences, that you made after facing good players. Try to see the positive side in negative situations, because you only learn from mistakes, as is generally known.
Now as you are united with your comrades again, how long do you think will it last. Is everbody taking it as seriously as back then? Will .exe outlast the famous two months?
As said, we will play as long as we have fun spending time with the game and about taking it seriously; of course! I even think we are more motivated than in the past. When I think back at the times with Competo, we lasted one and a half years together, whereas Ede and I played together for a lot longer (*smiles*).
Then I would like to close at that, wish you best of luck in the groupstage and hope for many replays in the future. If you have any final words, please feel free.
Thanks a lot for the interview! A big shoutout goes to my team .exe consisting of Ede, hex0r, Blowme, v1ctory. Then Ducky, Zuhälter and all haters and maybe fans (*smiles*). Last but not least the never ending slogan: THIS IS FOR U SANTA <3!
