When did you arrive in Denmark and what have you been doing so far?
I arrived on Wednesday evening. Well, it's mostly visiting family and meeting some of my friends. I have also been playing a lot of public games with Super Strong Dinosaurs.
Have you been playing Wraith Night?
Actually, no, I haven't. Wraith Night doesn't turn me on that much so I didn't play it.
What is your solo ranking right now?
I have not played that either. I have been playing some team matchmaking. The ranking is roughly 5,000.
Alright, let's get back to the real topic at hand. Why did you leave the team?
There were a lot of problems in a lot of different ways throughout the whole time we were there. We basically ended up with Pajkatt having to go home because his visa ran out and that hasn't been checked up on because there were some new rules, making it unable for us to extend our visa in China. They found out about it three to four days before his visa ran out. That was too late and therefore, he just went home. From that point onwards, it was really hard because we didn't know if he could come back, if he could get a new visa.
Besides, we saw like five tournaments going on in Europe and we were only playing WPC-ACE League where you will play only a game a week. You would see all these Chinese teams playing Diretide. It feels like there wasn't any reason to play in China at all since there were no tournaments.
There weren't many tournaments in China before The International 3. You guys went back to China anyway after TI3. Don't you sort of expect this already prior to going?
I don't think we actually thought about it that much but I can say that it was probably a mistake to go there in the first place. It was really rushed. I was asked by Brax and LGD to go there again a week before we had to leave. Since I did not have any plans for the next few months, did not have any interesting offers that I wanted to go with, Pajkatt and I just said: "let's do it." I think it was a mistake. It was way too rushed and wasn't thought through at all.
Is it because you guys picked the members wrongly since it was so rushed?
I don't think it is just picking the right or wrong members, I just don't feel like the whole setup is good anymore. Well not "anymore," but right now, this whole living in China and playing is not worth it at all because there are no tournaments. That's basically it. I don't feel like the Chinese are way better or anything.
Well that is very different from what EternalEnvy has to say.
No, the competition there is harder. The teams there are more systematic and they have game plans, way more than most of the European teams have. The west has Na`Vi, Alliance, Fnatic etc. but there are teams here that are good as well. The competition in China is probably harder but there are no tournaments, there is only WPC-ACE League and this one online tournament. We are playing almost no games. We are just sitting in that house, practicing and playing public games all day.
Alright, why did you leave the team right now, before WPC-ACE League ends?
The situation is actually a lot worse than last year. First of all, we don't live in Hangzhou anymore, we live in an apartment in Shanghai and there were some issues that I shouldn't go into details about. There were just so many problems and when Pajkatt went home, that was more or less the nail in the coffin for me. I didn't feel like staying another month for WPC-ACE playoffs.
Did you have like a point of time when you thought things aren't going to work out and you will leave China after WPC-ACE?
Of course, we had a discussion about staying for G-League and ECL and going home at the end of January instead of before Christmas. We actually said "alright" when we had that discussion but this Pajkatt thing happened and we were just sitting in the house for two weeks straight, without playing any games because WPC-ACE League groupstage was over and there was basically nothing to do. At the same time, there were like five or so tournaments in Europe. "Why am I here? Why am I not playing in Europe?" I asked myself.
You guys signed a contract with ACE right? Did you have to buy your own contract to leave the team?
I don't really know actually. I know that LGD did sign up for the tournament and I think they have to finish it or they will probably get fined. But they are going to finish it, with two stand-ins I believe.
LGD.Int at the airport going to The International 3.
The stand-ins are Air and Super from DT^Club. How do you think they will do?
I don't think they are going to do so well. Vici Gaming is probably the strongest team in China right now. It is going to be really hard for sure.
So there is no way you are going back to China.
No, definitely no. I am going to stay in Europe, most likely making a team with Pajkatt.
So you've been in China for slightly more than a year now. Give me your overall thoughts on the scene there and some of the stuff you learned in China.
I think in one way, China is still good because the way the Chinese play Dota is so different, not necessarily the way they play but the way they think about Dota there is different. They still have this Chinese mentality about the game. They are kind of stubborn but the heroes they play with and the heroes they believe in, they play them over and over. Their timing is almost perfect when they play well. That, compared to Europe, is very unique. In Europe, it still depends on creativity and individual plays. Timing and the whole system of how to make a line-up is a bit more random but that can be good because if you have some creativity and some of the systematic ideas on how to play the game, then it can be better. That's probably why Alliance and Na`Vi beat them when they go to big tournaments because they know how to mix it up.
I feel that, when Dota 2 got released, the Chinese have been going really slowly while in Europe, it has really exploded in terms of tournaments and production value etc. It is really amazing. Whereas in China, it is really slow paced. We were playing WPC-ACE groupstage and I think that was some really bad marketing. There were almost no people watching. I think the average viewers in the arena is like 15 people despite the hall, the studio and the arena being cool. There is just something lacking. I don't think they are ready for Dota 2 yet.
Let's hear the plans.
We have some ideas about what we are going to do, but now we are just going to play some casual Dota with SSD. Finish the Starladder and see how it goes. We are actually looking pretty good, we are hoping we can make the offline playoffs and see how we do there.
Well, I guess that is the end of the interview. Any last shoutout? You don't have to give shoutouts to your sponsors now.
I still want to give a shoutout for Ruru and LGD for giving us a chance to go there for a second time even though it was kind of rushed and probably a stupid idea. Shoutout to teammates that are still in China, good luck against Vici and shoutout to Europe, we are back and we are going to do our best to smash Europe.
Wow big talks.
Shots fired, man. Shots fired.
