Ivan 'MikuDota' Novikov of dota2.ru focused his interview with Yazied 'YapzOr' Jaradat on the importance of roster stability and Escape’s motivation to push forward even though they were nowhere near a top eight finish at The International 6.
picture courtesy of Escape Gaming
Escape Gaming is one of eight teams that received an invite at the European regional qualifiers for the Boston Major, and apart from Na’Vi , they are the only team to stick together through the 2016 fall shuffle. Maintaining the same roster is something that happens very rarey in our ever changing Dota 2 professional scene, with this fall seeing only three of the TI6 participants doing so.
Looking at Escape’s performance at the ongoing DreamLeague Season 6, sticking together might be already paying off for them. Dota2.ru’s interview with YapzOr speaks about Escape’s mentality before the Boston Major qualifiers, about their decisions as a group and the importance of believing in each other. Asked why they haven’t made any change to their roster after the bottom four finish in Seattle, YapzOr responded “Because we are all friends and know what is needed to be done to reach for more. We all have the right motivation and drive to succeed which gives us respect for one another and drives us to help each other through our problems instead of changing.”
There’s no secret that some of the top teams do avoid exhausting themselves with less important tournaments, especially when they are scheduled really close to a Major. Although announced way before the Boston Major, DreamLeague #6 suffered last minute team substitutions once the dates for the Fall Major were confirmed by Valve.
Practice not only teaches you new things it also keeps a player or team in shape
Escape however, decided to still participate and took the league play as a great practice session for what’s about to come. Regarding their attendance at DreamLeague Season 6, YapzOr said to dota2.ru the following: “Some teams will feel worn out playing too much back-to-back, and other teams will gain momentum and use it as fuel for the next step. I believe we use it to our advantage, we depend a lot on energy and momentum. Practice not only teaches you new things, but it also keeps a player or team in shape and builds momentum. Sometimes when we are doing very good as a team I’m afraid to take a one day break because I fear we lose the momentum and get lazy.”
When Escape decided to keep their spot at DreamLeague, they didn’t know Valve was preparing a single elimination main event bracket for the Boston Major and a not yet officially announced bo1 round robin format for the regional qualifiers group stage. With the league play being held in a bo2 round robin format, this came as another great perk for the teams who decided to participate.
The team we fear the most is ourselves
When asked “What team do you guys fear the most to meet?“ YapzOr’s answer was concise: “The team we fear the most is ourselves.”
Without thinking that one team got a better upgrade than others in this past fall shuffle, YapzOr’s interest lies towards seeing more of Evil Geniuses and Team Secret in action, as he says they are the only two teams to approach the new season with something totally new.
Well, with only one day left until the Boston Major regional qualifiers to kick off, Escape Gaming and YapzOr will get to test the new Secret on their own as both squads will fight in the bo1 round robin EU group stage. We wish Escape Gaming best of luck at both DreamLeague and Boston Major regional qualifiers and we are grateful to dota2.ru and their editor in chief, Ivan 'MikuDota' Novikov for sharing with us his interview with Yazied 'YapzOr' Jaradat. The full Russian version can be found here.
source:dota2.ru
