178.com managed to grab a lengthy video interview with Wenyi '71'Tang, coach of the recently reinvented EHOME squad, which we have translated for our readers here. In the interview, 71 talks about the current state of the Chinese scene, the revival of the EHOME brand, and more.
Q: After DK's 4th place at TI4, you slowly faded away from the competitive scene. Please talk about your return to the current scene.
71: I didn't really leave for a long time. After TI4, I did want to take a break. However there are lot of unsettling emotions. With the revival of Ehome, I feel like I have taken on more pressure. There is this strange feeling - I came back and feel pretty good about my decision.
Q: You revealed on Weibo that the EHOME brand was going to be rebuilt. You have received a lot of support from the community. Were there many road blocks?
71: There were a lot of support for us to reform Ehome. I remember an encounter I had with a fan, he told me when he first started to like EHOME, he was a college student. Now he is a college professor and EHOME is making a return. So I think we have a lot of older, loyal fans that will come back to support the team.
We had a lot of difficulty finding players. We had first decided on Mushi. I have never said more than 5 words to Mushi before he joined DK. But we have mutual respect for each other and wanted to work together after DK disbanded. I also wanted to have Inflame on the team. Our current line up is okay. But the future is a complete unknown. I think our team is too young and may not work in the long run, so I think we are just trying to take things slow. After we have stabilized our roster, we'll pay our dues and get a lot of practice under our belt. There also might be roster changes.
Q: Why do you like Inflame so much?
71: A team must have youth. Young people bring youthful energy. He is a player that has a lot of potential. I have observed him both inside the game and out and think he will become a very successful pro player. He is someone truly worth developing.
Q: What type of preparations did you guys do for DAC?
71: Just normal preparations. This tournament is lot like TI. After we got back from D2L, the preliminaries for DAC started. After that we have been practicing normally. We did not prepare anything special. Our team is too young and some of our players had just switched roles. We should worry about our self first and try to get a good score in the group stages early to take some pressure off the team.
Q: It was rumored that Burning might be making a comeback and he might join IG. When Ehome was in the developing stages did you consider asking Burning to join Ehome?
71: No, not really. His return is not certain. I did meet with Burning and Lanm in Beijing. At the time he told me he will not come back this quickly. I am not sure if he'll choose business or being a pro player. If he does decides to comeback maybe we'll have a nice talk. With regards to his current development, I think we should respect his own decisions.
With regard to BG, at the preliminaries we fought them to a 1-1 draw. I was joking with LaNm that our teams are friendly with each other. You guys lost to CDEC 2-0. You allowed Maybe to go ultra a few times. You oldies are worthless. He told me they are just going to have fun at DAC. They did not prepare or practice for this tournament.
Q: Last time at D2l you guys were the champions. For this new team, you guys were competitive. What is your expectation for your team at DAC?
71: I have always told our team what our expectations were before the tournament. However our team is too young and very unstable. We could beat anyone and we are not afraid to throw against anyone. Our victory at D2L had a lot to do with luck. I was not satisfied with our performance. If I have to say a place to finish then I would have to say 6th.
Q: Please talk about EHOME's current style of play. Your teams have always been known for its tenacity, I don't know if the currently squad had adapted some good traits from the old EHOME squad.
71: No, I think what you mean is that the old EHOME was known for being of the best come back teams. The ability to come back from behind largely depends on your team having older more experienced players who have been behind and knows how to play their way back. The current EHOME is more like the team that is doing the throwing as opposed to being the team that is making the comeback.
Q: The best teams around the world are at DAC. Do you think the Chinese scene is ahead of the rest of the world?
71: I think VG will do well. The top Chinese teams all trade victories with each other. But I am not sure about the Western teams. I would like to say the Western teams are very strong.
I was talking to Puppey last night and was asking him about C9 because that was our first match up. He told me although C9 changed its roster but they are still playing with the same style. Puppey think C9 is a team capable of beating a lot of Chinese teams. I do agree with his assessment. The young Chinese teams will have a lot of trouble with C9.
Q: Do you think a Chinese team will win DAC?
71: This is very hard to say. It truly depends on the match ups and draws. There are a few Chinese teams that are capable of winning. There is a chance for that to happen.
Translation provided by March 'Edooley' Wang
Source video: 178.com
