Akke: '[TI2] will be one of the best <br>tournaments I'm ever going to attend

So, The International, imagine that, huh? How does it feel? Are you excited?

- I am indeed! I'm pretty confident this will be one of the best tournaments I'm ever going to attend. The preparations everyone are doing, the teams that are participating... everything is perfect! Can't wait to be there and start to play the group stage.

Have you ever attended anything similar?
- Apart from DreamHack the biggest events are probably ESWC in Paris 2008 where we actually won - but never received the prize money - though it was a nice trip anyway... And the ESWC finals in San Jose one or two months after. The prize money in TI2 makes it stand out though so in a way the other LAN event can't compete with it. Can't even image what it would feel like to win TI2, but I guess I can ask Na'Vi guys about that, haha.



Have you been in Washington before?

- Nope. I've only been in USA when going to LANs and there is usually not much time left for sightseeing and stuff, so haven't seen much at all in USA.

What would you say are the best and worst LAN experiences you've had so far?

- I've actually never been to a LAN that has been bad, only minor things have occurred. Like when we were at an event in Moscow, I believe it was early 2008, and we were not allowed to use any programs like Autohotkey or Dotakeys or whatever they're called. What the programs did was us being able to bind the item slots to a key other than the numpad keys but since we weren't allowed to do it we had to play using the numpad (or click) which was a big setback. Especially since the dagger-play was the big thing back then - there were no cooldown by attacks on the dagger so you could always blink, hehe.

One of the best experiences was recently when we were in Kiev for the Starladder playoffs. The arena there is just awesome, there are computers you can play on, there are sofas to chill in and you can order alcohol in the bar there while watching the games. It's like a barcraft but for Dota. Can't wait to go there again!



Looking back to when you guys first started xP, does it feel a lot different now? Did you expect to be at International 2012?

- For sure it's different. It was Loda who made me start playing Dota2 again and now when I'm going to TI2 I'm going to play against him instead of with him, haha. I did expect to be at the The International, even if I was away from Dota for 2 years or so I was still playing HoN so I was very confident I would easily adapt, and with the help from people like Loda and Miracle which I started to play Dota 2 with, I think I got the hang of it pretty fast. About how the team ended up it is for sure not how I thought it would be but at the same time I couldn't be more satisfied with it. All of my team members are fun to hang out with so there are no problems during LAN events and I feel like everyone has the same ambition as me and aims high.

Speaking of playing against Loda, how will it feel? Any pressure? Can we expect lots of flaming?

- I don't think it will feel any different then playing any other team. I'm pretty sure there won't be any flame, haha. Loda has been and is one of my best friends since many years back so I'm just expecting us both to give it all we have and may the best team win!

Sounds great, friendship through rivalry. What do you think your chances are to win the International?

- I would say that there are maybe 10 teams that can win, just some that have a higher chance than others. It's all about how you perform during that event and during those days. I think we can win for sure, but we have a lot of practicing to do and a lot to improve.

Are you currently studying the other teams attending? And if so, any teams that you think look extra scary?

- I do and I guess pretty much everyone does that. haha. But I would say the strongest teams right now is EG, EHOME, Na'Vi and Zenith.



How are you preparing for the event currently?

We actually already wanted to start boot-camping, but Lacoste has been working so that wasn't possible. Though we do scrim all the time when he isn't at work so we do get our fair share of practicing right now as well. We will start the boot-camp this weekend around August 11 or something. We will be at my parents place so I hope they will endure, haha. Other than that I do actually think a lot about picks and think of different strats and how to improve my own playstyle. I also watch a lot of replays to see mistakes and how our opponents move, place wards and such. All information is good information.



Oh, are you the tactics crafter of the squad? Or what's the teams procedure on new strategies?

- Haha nah, Pajkatt is the one picking but everyone has their own ideas of picks as well. It's always good to be aware of what the opponent might pick and give each other ideas of what might come and what we could pick. I guess me thinking of it is just something I mostly do for fun, but who knows - one day I might come up with the best strat of all times!

How did you feel after Dreamhack?

- Dreamhack was a big disappointment both for our team and for our fans. I didn't really like the idea with the groups that 2 groups got 2 BYOC teams and the other groups consisted of qualified teams. For us who were in Na`Vi's group, we just had one really hard game and then two really easy ones. Then after we advanced to the brackets we only got to play mouz and played really bad and after that we were out of the tournament. Since there wasn't any loser bracket we just went to DreamHack to play the group stage versus Na`Vi and then lose to Mouz. All that preparation for only 3 dota games in total didn't feel good at all. On the other hand we did finish fifth place which actually isn't so bad. But I guess everyone, including us, had higher expectations on where we would land.

Seems like you've recovered now at least, showing a very solid shape lately. What's the reason behind this?

- Actually I don't really know, haha. Misery has been away for a month working, explaining our absence from any official games. To be honest we didn't scrim at all during that time but then when he came back and we started to play we just started to win pretty much every game we played. I guess maybe the new heroes benefit us in the draft and gameplay somehow.



Ah, no talks about "hard work" or similar? Just natural born talent. We've recently seen you playing a lot of maps vs potm bottom, what do you think of this team and their sudden rise to the top?

- Some players from PB is actually old HoN friends of mine which I'm happy to see has found their way to Dota 2 as well and I'm glad to see they are doing good. PB is a great team which has shown after their performance in PD2 that they for sure can compete with the top teams in Dota 2. They have smart drafts, lanes and play solid and well. I guess you could see our absence from official games when we played against them, we didn't really know how to counter their playstyle and strats. The thing with new teams is that you don't really have a good idea of how they play and that is also why they can suprise so much. It was pretty much the same with coL, we joke about "coL smoke gang" when people smoke up and run as five since since we fell for it like ten times in a row when playing then in the beginning, haha. Let's see if PB continues to perform as well as they have or if it will change when people start to take them more serious. They are still, as far as I know, in the lower bracket in The Defense 2, so it will be interesting to see how they do there!



It seems like American teams are doing well right now (pb, coL, EG, Quantic). Something you've also noticed?

- Yeah they are, I think especially EG has played well lately, at least when we scrim against them! I think they just have pretty good picks and have had good practice lately. Also their players have been in the scene for quite some time now.

Most of the Dota 2 teams consist of "old school" DotA players. Do you feel Dota 2 is an especially tricky game to get into, or is it just because of the beta phase?

- For sure it's hard to get into a good team. If you have the dedication and you have a good team that is trying to teach you then you can come far, but it's really hard to build something up from the ground on your own. I've gotten the question many times on how to get into a team but I think the "easiest" way is to try to get friends that have the same dedication as you do and try to scrim and get better. You can always start with a five-man stack on pubs and go BP-mode, haha. Also, it's really important to watch replays and analyse the good players, they aren't good for nothing - even though we do many mistakes and bad stuff as well, haha.

I don't think its because of the beta phase. I think that's how the game is since it's a team game and it's always easier to play with people you know and you can trust than new people.

To return to topics such as International and hero picks, what is your take on the decision not to add any more heroes before the International?

- I agree to the decision to stop more heroes for a stable pool of heroes. This gives everyone the same chance to practice and to have time to find stable strategies than rather throw in a new hero a week before TI2 that mess everything up.

How have you enjoyed the system otherwise? Having to adapt to new hero possibilities every other week.

- I think its fun, there's always something new to play, hehe. Competitive-wise it's good to have the other 4 in my team who have been more active than me. Since I've been playing HoN there are some heroes completely new to me). It's good that they know which heroes that are viable more than me, haha.

You're seen playing Chen and Enchantress a lot, and for good reasons. Ever get tired of these heroes?

- Not really, haha! I never get bored of playing them, they are fun because you can do something extra with them and actually really turn a game. That it requires some micro doesn't make it worse either. It's always fun to play something which some people find hard. Every game is a new game, you can go take different camps and you can always gang different lanes.

So there's no hero you're dying to play, but Pajkatt won't let you?

- Actually I've begged him to pick Visage but we haven't find any strategy yet with it, haha. I would also like to play Keeper of the Light but it's also hard to find a lineup where he actually is good... Though I've picked for us in some scrims now so maybe I can sneak that in!

Oh yea, I think we'd all love to see Visage played with some Akke-micro. Last question; how do you like your name to be pronounced internationally? I've heard both "Ake" and "A-key".

- Haha, it's a bit weid when pronounced in English but I guess I say "A-key" Thank you for the interview! Shoutouts to our main sponsors Razer, owned.tv, Elobuff and XMG!