Not many has heard from Xun Tao 'XTT' Xu, Vici Gaming's former 3 position player, after he departed from Vici Gaming on the 10th of June. Recently, we caught glimpse of XTT playing for RisingStars in our very own Gosucup Asia in which the team placed second, losing only to Zenith in the grand finals.
With all the shenanigans and rumours surrounding his departure from Vici Gaming, we conducted an interview with him to clarify if he is officially a part of Rising Stars now, the reason he left Vici Gaming and his thoughts of the recent match fixing scandal.
Interview with XTT
We saw you playing for RisingStars in Gosucup last weekend. Have you officially joined Rstars?
Not yet. I am already here, living in Rstars gaming house but I am not officially in the team. I'm still waiting to sign the contract.
Considering that Rstars is already a five-man team, who are you going to replace in Rstars?
I will be replacing their current 3 position player Mofi. I am not too sure why he is leaving but I think it is because he has some personal issues to handle.
What's the major hold up with you joining RisingStars? I mean you have even moved in.
The contract with Rstars is not finalized because we are still waiting on Vici Gaming's official termination of me as a player in their team. At the moment, I am still technically in their team.
Your departure from VG surprised many. Why did you choose to leave VG?
I feel that there is something wrong with the atmosphere within the team. I don't think I get enough respect from the players themselves and also during in-game.
So why did you choose Rstars? Have you thought about joining other teams?
After I left VG, I went home to my family and the first few days was really boring. Soon after that, I received a text from Rstars manager asking me to join their team and since my family also gave me their support to join, I decided to go for it. Besides, I don't think any other professional teams in China will have space for me right now.
When the news of you leaving VG was announced, fy also stated that he has left the team but to rejoin VG one day later. There were rumors saying Rstars manager asked fy to steal his contract with VG and bring it to Rstars. Is this true? Do you know what happened to fy during those time?
No, no such thing happened. As for fy, I have nothing much to say because I have not established contact with my former teammates after I left the team.
How do you see VG as a team?
I think that VG players have very high individual skills but their execution is very bad.
Same question on Rstars. What is the best part and worst part of Rstars in your opinion?
Rstars players do not have the same level of personal skills as VG guys do but their execution is better. The best part about Rstars is we all work together very closely and we trust each other. The bad part is we all lack experience.
Have you heard about the recent betting scandal involving former RoX.KIS player Solo? Give us your thoughts about this.
I think that the players need better regulation.
Rumors point out similar issues also exist in the Chinese professional scene. From what you know, is that true?
I believe these rumors are all from Sgamers forum. Most of the rumors from the forums are just pure bullshit and I don’t think the players will do such a thing. They have too much pride to do it.
Following the incident, Solo received a lifetime ban but was later revoked to a one year ban by Starladder. Do you think this punishment is sufficient?
The punishment is quite reasonable in my opinion. Players' professional years are short and one year is actually quite a long time.
A trusted source told us you thought the whole team would leave with you when you leave VG, but in the end you ended up leaving VG alone. Is the true?
No that’s not true. Is that from Sgamers also? They have too strong of an imagination. My departure from VG has nothing to do with fy or anyone else.
No it's not from SGamer actually. Anyway moving on, currently VG, Rsnake, Rstars and For.Love are left at the bottom of DSL. Some of these teams will be demoted and removed from DSL next season. Which team has the highest chance of staying in DSL in your opinion?
Rstars is the strongest among these teams. We will do whatever we can to make sure we can stay in DSL. RSnake and VG are most threatful to us.
Do you know who will take your spot in VG?
Former Rstars player InJuly will replace me in VG.
OK now let’s talk about TI3. iG is not having a good time recently. Which team do you think will top TI3?
It’s really hard to predict. Personally, I favor the Chinese teams but the western teams are really strong now.
Now that Na’vi is in China, will Rstars practice with them?
Of course we will. We are ready to get schooled!
Last question about TI3, Quantic Gaming, aka dd.dota2, and Rsnake will compete for the last spot in TI3. Which team do you think will advance?
I don't want to make any pre-mature guesses but all I want to say is Quantic is extremely strong right now.
As we all know, there are much more tournaments and leagues in the western scene than in Chinese scene. Do you think this is hurting Chinese teams?
Yes. There are not many tournaments in China, all of which are big tournaments. No team dare to try out new strategies and drafts. You can't perform new strategies in training games because your opponent might hide their true response and learn from your strategies. New strategies have to be tested in real combats.
Thank you for taking our interview. Very interesting answers indeed. Any shoutout to your fans?
Errrrr....do I have any? *laughs*