What do you exactly do for the LGD? Do you watch replays and analyze opponents on behalf of the team or the team players rather do that themselves?
My main job is to make arrangement for the players' daily routine, activities and also tournament related scheduling, basically non-gaming stuff. Besides that, I am also tasked to communicate with our sponsors and media. Speaking of training, I did some analysis for them before but they think I'm too noob and refused to listen to me. I wanted to help them with that but now, they usually watch replays and analyze opponents by themselves. They don't really need me for that.
So did you organized the photo shot before TI3?
Actually, Perfect World organized that photoshoot for the top Chinese teams going. Although The International 3 is approaching and most teams want to practice more for the event, everybody agreed that the photo looked really cool and they are glad that they did the photoshoot.
There is a difference between the level of game play between LGD.cn and LGD.int. What do you think LGD.int needs to work on to get to the same level as LGD.cn is at now?
I believe LGD.Int is in a better form after RedBull ECL. We had some discussions prior to the tournament about gameplay and strategies and now, they have a much better cooperation. The International 3 should be able to give us an answer for this.
The benefit of the LGD organization is having two Dota 2 teams. Do the teams train just against one another to hide strat or do they train against other Chinese teams as well?
Yeah they train with other teams too. Almost all the professional teams train with each other. Unfortunately, we have high ping playing on the European server because if they could actually train with European teams without delay, they would be more than happy to play those games to improve themselves.
Editor's note: The answer above has been changed due to a translation error.
Looking at LGD.INT do you think they are able to make top eight or perhaps further in placing?
I think they have the chance to get into the top eight at TI3. All the teams this year are very close in skill level and their future lies in their hands. I have faith in them.
In our recent draft analysis, we noticed that the Eastern draft and China especially, love their Visage. What is the reason for the eastern teams to pick Visage more than the Wisp?
I think Visage is much more helpful in a team-fight than Wisp. He is good in the laning phase and the Familiars could be used to do multiple stuff like scouting. I think Chinese teams just don't like to pick Wisp right now just like how the western teams picked Gyrocopter a few months ago and the Chinese teams did not.
A lot of people said western teams are better at drafting than Chinese teams. Does that mean Chinese teams drafts are outdated?
The playstyle and training style between Chinese teams and Western teams are different. Western teams spend much more time developing new strategies and new heroes while Chinese teams focus more on personal skills and teamwork. We just have different emphasis. I would say there are no drafts that are outdated, only drafts that suit the team best.
We have notice that LGD.int has already arrived to Seattle. Why did they leave before LGD.CN?
That is because LGD.Int's visa in China is expiring soon. Besides, we want them to have more time practicing against western teams to get more inspiration and experience. That's why they left before LGD.cn.
Traveling to America is a big ordeal. Do you think jet lag will affect the LGD squads performance?
It could have some negative influences on gameplay because we only have two or three days to get used to it. The difference in time between Hangzhou and Seattle is 16 hours. We made plans to adjust our body clock and as long as everybody works on it, we should be fine.
How long are the guys training per day now? Are they training harder than they were doing before?
LGD did not require the players to overtime but it is the team members decision to train harder than what they were doing before. They train more than eight hours a day right now and they are out for the win.
What is the training mostly focused on? Developing new strategies? Analyzing opponents? Or Building personal skills?
All of those. We balance our training to have all these components in it so that we can understand our opponents better and at the same time, be able to outplay them when the time comes.
Na`Vi recently went to China for boot camping. Do you think the Chinese teams benefited more from that or Na`Vi did?
I think Na`Vi gained more than the Chinese teams during their visit. They get to play against Chinese teams without any delay and because of that, they get to familiarize themselves with the Chinese playstyle. What we learned from their visit is even without LightOfHeaven and Smile, Na`Vi is still incredibly strong.
What did LGD exactly learned from Na`Vi and Alliance's visit to China?
We found some loopholes in our team and we can now position ourselves better. We will work harder to improve our execution before TI3.
The Western teams look promising this time round, do you think there will be more Western teams going into the top eight?
It is hard to say. The only thing I can be sure of is TI3's competition is going to be fierce.
OK, let's talk about something fun now. We know that LGD just established a female Dota 2 team. Are there any differences on the level of game play between girls' team and guys' team?
Yes, there is a difference between the girls and the guys team. A big one on that.
Do they train as hard as the LGD.cn and LGD.int team?
I do not know much because I am only living with LGD.INT and LGD.cn. LGD.Girls is an online team. However, they do have a huge passion for the game and they are all very important to the team.
Do you think the break-up between Zhao Jie and Xiao8 affected Xiao8’s performance in his recent games?
I do not think so. He is a mature man and also a responsible team captain.
Any of the team members dating as well? Are you not scared something like this will happen again?
Yes they are and that is fine because the bonding between the team members are so tight, the closest I have ever seen. They are able to talk about anything.
Assuming any of the LGD teams win the championship, how will you celebrate their win?
I will go and kiss them.
OK that's all for today. Thank you for taking this interview with GosuGamers. Any last words to our reader?
Thanks for waiting such a long time for this interview because I just got back from ChinaJoy. Thanks to our sponsors Taobao, LGD, Razer and Kingston. Special thanks to RuRu for everything she has done for the club. As for the fans, thanks for your continuous support and I believe LGD.cn and LGD.Int will make a deep run in TI3!
