Hello Devilelf. How are you doing? Do you mind introducing yourself to our community? (How old are you? How long have you been playing etc)
Hello. It's nice to meet you! I am DevilElf, 28 year old and this is my fifth year playing Dota.
Before we proceed with the interview, tell us what do you think about the Korean Dota scene in comparison to the rest of the world? I'm sure you watched The International 3.
Dota is still relatively new in Korea and Koreans definitely need more practice. The passion for Dota 2 is however, greater than any other countries.
Did you have any teams you were supporting during TI3?
LGD, Liquid and Quantic. I play the support role and I usually watch how the supporters move. I realized the supporters of these three teams were very impressive. Despite their early exit, I still support them.
If I'm not mistaken, you were briefly a part of FXOpen initial roster and when Starter League rolled by, we did not see you playing for them anymore. What happened?
There were some problems between me and the team. They say I was low skilled and too old. Then they told me they can't play with me anymore.
Well that's really unfortunate to hear especially considering FXO ended up winning the Nexon Starter League. I'm pretty sure you did not participate in the tournament. Did you went to the Gangnam Studio to watch it though?
Yeah I was an observer in the game. The casters do not have much idea about Dota 2, so I was controlling the in-game camera for them while they cast what I see.
Why did you not join another team after they removed you?
I was mentally broken after they removed me. Besides that I couldn't gather teammates better than FXO at that time and feel that we will lose to FXO. Third reason is financial problems. GOMTV observer is more profitable to me at that time (laughs)
Well, a lot of roster changes happened after NSL and your team probably underwent the biggest roster change? Tell me who came in and who went out? What were the reasons for that?
Most of the members of the current E'oT team are actually from Mineski Korea. We won WCG together last year and when our team leader, Day, approached me to join the team, there were no doubts in my head.
Nexon recently announced the Nexon Sponsorship League. What will be your motivation going into the tournament?
Number one. Champion! I want to be champion!
What is E'oT's usual training routine. Do you guys normally scrim against other Korean teams or SEA/Chinese teams?
We usually play team matchmaking and when we find some good teams, we will ask them to play with us on a regular basis. There's a big skill gap between us and the good teams and therefore, we really need to practice more. We usually practice against some of our Pinoy friends. I'm sorry but I can't say more.
From my understanding, FXOpen, despite them having secured sponsors already, are also participating in the event. Do you think they should not be allowed to participate considering the tournament is aiming to help teams find sponsors?
It is up to Nexon to decide. The players from FXO have their dreams as well and they want to compete in the tournament too. I think it's hard for Nexon to restrict them from playing but in my personal opinion, since they already have sponsors, I think it's not right for them to join.
Assuming that E'oT does go on to win the tournament, what sort of expectations do you have for your future sponsors?
We want salary! Money makes man happy. We already got a gaming house and we are still in the midst of expanding it. Many professional gamers retires when they are about 30 and by the time they need to start looking for a proper job, they couldn't because they do not have any other experience besides playing. We don't want to be like that. We want to build up some savings and perhaps start our own little project after we stop playing.
How long do you think Dota 2 needs to catch up to Starcraft 2 in Korea, in terms of sponsorship?
Depends on how many ppl will start playing Dota 2. Earliest would be six months and by two years, the game should be widely spread all across Korea. It is really up to how many people will be interested in Dota 2 and if there are as many people playing Dota 2 as there were Starcraft back in the day, we can definitely achieve what Starcraft has now within the year. It's not too many now and we just have to wait.
Well that is the end of the interview. I hope you guys enjoyed the interview as much as I did. Anything you would like to say to FXO before we close off?
You guys won't be number one forever. I will be back!
