Absolute Legends player 
Scott "bLeek" Jensen has been demonstrating breathtaking individual skill and taking the competitive scene by storm. In an interview by GosuGamers Jaywalker and Shostakovich, bLeek talks about aL, his love for Silencer and Leshrac as well as recent results.Hi bLeek, thanks for accepting this interview. Could you give us an introduction of yourself?
Hello, I am Scott “bLeek” Jensen a 19 year old Canadian university student. Currently just spending my time between studying and playing a game I am passionate about.
How did you first got into the world of Dota?
I only first got into Dota when Dota 2 was announced, I had played WC3 custom games but I could never get into Dota due to the harsh community. However a few longtime friends did convince me to get into HoN, in which I found a lot of enjoy playing, until I got frustrated with the direction that the game proceeded in and switched after receiving my Dota 2 key from a friend.
Before joining Absolute Legends, were you in any other competitive teams?
This is my first serious competitive team; however I did receive an offer from friends in It's Gosu to play with them a long time ago. I was just having fun messing around in inhouse leagues such as NADL in which I have made a lot of friends.
How did you get to join Absolute Legends?
I met aL.Snoopy through other friends such as PIG who has been a longtime friend of his and we just started to play NADL together with our little group. Some months later Snoopy brought up the topic of r1sk leaving aL due to personal time constraints when we were talking on vent and he wanted to know if I could replace him shortly before The Defense matches. I always enjoy playing with Snoopy so I accepted and they started practicing with me and it seemed like a good fit.
Having no prior competitive play experience, you debuted to the public during a match against Dignitas in The Defense. What do you feel are the areas you have improved since your debut?
I think mainly my mentality in the game has improved, I've also worked and trying to play more safely in matches rather than just messing around. I never felt I was an amazing player and I think that helps you improve a lot more since you can be really objective. That's why I usually don't like to watch VoDs of my games, I just see how badly I play.
With your addition to the roster, we have seen certain role changes where each player seem to have a more flexible role now, such as Shatan not always with hard carry, Musica not always the designated solo mid player. Was it a difficult transition for the team?
Once I joined the transition seemed fairly easy, we never had to force people to play on heroes they did not want to. I think having flexible players gives you quite an advantage drafting wise so it is definitely a bonus.
You are known to play heroes that were not popular in the metagame and changing many people’s opinions about them due to your different style of play, such as your play on Silencer. What were your motivations to bring these heroes out?
The silencer pick was not actually our idea, we had been scrimming Next.kz a fair bit and they tried running it with their own style and it was quite effective. So we adopted that pick from them but applied our own style of play towards it. I like playing Silencer because I can steal other heroes attributes which also works nicely with aggressive play. With the Leshrac build I felt we needed to be aggressive and lightning is more for defending towers, so I skilled stats instead and just ran into their team. I don’t necessarily believe that I was the one to bring those heroes into the game but they were fun to play.
We have seen you play heroes such as Silencer, Leshrac, Mirana. But what is your favorite hero that you would love to play?
As a team we decided that my role was the carry even if it was not the one I enjoy the most. The heroes I always enjoy the most were secondary supports such as ES/SK much like Mania from Quantic plays.
You are also known to play an excellent Pudge, however we have not seen much play of the hero from you competitively. Is it because there are limited oppurtunities for Pudge to perform well?
In my opinion playing Pudge truly relies on momentum and being in the right state of mind before the game begins. If the game starts going away from your favor in the early game a hero like Pudge is almost ruined. It was also more of just a fun inhouse hero and EG slaying hero to play for me.
Outworld Destroyer and Shadow Demon were both added to competitive play recently. However, teams seem to prefer common and ‘established’ style of picks instead of incorporating them in their lineup. Do you feel that these heroes are lacking something or it is just a phase in the meta-game?
I think a lot of teams are still figuring out those heroes place in Dota 2 in general along with the current metagame. I know a lot of players say it is vastly different from Dota so there are still some things to figure out. There is no doubt that they will find a place into the game though, however it may take a little longer.
Lycan has just been added into the mix of heroes. With its strong jungling capabilities, early DPS potential and pushing power do you feel that this hero could spell the end of squishy heroes such as Silencer and Leshrac?
Lycan would put a lot of pressure on Silencer as he is quite weak at pushing and defending pushes, so it would be hard to pick him up against a Lycan. On the other hand Leshrac is still quite potent in both the support and semi-carry roles as he can defend in a teamfight against Lycan and is a great pusher/anti pusher. Even in a support role he can catch up on farm quite quickly later in the game, much like Na'Vi did with the carry ES against It's Gosu.
Many heroes have not seen much competitive play, such as Axe, Huskar, Spiritbreaker and Bloodseeker. Do you feel that they are in fact viable heroes just waiting for the right manner of play, or that they simply need buffs?
I think every hero is viable in certain lineups but at the current moment heroes like SB, BS, etc. are difficult to lane and taper off in effectiveness. I am a firm believer in playing heroes you are comfortable with so hopefully a team can come around that has a player who enjoys those heroes and they can incorporate them into some lineups.
Would staying within your comfort zone mean predictable plays? For example, the old Fnatic team always ran predictable strategies of having a hard carry, and although it had some early success it became easy to counter just as the meta-game changed as well.
It somewhat makes you plays predictable but you could say that about any safe lineups for the current metagame, it isn’t hard to determine what will happen most of the time. Playing within your comfort zone gives you a positive mentality and familiarity with what your goals are in the match, which are huge in this type of game.
Absolute Legends will be participating in Asian Dota Masters, a competition featuring the top teams in Asia. Absolute Legends will be one of the only team there that has consistently played against top EU and NA teams. Do you feel that this is an advantage that aL has gained by participating in both Asia and EU/NA tournaments?
Of course! Having practice against all sorts of play styles and lineups really strengthens your teams’ cohesiveness when faced with peculiar situations in a match. It is much easier to deal with something you have seen before and know the faults of your losses against or what you could have done better.
bLeek staring into your soul
Recently, aL triumphed against Na'Vi and many did not expect that result. How did aL planned the game against Na'Vi? Did you have any special consideration against them, or against a specific Na'Vi player?
We had discussed the picks and bans that would be the most effective against Na'Vi, and ones that we were comfortable with. We cannot really practice before matches as it isn't practical for Aussies, so we try to get as much rest as possible. The first game was quite hard on our moral and we were indecisive in our lanes, leaving me with the wrong items for a mid matchup. Also I know my team comes from dota where they understood what SD is capable of, but I had never played against it seriously, making it quite a rude awakening facing an SD played by Dendi.
In the second game, we had Antimage against Morphling. Were you convinced that you would be able to outfarm XBOCT's Morphling?
We were a lot more comfortable and awake in the second game, which allowed us to have a stronger early game. I was sure that i would atleast be able to match XBOCT's farm as he is a phenomenal carry player, but we had quite strong teamfight so equal farm i thought gave us an advantage. Especially once i picked up BKB I knew we were in a solid position, now that i was not vulnerable to them create images of me.
I know for a fact that aL is scrimming against the Chinese teams, and you had a chance to play against a lot of them in jD Masters. What are your impressions about the asian teams?
I think that the Chinese teams do have to be taken seriously, even if they do not have enough practice in the game. JD Masters in general was quite hard on us as it began to get quite delayed and i had not slept, leaving us all very tired by the finals. The finals MUFC played really well and I know that in my tired state cost my team the series.
You will face
CLG in It's Gosu Monthly Madness today. What are your thoughts on the finals?I think in preparation for our match against CLG we will watch some matches they have played recently, and determine from there our gameplan. We will simply try to rest up and give it our all, and i hope CLG will as well with their new roster. No matter the outcome i just hope to have an entertaining series with a great team.
That's all from us, thank you for your time. Do you have any shoutouts?
Shoutouts to Piggy, buns, bdiz laugh, finesse, Bulba, dog, Absolute Legends, and all our fans.
Be sure to watch the epic finals for It's Gosu Monthly Madness between Absolute Legends and Counter Logic Gaming. The Bo5 finals will be casted by Ayesee and Draskyl on the 29th of March at 1800 CET.