Achieving a second consecutive victory at ACG -with a crushing win against the Chinese team Deity in the first round- SB again proved that they are the best non-China team in Asia. Soon, Chinese teams will find their throne shaken as SB are going to join IEM in Shanghai. With the help of SB manager, GosuGamers bring you a translated version of an interview by Team captain Soso.On with VnB about StarsBoba's ACG experience as well as their preparation for IEM.
I see that you had a new manager?
-"That’s right. Our former manager – Tinykun is now busy with his studies, so we need a new manager. Recently, Zeus and June have helped us a lot in online and on-LAN tournaments, both domestic and overseas. After some team discussions, we all agreed to appoint them as our new mangers. From now on, they will represent us in every matter related to the team."
Can you explain why SB didn’t participate in ESWC – which caused a lot of rumors in the DotA community?
-"We didn’t register at first because we knew we couldn’t afford it. At that time we all wanted to participate in the tournament but we couldn’t find a sponsor. After we found the sponsor and also heard that ESWC invited 5 more teams, we immediately asked June and Zeus to register as soon as possible. We didn’t receive any news until just 3 days before ESWC, when they send us an email, asking if we were still interested in the tournament. But at that time it was too late to apply for visa so we decided not to join."
So why did you choose to participate in IEM?
-"Just right after ESWC, we search for information about upcoming tournaments and found that IEM would be held in Shanghai this July. Our sponsor agreed to fund every expense we would meet. That’s simply what happened."
Now there are 7 players in SB roster. So what will be your final line-up for IEM?
-"I will change the line-up a little to give our new member Yakumo (Recca) the chance to play. But who will be replaced by Yakumo is our little secret. I will not publish it for our own benefit. Maybe that’ll be me *smile*"
Which team impressed you most at ACG?
-"Thailand. They played impressively at ACG – even defeated the seeded team Aeon in Quater-Final. In the match against us, although they were hard-pressed, they managed to gain the upperhand in some combats. Only at late game when the differences in items were too big that they had to say GG. But I will say it again: I was really impressed with their performances.
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Thailand- They played impressively at ACG.”-"Yes, my health was bad even before we came to Singapore. I had to prepare lots of things for ACG – practice constantly, watch replays, investigate our opponents...
In the 1st day I was very tired but the victory against Deity helped me a lot. In the 2nd day I had the fever and a headache. I thought I had to give up because in the game against Taiwan, I couldn’t say anything even though I was the team captain. But then a Singaporean friend – Zazakat – bought me some drugs so I felt a little better."
Did you encounter any problem in ACG 2010?
-"The first thing I have to say is that this year Vietnam team leader is totally irresponsible. From the very first day, he told us that we must show up at 6 at the airport when the plane only took off at 9h05. We had to wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning to have breakfast and go to the airport. And then? The Vietnam team leader only arrived at 8h15. And yet he wanted us to show up at 6?
We overlooked it. When we arrived in Singapore, somehow he disappeared while we had to do all the customs procedures for ourselves. Because we are all quite bad at English, that took us a great amount of time. It was 1 p.m. and we didn’t have lunch yet.
A moment later a man from Rapture arrived but they still held us at the airport (to wait for Thailand and South Korean teams) and we still didn’t have anything to eat at all. It was 2 until the Thailand and South Koreans team finally arrived. We only had some hamburgers. And while the opening ceremony only started at 6, we weren’t allowed to go to the hotel to put away our luggage.
When the PS2/USB problem arose (SB used Mitsumi keyboards and Genius mouse – which required PS2 ports, while the computers used for the tournament only supported USB ports), I had to go to buy convert equipments. When I was back, the opening ceremony was over, everyone was having dinner – except SB. I gathered the team and we went to a nearby restaurant. Unfortunately there was nothing left and we had to eat Chinese noodles. In the 2 days of the tournament, we had our room’s keys so we went eat out by ourselves. The organizers didn’t offer any support at all.
There were only 4 beds in our room, while we have 8, so I asked the Vietnam team leader if 1-2 of us can sleep in their room (there were only 3 in their room) but he refused. At the end we all had to sleep in our room. Some had to sleep on the floor, without blanket or pillows. We had to accept it to compete in the tournament.
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Practice constantly, watch Replays, investigate our opponents…”I want to tell Rapture that they have to change the Vietnam team leader if they want us to join ACG next year."
What do you think about the organization at ACG 2010?
-"There wasn’t any problems about the organization. But, again, I want to state that the Vietnamese team leader is too irresponsible. He was more of a hindrance than a help. Using laptops to play is a bit difficult, but we familiarized with it well enough so that’s not a problem."
Before the tournament started, there were some questions about your performances and some said that you don’t have anymore interest in DotA?
-"Because they can only rate us through our appearances. It is right that we haven’t gathered for a long time and there were also no replays or news about us. But they surely couldn’t understand that for ACG, we had to do a lot of secret practice. So the fans were right with their doubts – at least from their perspective.
We also play online games but we always consider DotA and our honor as the greatest priority. And there was also a post on VnB where we told the fans that they will have to wait till ACG to see our “real” performance. And now they saw *smile*."
Why don’t you publish your training replays?
-"It was to keep secret our game tactics. Our tactics has once appeared in Vietnamese tournament. But it was a very long time since we last used it so many was surprised."
In the final, SB has picked a very strange line-up. Why did you choose it?
-"We tried it a lot during our training and we knew that it would surprise our opponents. And once they gained the upperhand, they will be fooled to think that we only rely on mass-heal to push and once they have the advantage, they will surely win. But that is their biggest mistake."
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It was hard to keep secret our game tactics.”-"Because our heroes are all very hard to die in combat. In late-game, if we have enough items, our heroes can’t be easily killed, and we will have a lot of chances of win combats. With many healers and armor breakers like Dazzle and Slardar, every of our heroes can be a dam-dealer."
Can you tell me more about the position and task of other team members? Did they fulfill it?
-"Every member fulfilled their task wonderfully. Have you seen David play in support-role? David and Archie used support hero from the beginning to the end of the tournament without making any mistake. Batteu showed that he was a very strong carry, but he made a few mistakes because he couldn’t use the custom keys software which he was so familiar with.
About MangaQ, he was so excellent. And for me, I’m pleased with myself that I picked the right tactics to use in the final. With current performances, SB will have chance in IEM."
What do you think about the 2nd consecutive victory for SB and Vietnam?
-"We are all very happy to win ACG for the 2nd time. We didn’t betray our fans’ expectations and also proved that our victories are not solely based on luck."
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With current performances, SB will have a chance in IEM. ”-"I really don’t know because I don’t have time to follow the community. But I hope that our fans are not too extremist. We have to show that although we are the champions, we aren’t arrogant but modest. Make other respect us, not hate us. That’s all."
How do you evaluate the current Chinese teams? Like EHOME, LGD.Sgty...?
-"All Chinese teams play exactly one style. So there are no differences between 1 team or 7 teams. But EHOME and LGD.Sgty are having deadly form recently. It’ll be hard to defeat them."
How are your preparations for IEM? Will there be a new “exclusive” line-up or tactics for the Chinese?
-"There will be. We will show them some unique things."
What are your last words?
-"I want to say thanks to our two new mangers: June and Zeus. They helped us a lot arrange our training matches and collect formations.
And thank you everyone for your support and help give SB the time required before we participated in ACG. We will try our best in the future. And the last word? Well the Vietnam team leader was terrible."
Links
Vnb.garena.com - Source & Picture
