Behind the works of Fnatic: [MSI] NoVa_

With FnaticMSI emerging as the best of the world with recent results, beating Evil Geniuses convincingly on 3 consecutive occassions, coii from our Gosu staff aka Nasty took the time to have a chat with unsung hero NoVa_, whose dedicated support play has long been the foundation for their success.

Hello and welcome NoVa_ from the well known Team FnaticMSI, would you like to introduce yourself, for those who may not know you?

"Hello there everybody, my name is Jascha 'NoVa_' Markuse and I'm currently 20 years old."

Tell us a bit about your brief history, describe your transition from a DotA starter to being one of the best HoN players at the moment.

"I've played DotA as a pubber, moving on to a (back then) very unique community called DR - DotARank. As we moved on to a coded client by Sir-Rogers called RGC (Ranked Gaming Client) it became more crowded and after some time I started to lose interest. Trying out HoN because my brother suggested it I was playing pubs just aswell until I got picked up by the clan [HBB]. A few clans followed, the only known one to you might be [iLx] with Bot, N0tail, SemiJew and Slund. [MSI] offered us spots in their roster after a successful time in [iLx] and over the connections of StreeTT, our current manager. And then here I am."

You guys had some enthusiastic aims during your time in [iLx]. Did this attitude change the moment you got picked up by [MSI]?

"The aims were exactly the same to be honest. In [iLx] we had tons of trials (during the time of this clan and the few before it racked up to approximately 150 different people) so this time was very hard. By the time we entered [MSI] we had very good teammates with a whole lot of experience in their backs. Things became way easier and from that point on fulfilling the aims was a matter of training and coordination. Being undoubtedly the best in the world and staying there as long as we play this game to say it simple."

“

Being undoubtedly the best in the world and staying there as long as we play this game” - FnaticMSI winning DreamHack Winter 2010
"Being undoubtedly the best in the World" – the last couple of days pretty much fulfilled your aims, as you defeated any competition with ease, as it seems for uninvolved viewers.How does it feel to be as close to the top of the world as you could possibly be?

"Once you reached a certain level in competitive play there is no greater satisfaction online than seeing a well drafted strategy being executed and overpowering the opponent. Synergy and a good atmosphere is what makes playing a teamgame so enjoyable. Of course it feels amazing, although it can be a bit tiresome to participate in that many tournaments in such a short amount of time. Although we seem to have reached that aim we won't stop, however, to work on keeping that level, thus it's a race all the time and never will become sort of an excursion."

As you say this is a teamgame, a team consists of 5 people who are assigned different roles, how would you value the roles in a team? Is there any role which is far more important than the other ones?

"Of course not. Every role is similarly important. People tend to value certain heroes or roles more difficult than others, some say carry, some say main support or initiation. But when it comes down to it: If one section fails, everybody suffers equally. No farm on the carries or no wards, no rune- or lane control. So many factors need to work out perfectly in order to execute your strategy. Thus every role is (on that level at least) equally important."

Lets go deeper into your role! You're an established support player and some consider you the best in the world. What does it take to support a team like [MSI]?

"Patience. On a more serious note, you have to accumulate a lot of different factors in your gameplay. Awareness: Where do I need to be at what time? Like for most other heroes but a bit more organized it's almost kind of a schedule for every game. You need to replace the important ward spots every six minutes or restructure the wards according to the following gameplan. Thinking ahead ofcourse. You need to leave levels or sometimes kills to your teammates who need core-items, use homecoming stones whenever necessary in order to save teammates and so on. The list is endless. I'd like to add luck."

Speaking about wards... could you describe the importance of wards at specific times into the game?

"Wards entirely depend on your gameplan of choice. Would you like to play defensive or offensive? Which areas need to be covered against or for gangs? Are you planning on taking out Kongor soon or want to have an eye on the enemy team that might attempt to?

As for the times. Wards remain for six minutes. You need to start replacing them a little bit before, so you won't run through the fog, especially at night and maybe get caught off alone in a bad position. Sometimes it's already enough to set wards at certain locations thirty seconds before the enemy is going to do. If it's not exactly the same position you can easily counterward them without being counterwarded yourself."

Enlighten us on how do you spot enemy wards.

"Different factors come into play there. Warders tend to have preferred warding spots. Watching replays and analyzing these does help a lot for instance. Then simply the same applies to counterwarding as it does for warding: What will their gameplay be? Are they behind in kills and you have the more gankheavy heroes? They will most likely ward defensive obviously and you search through these wardspots. They will go for a tower soon, gathering up on the lane? You might have a ward behind your tower so they see Homecoming Stones incoming.

Also, as I mentioned, warding before the enemy does gives you perfect sight over the enemy support warding at a certain location. Pings always follow and you notice where the ward or counterward went down."

We've got the warding covered, now let's get into "not feeding as a Glacius". What is the key to be a successful Supporter when it comes down to laning and overall positioning?

"Tough question as feeding is inevitable! I believe it's a mix of awareness and prediction.

Awareness, obviously as any player is constantly checking the minimap for the enemy colors and where they went into the fog.

Prediction according to their game plan (once again) since they have to follow a strategy. If their carry is nowhere to be seen he is most likely farming woods at the moment. Extremely bad timing to go warding there right now unless you have a few mates covering your back.

If you go counter warding or warding hazardous spots don't hesitate to ask for a bit of your teammates' precious time. Explain them that they won't be pleased with a Savage Sick on the enemy Arachna right now if they let you counterward alone and they will most likely understand. Else go search a new team.

As for laning phase: Although you are the one who needs to harass most by autoattacks and spells you don't want to find yourself overextending and taking damage from the enemy creeps. Watch your positioning at all times and estimate when the enemies have enough spell power to insta-kill you with one go. Stay back entirely and wait for help such as gangs if necessary."

Simple as it is. Do you think that positioning divides Top-Tier Support players from casual Inhouse/Public-Game ones?

"I believe warding does - mostly. Knowing all ward spots by either watching tons of replays or finding them in the Practice Mode (and there are a few very hidden ones) is a very huge advantage if you're getting counterwarded too often and desperate. Positioning is, of course, a big factor aswell, but I'd value warding over it. A 0/7/5 Glacius that gives her team a huge map sight advantage at all times is of more use than a 1/1/10 one that fails terribly on that area."

Alright Support players! Get to know the ward spots and rule the world, like NoVa_ from FnaticMSI does at the moment! Thanks a lot for this interview. Last words belong to you, Jascha!

"First of all thanks a lot for the interview! Thanks aswell to the Fnatic organization and their excellent support during the Dreamhack Winter event.
Last but not least I would like to thank our sponsors, MSI, SteelSeries, Bigfoot Networks, UGAME and SLAPPA.

Shoutouts to my team, including 'StreeTT' and 'Slund' and everyone who feels in need of one. Take care."