While them being ignored is mostly because of the continued support of the Philippines on WC3 DotA than lack of achievement, Pagibig.TnC is starting to claw their way back into prominence. Riding the growing wave of popularity of their game of choice, they have also been winning tournaments left and right.
With that, GosuGamers got hold of Pagibig.TnC's Captain, for the latter to talk about his team, the game, and Dota 2 on the Philippines.
Hi. We thank all of you for taking time off your busy schedule to be with us. Would you mind to introduce your team and your recent achievements?
Cast: Hello. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to be featured in your website. We are Team Pagibig.TnC. We love to compete in every DotA 2 tournament available out there. Our recent achievements include 4x Consecutive GPPC Champs, MIOT Dasmarinas DotA 2 - First Place, and GEST DotA 2 PH Qualifier Champs.
I am sure our readers would love to know more about you. Can you introduce yourself and your in-game role?
Cast: Hi. I'm Mark Pilar, also known as Cast. I've been playing DotA for 7 years now. I started playing DotA 2 October of last year. My main role is support. My former team is Duskbin where I also played as a support.
So how was the team formed?
Cast: Vash and Fox were my teammates since DotA 1. I played with them for Team Pagibig and Mineski respectively. Vonjour and Fox were teammates for [?]. I met Sel when I was playing HoN then eventually we've been playing a lot in DotA 2.
Those who may have watched your games would have noticed that your team is flexible and it is not uncommon for your players to switch in-game roles and heroes. On one game, we could see someone playing this position on this particular hero, and the next game we see another guy playing that same hero. How do you decide who plays what and how do they play?
Cast: We follow a specific role for the team, but the hero still depends on the person who's more confident using it. I let that player use the hero. The important thing is, have them play the game and win their lane.
Don't you think that that flexibility can be your weakness? Will it not be better to have specialized roles and heroes?
Cast: We still have our own specialized roles and heroes. It just changes if we have a stand in. For example, Ninjaboogie stands in for us sometimes. He could be the hard carry or mid laner, then these are just the times that the roles and heroes are actually changed.
Photo courtesy of Pacific eSports
There was a big Dota 2 Patch (6.75 parity) not too long ago. How did that affect your bans, picks and play style?
Cast: Having 2 bans instead of 3 in the first phase made a slight impact when it comes to drafting because there will be a couple of core heroes available for picking. The effect of having 3 bans in the 2nd phase is that there will be more heroes to counter the first 3 picks of the opponent team. When it comes to the play style, I don’t think there will be anything changed. It all still depends on the set of heroes that are picked.
Personally, who do you think received the biggest buff? The biggest nerf? What is the change that will affect the current meta-game the most?
Cast: I personally think that Jakiro and Sven received the biggest buffs. Lycan received the biggest nerf. Being the 2nd most banned hero in TI2, Lycan is proven to be one of the best carries in DotA. After the patch, he became kind of weak when it comes to jungling, which is one of his strengths. We might see less bans/picks of Lycan, unless he lanes. But we’ll see.
Even while being arguably one of the most accomplished Philippine Dota 2 team, you were not invited into the upcoming GEST Dota 2 Tournament. How did that make you feel?
Cast: It was okay. I was honestly expecting that we wouldn’t get invited because we don’t have that many achievements yet in DotA. Good thing there’s a qualifier for GEST Dota 2 for PH. We’ll just prove ourselves there on what we can do.
Well, that is now of the past. You have recently won the GEST PH Qualifiers in convincing manner. What can you say about your win?
Cast:We practiced almost every night as a team and sometimes solo queuing, practicing any hero. So I guess all that hard work paid off.
Now, GEST PH is fast approaching. How do you like your chances there?
Cast: I can’t say anything about what could happen, because anything is possible. Let’s just wait and see.
Who do you think is (are) the biggest competition/s on that tournament?
Cast: Orange.Esports and MUFC will be the tough teams to beat in the upcoming tournament because they are the two most experienced teams in GEST.
Let us talk about a bit on the Dota 2 scene in the country. What do you think is the state of Dota 2 in the Philippines?
Cast: The Dota 2 scene here in the PH isn’t widely recognized yet by the other top teams because they are still focused on DotA 1, especially that SMM is near. But there are some teams that focus in Dota 2 now. Maybe after SMM, the top teams will focus on Dota 2.
Beta Keys now seem to be the least of the problems for those who want to try Dota 2. What do you think is the problem why many Filipinos still don't want to play the game?
Cast: I think what people play depends on what their friends play. Also, LAN is really popular in the PH. I think that could be one of the factors, too.
Photo courtesy of Pacific eSports
Seeing the success of DotA on Phillipine eSports, would you think it will be more beneficial for the players to stay there than to switch to Dota 2?
Cast: DotA is indeed successful on Philippine eSports, but I think Dota 2 will eventually be the most played game. As soon as it hits out of beta, more people will play Dota 2. It will be a serious competitor of LoL, which is the most played F2P game right now. I think it’ll be more beneficial for the players to switch to Dota 2.
You have qualified for the PGF Dota 2 tournament to happen later this month. What are your expectations on the event?
Cast: PGF will be really awesome. As for the Dota 2 tournament, I’m looking forward playing with MSI-EvoGT.
What is the biggest advantage or edge of the team over the other participants?
Cast: Our biggest advantage over the other participants would be our experience when it comes to playing Dota 2. We only focus on Dota 2, compared to the other teams where they still balance DotA 1 and 2
What is your short-term and long-term goal for yourself and for the team?
Cast: As long as I have the skills to play, I’ll play. If I won’t, then that’s the time I’ll stop playing. It’s not really too much to ask, but with hard work, we will try to aim for the #1 spot, at least in the PH or SEA.
Any closing remarks and shout-outs?
Cast: Thank you very much for having this interview. I would like to thank TheNet.Com, Bayok our manager and boss Eric, the owner of TnC. I would also like to thank my former teammates: Jord, Papapao, Edji, Jighz, Karlo. Pagibig DotA 1 days. My Duskbin teammates: Arsian, Lei, Mr.Swish/zkk and Ninjaboogie (Peace na kayo! ). Shout-out to my friends Ekoy and Alo, too. Lastly, Estra
Author's Note: Since the interview, Pagibig.TnC had also been awarded their 5th straight GPPC Dota 2 Championship, and had performed strong on the recent ESWC East Qualifier and GosuCup Asia 1.
-Pagibig.TnC will be participating on PGF with the line-up consisting of Cast, Vash, Fox, Mike and Von.
