In this recently released interview, Puppey explains why Na`Vi don't always succeed, talks about his view on eSports in general and his hobbies. He also shares his views on the Chinese scene and on the 'LoL vs. Dota 2' debate.
Your team Na'Vi has been criticized for not being serious enough, a syndrome all too familiar for CIS teams. Do you feel there is still a gap between Na'Vi and the rest of the western teams? If so is the gap growing bigger or smaller ?
The gap is small and it is the teams health which grows it or diminishes it, through time it is hard to keep the same pace going, since the pace must always keep accelerating or in other words, constant progression is “keeping the same pace”. There are lots of philosophies in how I can explain these things and why they happen, but for everyones sake, I can tell you that the whole “not being serious enough” is just a camouflage of stupidity and ignorance.
[...]
Still the coveted DreamHack Champion title alludes your team, this DreamHack Winter everyone had Na'Vi and Empire as the favorites to go all the way. In the end you get knocked out 2-0 by team Evil Geniuses. Does this frustrate you at all or do you just shrug it off and look ahead to upcoming matches ? (If it does any special plan or shift in team mentality for the next DreamHack event ?)
It was all about practice. Spending more days figuring out how this version works would be a start to even any tournament - we did not do that, so the outcome is obvious.
[...]
People frequently talk about how release of Dota 2 will usher in a new era of Dota with huge floods of new players but this seems all too familiar to an argument which was also said with HoN. Granted Dota 2 is going to be free-to-play right of the bat but do you see Dota reaching the same heights or even surpassing League of Legends ? Is there room enough for both ?
Dota 2 will not surpass League of Legends in player amounts. And quite frankly, it does not really matter, both games are enjoyable and very popular right now. They both come from the same creators of Dota so it is all connected.
The gap is small and it is the teams health which grows it or diminishes it, through time it is hard to keep the same pace going, since the pace must always keep accelerating or in other words, constant progression is “keeping the same pace”. There are lots of philosophies in how I can explain these things and why they happen, but for everyones sake, I can tell you that the whole “not being serious enough” is just a camouflage of stupidity and ignorance.
[...]
Still the coveted DreamHack Champion title alludes your team, this DreamHack Winter everyone had Na'Vi and Empire as the favorites to go all the way. In the end you get knocked out 2-0 by team Evil Geniuses. Does this frustrate you at all or do you just shrug it off and look ahead to upcoming matches ? (If it does any special plan or shift in team mentality for the next DreamHack event ?)
It was all about practice. Spending more days figuring out how this version works would be a start to even any tournament - we did not do that, so the outcome is obvious.
[...]
People frequently talk about how release of Dota 2 will usher in a new era of Dota with huge floods of new players but this seems all too familiar to an argument which was also said with HoN. Granted Dota 2 is going to be free-to-play right of the bat but do you see Dota reaching the same heights or even surpassing League of Legends ? Is there room enough for both ?
Dota 2 will not surpass League of Legends in player amounts. And quite frankly, it does not really matter, both games are enjoyable and very popular right now. They both come from the same creators of Dota so it is all connected.
Read the full interview at absoluteLegends.net
