It’s Gosu.Whilst some players from It’s Gosu are known to the public such as Bulba, 1437 and Universe, another player that is beginning to gain spotlight for his steady performances is none other than former Blight.USA Dota team member, Josh “PAINTITGOLD” Amos.
In an extensive interview with It’s Gosu, PAINTITGOLD shares his views on issues regarding transitioning from HoN to Dota 2, the team’s performances, team roster changes and a lot more.
Here are some of the excerpts from the full interview, courtesy of It’s Gosu official website.
Hello PAINTITGOLD – Thank you very much for joining me in this interview. To start off, can you please introduce yourself to the readers and tell them more about your gaming background?
Hi my name is Josh Amos, also known as "PAINTITGOLD". I've been playing DotA off and on for about ~6 years. I started off by buying WC3 and playing online ladder matches, then I found custom games and fell in love with how fun they were. How many games, on top of the variety of all the custom games was just addicting. Before I played DotA I loved playing games like Footmen Frenzy, Hero line wars, etc. and I actually joined a clan for Winter-Maul wars. The leader of the clan HATED DotA with a passion which lead me away from it for a while, but eventually I tried it and was instantly addicted. I played in the original IHL created by Ucross which held standards for gaming like no league to date has ever been able to match - except perhaps IHCS. The games were serious, the league and rules upheld and respected. The competitive atmosphere of the league was simply addicting, with every player giving it his all every game. Playing with well known players at the time, such as JMC, TPD and coL was nerve-wrecking, yet was un-resistible. My drive for competitive started there. Since then, I've played with countless North American teams that stood at the top of the North American scene, and have made a stamp on the international scene. The most recent team I played for in DotA1 was Blight.USA which actually held the #1 spot on GosuGamers rankings for a while.
In January of this year, you received the opportunity to play in the It’s GoSu eSports’ Dota 2 division, replacing your friend Frankie “INPHINITY” Pravo. How did you end up joining GoSu and replacing INPHINITY?
I wouldn't say replacing is the right word, Frankie left on his own accord, I wouldn't ever try to take Frankie's spot willingly if his heart had been in it. I started playing NA-DL to work on my individual skill because I thought I had much to work on to get back in shape and play competitively. I was actively looking for teams to scrim with and to improve myself, I originally told Sam, aka Bulba that I wanted to join as a 6th man just to gain experience in scrims and that I would be available to scrim often. At that time, I scrimmed with them for 2 days or so and they invited me, our goals lined up and I joined the starting roster, the problem being Brood_star also went inactive as Frankie left, so we were left with only 4 players.
After playing Dota 2 competitively, what do you think about the game as a whole? Which are your favorite heroes?
The game right now competitively is in a blender, you throw everything in and you're not sure what's going to come out. Right now, no team has solid foothold on the game except perhaps Na'Vi and coL. We have had disappointed losses due to "cheesey" strategies that we haven't been prepared for, which has been sort of demoralizing for our team, but we're working towards and striving for consistency.
As for my favorite heroes, they're slaying heroes! Kill da enemy! My favorite heroes would have to be, in no certain order: Storm, Sandking, Queen of Pain, Zeus, Ancient Apparition.
We always see the same heroes in competitive games over and over again. What do you think IceFroG can do to make heroes such as Bloodseeker, Huskar or even Spirit Breaker more competitive?
Huskar is fine as he is, without doubt. That hero is very potent mid-game, it's just about finding someone who wants to form a lineup around it. Spirit breaker is also competitively viable,
I'd say he's going to see more action in the near future in fact. The speed buff he gives to the entire team is a huge benefit and I'm sure we'll see people picking him up. Bloodseeker, I don't see a role for him as of now, but in the right lineup with enough balls, he's usable without doubt. The only thing restricting heroes is the mind of the players and what they're used to.
In your opinion, which teams do you think are the best in Dota 2 at the moment?
Na'Vi I think is the strongest. The Ukrainian and Russian teams such as Na'Vi, PGG's team and Artstyle's team are all unpredictable from their picks to their lanes, which makes them very difficult opponents. coL also known as FIRE has very strong team-play. DD is a really strong team also. AL were doing quite well, but I think that teams have caught on to their playstyle and they've lost their confidence after losing a few games. EG is scrimming, improving and getting their playstyle down nowadays which make them a much fiercer opponent than in the past.
The complete interview features much more content with PAINTITGOLD’s thoughts on recent controversies with EG and Artsyle, his opinion regarding balance issues in Dota 2 compared to HoN and more. Be sure to check it out (HERE)
It’s Gosu current roster:
Bulba
1437
Universe
PAINTITGOLD
Bdiz
A special thank you to GoSuMali for sharing his insight on the team.
Stay tuned as we bring you updates of It's Gosu, NA Dota and more.
Links
It's Gosu - It's Gosu PAINTITGOLD Interview