Super: 'I heard Icefrog is a loyal fan of DK'

Hello Super, let's go back to the start. DK was the first team to get invited to The International but we did not get to hear from you about it. How did you feel then and did you see it coming? What did Valve's decision to invite a Chinese team (and DK in particular) as the first team for The International mean to you?

-"When I found out that DK was the first team to receive an invite to The International, the whole team was ecstatic and extremely excited.

The fact that we got the first ticket was probably because of our achievements in 2011 I guess (plus I heard Icefrog is a loyal fan of ours *grins*)."





When news about your invite was made known to the public, your team had only recently started playing Dota 2. How do you feel about your progress so far? Are you happy with it?

-"We were really bad at Dota 2 when we started playing, but the improvements that we made since then is quite remarkable. As for my own performance, I would give myself a 60 out of 100 but I believe I’ll do better at The International 2."

Ah, did you watch last year's The International? What were you doing then?

-"Yup, I watched it last year. Back then, I was still new to the team and so I regretted not getting an invite to the original The International. "

The original The International had its fair share of problems, though. If you had to focus on one aspect of the tournament, what do you think will be different this year? What are some of your expectations from the tournament?

-"I would say that it’s the amount of practice teams have - last year, many teams did not get enough time to prepare sufficiently for the tournament, but it’s a whole new ball game this year. Valve gave us ample time to prepare for the tournament and I can only hope that we make it into top three."



Nevertheless, I feel that your team has a ton of LAN experience but it seems like apart from SMM, DK has never left China to compete in a foreign LAN event. How do you feel about your first Dota 2 LAN tournament? Have you been to the United States before?

-"Nope, it’s my first time in the States *smiles* I’ll treat this tournament like how I treat the ones in I’ve been in in the past - take every game seriously!"



How well versed are you in English? Imagine this: TobiWan approaches team DK at The International and he says, 'So Super, what's been up with you?' What would you say to him?

-"I’m a total blockhead when it comes to speaking English, so I guess I’ll probably just stare at him blankly. *grins*"



Haha. Where is your team located now? And how have preparations been going for The International for DK?

-"We’re back at our training facility in Yunnan already. Well, we make sure we get up very early everyday to start our preparations for the event and we play about three to five Bo3 matches a day, at least."

I see that you bought tickets to watch The Defense, StarSeries, and ECAL, among others through the in game client so I would assume that you are familiar with what is happening in the Dota 2 scene in Europe and North America.

From current performance, who would be DK's toughest opponents at The International and why?

-"I would say CLG. Their performance recently has been spectacular and we haven’t been able to beat them in our scrims."



Besides CLG, which teams have you scrimmed against and how have those matches went?

-"Most of the rest, I suppose. We scrim with European and North American teams less because of poor connections but with the Asian teams, it’s been really close how those matches have went."



I think you would agree with me that Na`Vi are one of the top contenders for The International. The last time your team played Na`Vi was at World DotA Championships 2011 and that was on DotA. Your team was dominating the Chinese scene then yet Na`Vi was the only team to take a game off DK with a surprise Pudge pick in game two. (Download the replay or watch the vod!)

Tell us abit about what went through your mind after that game. How has your impression of Na`Vi been since that defeat?

-"Na`Vi are definitely one of our strongest opponents at The International, and I feel that in the Dota 2 competitive scene at least, labelling them as the juggernauts from Europe cannot be overstated at all.

It’s been awhile since we played them at World DotA Championships, so I can’t really remember what was going through my head back then. The impression that Na`Vi gave me from our only encounter was that their understanding of DotA as a game was on a whole new dimension from the way DK understood how DotA was meant to be played. It was eye-opening."

In Dota 2, which member of your team would you say is performing the best right now in your opinion? What are some of the plans your team has lined up in the next week to get everything in order before you fly off?

-"That would definitely be Burning. He’s our main carry player and he’s performing extremely well right now and leading us to victories. I would say that we’ll just try our best in the upcoming week, and hope for the best."



Well, being one of China's top solo mid players yourself, are there any European or South East Asian players that you respect?

-"I would say Dendi is the European solo mid player I’m really looking out for, while I am not really familiar with any American players.

Why? Well, I played against his Pudge at mid lane twice already last year (WDC). *smiles*"



The solo mid player often has a huge role to play in the early to mid stages of the game. Let's imagine that you suddenly switch roles with Burning and he takes over the solo mid role for DK. What is the one order that you would give to him?

-"I’ve never really thought about it this way - still, he’s the captain and I’d say that he should be the one dishing orders to me, not the other way round."

My next question is about captaining. Team captains are usually the hard supports or mid players (Puppey, Maelk, Faith, xiao8) and seldom the hard carry. I suppose your team is unusual in the sense that your captain is Burning. Does he direct the calls in game as well?

-"In the early stages of the game, the whole team is involved in calling the game, and we’ll be communicating with one another. At later stages of the game, however, Burning makes the big decisions as to how we should proceed."



Will we still see your team trashtalking foreign teams at The International, or have you guys moved on from that incident? (see what we are talking about!)

-"I doubt we will - we’re not well versed enough in English to do that. *grins*"

I understand that in China, DotA 1 is still a popular eSports title and most professional Dota 2 teams in China (iG/LGD/TongFu) also play DotA competitively because it pays well. Do you run into issues when you have to switch between training for a DotA and suddenly a Dota 2 competition?

-"There’s not much adjustment that you’ll need to do, to be honest. I feel that there are not many differences between DotA and Dota 2 - it’s mostly the visuals that you need to adjust yourself to."





That sounds legit.. Anyway, what are your thoughts on the current pool of 90 heroes to be used in The International? Are there any heroes that are not released, but you wish were available?

-"Not really.. the only hero from DotA that I know of that The International is currently lacking is Tauren Chieftain. The heroes that I really like have already been introduced into Dota 2.



Thank you for the interview, Super. Do you have anything you would like to say to our English readers? Any shoutouts as well?

-"I hope everyone will continue supporting DK - the DK that you see in Seattle will not let you guys down. Shoutout to our sponsors I-ROCKS as well!"

The interview was originally conducted in Chinese and translated into English. For Chinese reporters, the original Mandarin transcript can be obtained by sending an email to dexter[at]gosugamers[dot]net.