AdmiralBulldog is making his first debut at Valve's annual event The International this year and his team just finished going on a rampage in the group stage, playing 14 games and going undefeated. We caught up with the budding star and he talked to us about his first appearance in The International and also his travel issues prior to the tournament.
Hello everyone this is Tjernobyl from GosuGamers and with me here I have AdmiralBulldog from Alliance and we're obviously in Seattle for The International 3. Tell us Bulldog, what is it like to be in The International 3?
Well, we boot camp for a month in Stockholm and overall it went really good. There was a point in the boot camp where we were in a little bit of a slump and we performed pretty poorly at that time. That was when we were defeated at The Defense. So, we just sat down and talk as a team about our problems, we fixed it and since then, we have been performing better.
What were the issues you found during boot camp?
It was mostly communication problems. We weren't really speaking a lot during the games and we weren't really sharing what went wrong and what we were doing but that went better after the talk.
I heard there were delays about the boot camp, before the entire camp started? Is this true?
Yeah well, we were suppose to get a gaming house much earlier and it was just delayed for a really long time. We managed to get an apartment temporarily just for TI3 for a month.
What are the dynamics in the team? Who is the one calling the shots during the game?
Well, during the game, basically everyone. S4 does most of the calling but everyone pitches in and early game is mostly Akke who roams around the map.
How is it like playing with Akke and Loda? They have so much experience, do you feel that you are benefiting from that in late game especially?
Yeah I guess. I always look up to them when I was younger and I also remember them as legends in Dota scene, especially the Swedish scene. It is a real pleasure to play with them. They have some insight to late game but everyone knows what they are doing really.
Before, there were some stamp stating eastern Dota is better than western Dota but right now, TI3 seems to be reversed. What are your thoughts about eastern and western playstyle and the whole mentality?
People always like to hype things and say Chinese Dota is suppose to be so good. They are really good but so are the western scene. I think the western scene is better, the most important thing about games like these is to be creative and Chinese players aren't really into that whereas we are. So that's a big plus for us. The Rosh strat and whatnot, I have never seen Chinese teams do that, not in recent times at least. They have really high individual skills and their team play is probably the best, they are just not as creative as the western scene, they don't think outside the box and that's why I think we are better.
Is that why you went 14-0 in the groupstage?
That's part of it. It is also because we have our playstyle, very similar for a really long time, and we basically perfected it. We play the same stuff all the time and we feel extremely confident and we don't feel that many can beat us. If you win games all day, you feel extremely confident, you don't feel like anything can stop you. Right now, we feel really confident against the Chinese because we have such a drafting advantage. They have to ban Wisp and we don't have to ban Wisp because they don't really play it. During out boot camp, we practiced against a lot of Wisp. We are not going to give it against experienced teams like Fnatic but if iG or Orange would pick up Wisp, we will be fully prepared for that.
How was your trip traveling to Seattle? I heard that you have some issues with flights?
Yeah it was horrible. It was almost too good to be true, fly to Amsterdam then to Seattle. I've done it before and it's not so bad but in Amsterdam, we got stuck and we had to wait for 24 hours. We got compensated for those, that was nice, we got about 600 Euros per person, that is quite a lot. At the end, everyone in the team got into 3 separate flights. Me and Marcus, my manager, went to Iceland and to Seattle. When we were flying from Iceland, what happened was I was sleeping and when I looked up at the monitor, I saw the flight turning back to Iceland. I didn't understand what was going on and at one point, the entire flight started shaking. I thought there were some problems with the plane and I thought we were going to crash or something. I was a bit worried but I found out there was this guy getting all crazy and obnoxious, I think he was just drunk or something. So we had to fly back.
Wow, that's really awful. So how long were you stuck in Iceland in total?
After we went back, we had to wait for three hours because they have to search the entire flight for whatever he (drunk guy) have done. We were there for about 10 hours.
Do you think it affected the final boot camp because teams arrived to Seattle much earlier to train?
I don't think it affected us. If anything, it just made me angry and I just wanted to play more. We came here prepared. Playing a day here doesn't really do anything, it's just a warm up. Nobody is coming up with new strategies or playstyles here. It really didn't affect us.
Are you nervous about playing here? This is arguably the biggest event in Esports. How does it feel playing here?
Of course. I am usually very nervous on the first game. I was very nervous in G-1 as well because we were doing the Rosh strat and I was almost choking. The first game here as well, I'm just always nervous on the first game. It drops off after the first game, maybe when we go into the booth I might get a little nervous in the first game but I don't think it's going to affect that much.
What do you think about winning The International? Is it about fame, money or just being the best?
I don't really care about the money. Coming here to win 1.4 million dollars would be amazing but it is not really why I do it. I have everything I want in life, in terms of what money can give me, I don't really need it. The main reason I come here is the urge to be the best and just wanting to play and beat the best.
Speaking of being the best, going back a year, you were basically an unknown player and you probably had the fastest entry to being a star. What are your thoughts on that?
I was really lucky. It all started with me just playing pubs and I was just playing Lone Druid at that time, nothing else, ever. I was playing against Dendi a few times and he randomly added me to his friend list. Initially, I thought it was a fake nicker but as it turned out it wasn't and I was really confused. He just wanted to play some pubs with me and we played some pubs. One day, they needed a stand-in and he asked me. I was like why not. The enemy team don't really know about me, so, I got Lone Druid. After that I played with them a few more times and it was what got me noticed. I wanted to play more in the competitive scene because it was fun and I came into the team with S4 and that's where it all started.
Did you expect anything like this a year ago?
No, there was no way. I remember watching TI2, it was such an amazing event and the games were amazing. I never thought I will be good enough to play there but with hard practice and dedication, anyone could come here.
Did you follow other games before Dota 2? For example Dota 1 or Heroes of Newerth?
I played Dota 1 for like six years. It's one of my favorite games, it's really fun. After Dota 1, I played Heroes of Newerth a little because my friends switched to it and I have to go along. I didn't like it that much but since my friends are there, I play it as well.
I understand that Kelly is now your manager. How are things working out with that?
I think she is doing an amazing job. She is really nice and she helps us with anything we need. She's just the perfect manager I think.
And prior to Kelly, you don't have any manager?
Um.. No. We have Caramon and he just schedules all our matches but we didn't have a manager.
Was it after G-1 that Kelly was made the manager?
At G-1, she came along with Loda and she really helped us a lot because she speaks Chinese and in China, the people don't really speak good English. Sometimes, it's really hard to understand them and what they want us to do. She was there to translate it all for us and that's how it started.
Do you have any plans after TI3?
No, not really. We are just going to keep playing as a team and depending if we win and how well we do, I might go for a trip, do something fun. We are going to relax for a month or so.
Thanks a lot for the interview. Do you have any shoutouts, to Delta Airlines maybe?
No. No shoutout to Delta Airlines you assholes. Shoutout to our sponsors XMG, Razer and Monster, to my team and to all the fans for supporting me.
