Hello guys. Congratulations on securing a new sponsorship for the team. Was it hard to go through all the procedures and read through the contract before signing them?
EE: It was very difficult for many reasons. It was hard finding a sponsorship that could support a team with players from different regions as it would cost a lot to send us to any LAN. I believe our results are decent and our fan base would be fairly high because of Singsing and partially because of me and aui. However, it was still hard to secure a legit sponsor to send us to events.
Eventually RS got in contact with us and this deal was a dream deal. At first it sounded really shady because we couldn't do research on an organization but instead this is all supported by a few Chinese investors. We had to talk to a bunch of people that know the Chinese scene like LD and Godz etc. to make sure the deal was legit. We also had to talk to a middle man as we don't speak Mandarin, and I had to stay up really late to talk to them.
It's all worth it in the end though!
Alright, before we ask any further questions on Rattlesnake.Int, I have some TI3 related questions for Aui you have not been interviewed since. Team Dignitas did not perform that well in Seattle last month. What would you say is the biggest weakness in your former team?
Aui: I think that there were a multitude of problems with the Dota 2 team at Team Dignitas. The biggest one was that we were five individual players rather than a synchronized team. This led to the overall decrease in morale and a lack of synergy.
You left Dignitas almost immediately after the tournament. How did you end up in Kaipi, then an unsponsored team?
Aui: After TI, I wanted to find a team that was ultra dedicated because I wanted to take a year off school to play Dota. The fact that Kaipi was never late to practice and played a lot of Dota on top of the fact that they had a roster opening made them a clear choice.
Okay, now that we got that out of the way, the much anticipated part of this sponsorship is definitely about the move to China. Tell me, how excited are you guys to go to China? Have you been there before?
Aui: I'm very excited. Despite being 100% Chinese, I've never even been to Asia but more importantly, I'm super excited to be able to dedicate as much of my time as possible to Dota.
EE: I'm super excited as well. In general, I'll probaly just stay home all day and play Dota but I'm excited to play Dota that is properly scheduled. It's very annoying to schedule scrims in NA/EURO. The tournaments in China are cooler too. I think there will be more fans interaction as well.
Aui: I'm excited to see EE-sama do glamour shots.
Do both of you speak any Chinese at all? How are you suppose to get food?
Aui: I essentially don't speak any Chinese but everything regarding housing and food will be taken care of. I can only order dimsum in Cantonese and I think they predominantly speak Mandarin where we're going.
EE: I believe someone will cook for us, but it shouldn't be that hard to go out, many places have English written in the menu. I don't speak Mandarin but Cantonese, so basically I'm useless anyway but it should be ok.
In an interview with Akke at G-1 League, he told us that Western teams can train just as well outside of China. Alliance then went on to win The International 3 and many are questioning whether the decision you guys are making is the right one. Why have you guys decided to go there at such delicate time?
EE: The sponsor's plan was originally to have a team train there for an entire year like LGD.INT. However, we argued heavily against this. We will still be playing within NA/EURO till December. Then, we can decide whether we want to train back in NA/EURO after 6 months in China. We are taking the approach of training in both scenes.
That's a rather interesting approach and in fact it makes quite a lot of sense. Western strats are known to be substantially more diversed than the Eastern strats. What do you think you guys will be bringing to the table that LGD.Int won't be bringing already?
EE: LGD.INT has never developed their Dota in the Western scene for quite some time now. When their team first formed after TI2, they went directly to China before the Western meta was developed. We will be going during December where the western scene will develop something, months after TI3 and bring it to China.
I believe your team has not encountered Asian teams yet. Watching The International 3 and perhaps some other Chinese tournament, what do you think about their playstyle in general and what do you think is the best way for your team to tackle that?
EE: Although the Chinese teams will probably not read this interview, I prefer not to talk about strategies in public ever. Although the Chinese teams are getting flamed for TI3, in reality they are still the best with the exception of NaVi and Alliance. The Asian scene is still the strongest with the exception of a few teams.
Aui: I think the Chinese teams are extremely strong. I think the best way for us to tackle the Chinese would be to take what we learn in the Western scene and incorporate aspects of what we learned in China to find a new strong style.
What will change now that you guys are fully sponsored? Will you be increasing your daily training time or...?
Aui: I think regardless of the sponsorship, we would have tried to practice as much as possible. With the sponsorship, we will still practice as much as we can.
Who are you most looking forward to play against and why?
Aui: I think that the new DK is very hyped and I'm looking forward to playing them
EE: IG and DK
It's highly probable that Rattlesnake.int will be under the ruling of ACE once you arrive in China. China is very different from the European scene with many restrictions on which tournaments the team can join and which tournaments they can't. In Europe, it's quite different. You have a lot of medium sized tournaments where teams can freely participate in. What do you think about the system set in place in China to the growth of the competitive scene?
EE: I think that China will be much more organized than EURO/NA. We have a lot of matches being too close together in the Western scene, with matches frequently interupting each other. Of course, ACE forces teams to show up on time or there will be penalities. However, I don't think the ACE scene is superior to the west, both sides have its own benefits.
Aui: From a business perspective, it makes sense to limit the big teams appearances so that the big tournaments have more prestige and value. However, I think that there's an over focus on the business side and too little focus on allowing teams to grow.
This is still a long way away but what are your expectations about bootcamping in China?
EE: I don't think anyone can take a leap like going to China without expecting to do well. As a Dota player, when I think about going to China, I think about beating DK or IG in the finals. There's no way you go, "oh lets go to China and get 4th place guys." Of course we go with the passion of winning everything even if it is not possible.
Aui: I expect to practice hard, improve and become a contender for the top spots in all the tournaments. I think that we're fully capable of that if we put enough hard work in.
What does the hashtag #roadtoti4 means to both of you individually?
EE: Go Kurtis!
Aui: I’ve never used that hashtag ever! *laughs*
Before we end the interview, EE-sama, can you enlighten us on what Kaipi actually means?
EE: Kaipi has absolutely no meaning whatsoever, I hated this name when I first joined but I've grown attached to it.
Alright. That is the end of the interview guys. Do you have any parting words you would like to say to your diehard fans?
EE: Shoutout to TaurenChieftain, NrootN, and Holy.Diver
Aui: I'd like to thank all the people who have supported me since I entered the DotA2 scene on potm bottom. I hope everyone will continue to support us as we go to China. Shoutout to Rattlesnake for this partnership!
