DreamLeague Season 21 is in full swing and this edition holds great importance not only in regards to the ESL Pro Tour rankings, but it’s also a very insightful last pit stop before The International 2023.
Shopify Rebellion, this marks the first season of DreamLeague this year when they could attend in the full formula, as Abed Yusop missed the previous two editions due to VISA complications. The NA outfit is taking this opportunity to learn as much as possible about their adversaries at TI12 and fine tune their strategies.
After two days of competition, Shopify Rebellion sit at the top of Group A and are one victory away from securing an upper bracket start at the last tournament before TI12. Just before the group stage matches at DreamLeague were set to begin, we had the opportunity to talk to Abed Yusop, who shared his thoughts on the new meta for mid laners, what changed with the last couple of patches, but also talked to us about the impact the now laid to rest Dota Pro Circuit had on the competitive scene.
How do you feel entering DreamLeague Season 21, what's the atmosphere in the team right now?
I couldn't get my VISA in time for the previous two seasons, so I am really excited to play on this one. Right now, TI is our priority, so we are all very focused and we look at this season as a very good preparation for TI.
You’ve played in NA for the last few years. Do you think the DPC system improved the region in any way, is it any better than four years ago when you moved there?
I can't really say it's better than before the DPC. The biggest thing for me in any region is the pub quality and that is the same in NA if not even worse. Over the years, people actually stopped playing on the NA servers, they just play on EU servers now, so I wouldn't say it got better.
How about the competitive scene in Southeast Asia, would you ever consider going back?
Yeah, of course. Nobody knows what will happen after this season, but I'm definitely open to anything. The scene in SEA for sure has gotten more competitive than before. Right now, there's one team that is the best in the region and that is Talon. But the other teams, they are quite close to being on the same level, so the SEA scene is actually very competitive right now.
What are your thoughts on the DPC system being scrapped?
Personally, I'm not a fan of the DPC system and a lot of players would have preferred more LANs, so any change will be very nice for us.
When do we get to see the Abed Meepo?
Oh, we will see it this TI, hopefully.
How has the mid lane changed with the 7.34 patch?
I like the heroes for mid lane right now. They are all casters and they are all very active in the early game, so they are all very fun to play.
Invoker is a Universal hero now, and he is quite back into the meta, but apart from him, are the rest of the Universal heroes a thing of the past in the mid lane?
Oh yeah, and I'm so glad that they are gone. For instance, I'm so glad that the mid lane Snapfire is gone. I couldn't find a way to beat that hero in lane. But as you said, this Invoker right now, he has very high damage and he has a very stable laning that is very hard to beat.
Are there any heroes in the current patch that bother you with how overtuned they are? Would like to see a new balance patch with some nerfs in it before TI12?
I'm gonna be a bit biased and say Phantom Assassin. This hero wins every single game in my pubs, so definitely something is broken. So, I would very much like to see this hero nerfed before TI.
Who would you say are the most annoying or hardest mid laners to play against these days?
Quinn, Nisha and SumaiL.
You are one of the players who got to experience TI when it had the insanely large prize pools. This year will probably be very different from what we are used to seeing in terms of money, and I want to ask you: Does a big prize pool, like let's say the TI10 40 million dollars adds extra pressure on you, is it more stressful to compete when you have a prize pool like that?
I would say it doesn't really matter what the prize pool is because we all want to win TI because it's TI, It's the prestige of winning TI that matters. For me, the prize pool is just a bonus thing, it really doesn't matter what kind of prize pool we have.
With that in mind, we wish you the best of luck at DreamLeague, and may your dream come true next month in Seattle! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us and if you have any shout-outs to make or any final words to add please do so.
Shout-out to Shopify and our sponsors and a shout-out to all our fans, I hope you guys keep supporting us.
