Azure Ray came back from 2-0 down in the grand finals to reverse-sweep Gaimin Gladiators at ESL One Kuala Lumpur.
Chinese squad Azure Ray shocked the live audience at ESL One Kuala Lumpur after they managed to overturn a 2-0 deficit in the grand finals to reverse-sweep Gaimin Gladiators in three straight games. This was Azure Ray's first-ever grand final appearance since the organisation was formed and it handed GG its second first-runner up spot after they lost the TI12 grand finals just a few months prior.
This was a third meeting between both teams during the LAN as AR got the first win during the group stage. However, GG would take the bigger victory during the upper bracket final when they sent AR down. However, AR could not be stopped as they managed to bounce back and deny GG from lifting a seventh LAN trophy for this year alone. We had a chance to speak with AR's IGL, Jiang “天命” An on the team's performances during the tournament as well as his thoughts on the new patch 7.35.
Congratulations on the first tournament victory for Azure Ray. Gaimin were leading 2-0 in the grand finals, can you share with us what was the team talk before game three? What did you guys change in order to be able to make such a comeback?
Go, go, go! We have three more games to go! (laughs)
Does this victory feel even better because you managed to take revenge on Gaimin, who sent you to the lower bracket yesterday?
It definitely feels much better. Honestly, given the results, they have actually pretty much 4-0 us but in the end, we're still the champions.
Can you evaluate how much of it was you having a very good and fast understanding of the patch and how much was just testing, experimentation, or even improvisation?
I think a big part of it was not just experimentation but having the time to test things out. For today, we went to the full series and we also played three games against Team Liquid as well so we had eight whole games today. And during the series against Liquid, we tried out many different heroes. I think we tried 15 different heroes against Liquid so that gave us the opportunity to test out some of our ideas and theories as well as being able to mesh better.
Now that the tournament is over, which heroes would you say that stand out as being a bit broken/too strong in patch 7.35?
Chen and Leshrac are now much stronger.
For all the Dota 2 fans who are prepared for the holiday season, what is the best hero to grind MMR right now?
Leshrac. He is easier to play.
Have any of the new neutral items caught your attention, do you have any favourites already?
I'm not sure what it's called but it can destroy trees — Light Collector (new tier 2 neutral item).
How do you feel about having a patch of this size being released during the tournament? Has that made things more fun or more stressful for you guys?
I feel quite indifferent about it. I feel that we should always be prepared for different circumstances and situations during a tournament. In this case, we can only do our best, focus on ourselves, and try different ways to think of a solution to win the tournament.
Any final words for the Dota 2 and Azure Ray fans?
I hope everyone loves Dota even more and thank you everyone for supporting Azure Ray.
