Xtreme Gaming remains one of the favourites at The International 2024, and XinQ took the time to sit down with us before their next brawl.
When it comes to any event, no team wants to be in the lower bracket, and no more so than at The International – the most prestigious event in the Dota 2 calendar year. As The International 2024 kicks off its main event, 
Xtreme Gaming has the dilemma of making a lower bracket run, but with a win over Team Spirit to fuel them going forward, the last remaining Chinese contingent now looks to make the lower bracket run a reality.
Following their most recent victory, we caught up with 
Zixing “XinQ” Zhao, as we discussed the tournament and previous events.
Read more: From lower brackets to TI champions; It has been done before but can it happen again at TI 2024?
It has been a fairly great year for Xtreme Gaming as a team, but can you tell us what you think went wrong at the Riyadh Masters?
Back then, we were not used to the playstyle and never managed to find one to suit our team. I feel that is why we lost.
Looking all the way back to the first day of Group Stages of TI2024 when facing Heroic. Who made the quick call to end the game after a single team fight victory? And did you all instantly see the opening to close it out?
We all knew that we had strong push potential, and with the fast tempo, we all decided to end the game.
Should you reach the Grand Finals at TI13, who would you prefer your opponent to be?
I would love to face off against 
Team Liquid, because they have already beaten us, and it would be a great challenge. But, if we don’t make it to Grand Finals, I think it will likely be 
Team Falcons against Liquid.
As a follow-up, who do you believe is the strongest competitor to you or in general this year?
I personally think the strongest competitor is actually Liquid. When we scrim against them, our win rate is much lower than against other teams.
We have seen an interesting tournament meta developing over the Group Stage. Considering that, how do you feel about the latest patch?
I think the changes in the latest patch are quite good, I find the patch quite balanced. I also think that it would have been even better if they did not release the new hero.
Having been the number one seed in Group A, did you think that you would end up in a battle to stay in TI2024 with Team Spirit in the lower bracket?
I never thought that I would be meeting 
Team Spirit in the lower bracket. I thought that it wouldn’t have been an issue for Team Spirit to take down 
nouns in the Upper Bracket.
After a near-perfect Group Stage, what do you think were the issues you faced in the losses leading up to your win over Spirit?
We did not play our best, and as a team we became quite anxious.
Tusk is making a huge showing at TI2024 so far. Do you think that we will begin to see this hero banned a lot more often in the Main Event?
I think as compared to Group Stage, there is definitely a higher possibility for Tusk to be banned more often, but there are still other heroes that will be prioritised for banning so it is likely that we will still see Tusk being played.
Read more: Five heroes to watch out for in the final three days of TI13
Xtreme Gaming continues their lower bracket run in the main event of The International 2024 starting on September 13th, with a series against 
Aurora. A win would see them enter the top 6, as they look to reignite the fires of the Chinese Dota 2 team and possibly find a way to finally crown Wang “Ame” Chunyu as a champion of TI. It will be exciting to watch what will happen over the coming weekend, as The International 2024 kicks off with its main event and is sure to be filled with some of the best Dota 2 action.
More interviews from The International 2024
- Astini - Cloud9: “Sometimes, being skilled comes with wanting to freestyle too much”
- TORONTOTOKYO - BetBoom: “I would not be playing in a team that I don't believe could be champions”
- Akashi - Talon: We need to stop thinking ‘five Filipinos can play together and make it to TI’
- Fly - nouns: “Hopefully, we can ride that underdog story”
- Silent - Team Spirit: “I do not feel as though we are favourites”
- Jabz - Aurora: "It was scary at that moment"
- No[o]ne - Cloud9: “I am a super perfectionist”
- ponlo - Team Zero: “I just want to play Dota that I am proud of”
- Monet - G2.iG: “There is definitely a bit of pressure to bring glory back to China”
- Astini - Cloud9: “Sometimes, being skilled comes with wanting to freestyle too much”
