We sat down with Clinton "Fear" Loomis ahead of The International 2024 (TI2024) Main Event.
The International 2024 is held in Europe with a live audience for the first time since the first edition, in 2011. That’s when Fear got to make his TI debut, playing as a carry. He is one of the very few North American players who claimed the Aegis of Champions, lifting the trophy with Evil Geniuses in 2015. When we met Fear in Copenhagen earlier this week, we spoke to him about past TIs, and how the tournament changed over the years, but we of course also discussed the current game direction and the 2024 TI edition.
Hi Fear, we are at TI13, in Europe, 13 years after you made your TI debut in Cologne. How does it feel to see The International back in Europe?
Yeah, it's been a while, we had the TI10 also in Europe, but that was scuffed because of the coronavirus and no crowd and all. It's definitely nice to be back. Europe has been a powerhouse in Dota for a long time and to be honest, it's surprising that there haven't been that many Internationals here.
Is this edition maybe a bit special for you given your history with TI?
It definitely feels close to home because my first TI was in Europe and coming back here to be a part of TI thirteen years later comes with a lot of different emotions.
I want to take you down the memory lane a bit and ask what is that something from TI1 that stayed with you through all these years?
There are a lot of different things, but I'll give you two. One is that we had to take the metro or the train every day to get to the venue. That really left a strong memory. We were playing at Gamescom and the Razer booth was next to us and they were very loud. Another thing that I remember clearly is that it was quite hard to hear anything if you actually didn't play in the soundproof booth, which we didn't do through the group stage.
How has your perception of TI changed since TI1?
Oh, It changed a lot. I think at TI1 I had very little to no expectations because, like everyone else, I didn't really know what to expect from The International. Since then, it has only gone up every single year, the quality of teams with everyone really trying to compete and be here, it has become very, very serious and people are now taking this as their career, their job.
Besides Lacoste, are there any other teammates from Ok.Nirvana who you keep in touch with?
I talk to Universe every once in a while, he was our coach at TI1. But it's been a long time for all of us, so we typically don't speak too much. If I ever see them in passing, we will talk, but the majority of the roster has moved on and just quit Dota, unfortunately, except for Lacoste.
Besides TI5, is there any edition of TI that you hold dear through the memories you have from it?
All of my TIs, really. I was coaching at TI4 due to an arm injury, so that had a lot of weight on me because I was pretty sad that I couldn't play at that TI, but I could still participate through coaching.
Do you like the current direction the game is going with the addition of innates and facets, and would you say that they change the game drastically?
Yeah, the innates, facets, and even the talents when they came in, they all changed the game pretty drastically. But, I would say it's needed. Dota needs to constantly be refreshed, and they need to keep adding things to keep people's interest and I think they've done an incredible job to find new and interesting things that can appeal to the players and make them enjoy the game even more and more every year.
Which hero did you start spamming in your pubs just because you absolutely love its facet?
I only spam heroes that are OP so it really depends on the meta. I don't play for fun too much [laughs]. I guess, lately I've been playing Naga support a lot because the Deluge facet felt very broken and it is proven at this TI that it really is.
Which facets would say are the worst or most useless right now?
One of my favorite heroes is Lone Druid, but I don't get to play it anymore because of the Unbearable facet, which is supposed to make your bear stronger but it's pretty unplayable because it's not really that good.
Heading into the Main Event, we noticed that TI13 might have the narrowest meta through the past 10 editions, with 21 uncontested heroes. What’s your take on this year’s TI meta?
Might be narrow, but I still think it's really undiscovered, which is actually cool. Usually, when we get to the playoffs, there are new heroes popping up all the time. In the last few days, Luna became super popular and now the teams will find counters for that, so I really enjoy the meta right now because I feel like a third of the heroes are unpickable, there still is a good balance and teams are still experimenting even at this stage of the tournament.
Is there anything on your wish list for the Main Event here in Copenhagen, perhaps a hero you want to see, new strategies, or a new hero being announced? Anything at all?
We just had a new hero so I don't know if I want to see another hero announced. I definitely want to see really cool Dota being played, I don't want to see many stomps happening on the stage. I want many third games played, I want the games to be intense and feel the TI energy.
All right, thanks for your time once again, and have a wonderful time in the Royal Arena!
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”
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