In his Ask Me Anything that started three hours ago, Daryl 'iceiceice' Koh has confirmed that carry player Dominik 'Black^' Reitmeier will be leaving Vici Gaming in the upcoming China roster shuffle. He also mentioned that they will have an aggressive replacement.
In the top rated question of the AMA, Iceiceice has confirmed that Black^ will be leaving Vici Gaming, and will be replaced by someone who plays aggressively.At the same time, iceiceice also responded to a question about the importance of a team primarily speaking the same native language. He said that it was important enough for VG to justify removing Black^ from the roster when there is nothing wrong with his skills, as communication was too important within the game.
At the same time, iceiceice mentions that the communication problems have always existed for two main reasons: outside of the language barrier, Black^ has always been a player that does his own stuff, and the language issues exacerbated the problems. More importantly, Black^ was also unable to stand out for the team when the laning phase went poorly for the other two cores of VG (himself and Super).
While the replacement has not been announced as of yet, speculation about the replacement has ensued, with Zhihao 'Hao' Chen being tipped to replace Black^, due to his history of being the most aggressive carry player in China. This speculation has been further fuelled with iceiceice himself calling out his "dream team of all-time": Hao, Super, himself, Fy and Fenrir.
Within the AMA, other interesting questions include:
Comparing the current VG to the old DK -
Iceiceice believes the current VG is performing better, as the DK of 2014 was comprised of five individually skilled players who trained with the sole aim of winning The International, and their teamwork came from having infinite skills. To him, VG has surpassed that since they all have skills, and also possess proper chemistry and teamwork. He also mentions that DK was under too much pressure during TI4, without which they would have then won.
On the issue of new blood in China -
Iceiceice sees the problem as the older professional players being reluctant to team up with the younger players, as they are aiming to win The International, and teaming up with older players with TI experience would be more beneficial to their chances of doing so. He dislikes such a mindset, and said that he prefers being in a team with a mix of old and young players, in the belief that the young players would provide new drive and motivation to win.
On 6.83c -
Heroes that deserve nerfs were nerfed (Juggernaut and Axe), but some heroes that did not get changes like Lion and Vengeful Spirit would still be top picked as their strength remains untouched. Iceiceice also stated that he is a great fan of Phantom Lancer in the offlane, and as such he would be playing the hero now that it is in CM.
For more interesting questions and answers by the universally loved troll of Dota 2, head towards the ongoing iceiceice AMA on Reddit.
