Gaimin Gladiators became back-to-back Major champions this past Sunday after claiming the ESL One Berlin Major trophy. It’s their third premiere tournament victory in a row in the span of a couple of months.
A few weeks ago, at DreamLeague Season 19, Gaimin Gladiators became the first team to claim a championship title on the New Frontiers patch. Berlin Major marked the second tournament in a row won on the new patch, but also the third consecutive grand finals won over Team Liquid.
Moments after their victory in Velodrom Arena from Berlin, Germany, we had the opportunity to talk to Quinn "Quinn" Callahan to learn how the manages to be so consistent. We also discussed with him what changed for him since joining GG and how that helped him become an unstoppable force in the mid lane.
Congrats on the victory! Are we trapped in a loop with this being the third Gaimin Gladiators versus Team Liquid grand finals in a row over the past couple of months and the third time you take the trophy?
Yeah, it's crazy! This series in Berlin was a lot of fun, at least that's my personal feeling. I smiled a lot more during this match. Normally I try to take the matches super seriously, just sort of being in the zone, but with this one, I was able to just enjoy it.
Playing against Liquid after we get to play them so many times it's just a lot of fun because they are absolutely cool guys. You know, we talk with each other backstage, and it's very cool when you get to compete against someone who you respect so much.
I feel like we have more of a camaraderie instead of a rivalry and that just allows you to take it more lightly. Of course, as soon as the game starts everyone tries their best. We are genuinely ok with that and if we were to lose today I would have been totally fine with that because they are such quality guys.
Besides the quality of games, has your day-to-day life changed since you moved to Europe?
That aspect hasn't changed that much. It's still mostly just playing Dota all day. I am not with my family here so I don't hang out with them anymore, but I still do that with my roommate or whenever the talent is in town for the DPC leagues. I hang out with them, I pop up in the studio when I have the time. So maybe my hang-out schedule or habits have changed a bit, but I still don't do much besides playing Dota 2.
Your personal game seems to have gone up a couple of notches since you joined Gaimin Gladiators. What do you think is the reason for that? Is it teammates, just playing in WEU, a combination of the two, or anything else?
For a long time, I struggled with stress and anxiety before matches, and that impeded my play quite a lot. But, over time, it sort of got better and better as I gained more confidence in myself. And recently I found some pre-game rituals that have helped me a lot since joining Gaimin. The guys themselves are a lot of stress removal because I have so much faith in my team that they are gonna do really well every game.
Nowadays I have no stress at all about how the game is gonna go. I know if I play pretty well and they play decently, we're just gonna win because my team is just super boss. So, I just do my thing, and that mixed with finding things that helped me personally to be less stressed makes it a lot easier to play at a good level consistently.
Also, EU is just better at Dota than NA, that's pretty clear by all the results and stuff. And of course, that helps anyone who plays in this region.
How do you like the mid lane in this patch?
I honestly don't think the mid is that different. I feel like it's quite a bit of action there, people are still protecting the runes and fighting around mid. maybe slightly less because you now have more options compared to before, which is nice. I like the diversity of choices, and the fact that you don't have to funnel the same gameplay every single game.
What do you think of the Shield Rune, which many deem as being OP because of the duration and because you are kind of invincible while you have it.
Yeah, I agree, the Shield Rune is a bit too strong and should be toned down a bit. I like the concept of it, though. I also like the runes appearing in like packages.
Do you think the new patch favors GG’s style of play?
To be honest, in terms of how the game is played, it is not that different from the previous patch. It's just more bells and whistles, some heroes have changed, and maybe the way you play the map is slightly altered, but overall, I think things are quite similar and I think we figured that out after the first series that we lost 0-2 to Liquid in DreamLeague. We looked and figured out what we were doing wrong, and reassessed our gameplay.
GG have now won two DPC Majors in a row with the DreamLeague Season 19 sandwiched in the middle. You will enter the third tour and TI12 as one of the favorites to win it all. Does that put more pressure on you, or do you like the pressure?
I don't really feel like the favorite ever. There are a lot of good players, some super sharp, and super on top of things and you can lose to anyone. I think people are really good these days, the floor has been raised drastically compared to 5-6 years ago, so I don't feel it that much. Maybe I will in the future, but as of right now, I don't necessarily feel targeted, I feel like we just try to play good Dota and whatever happens, happens.
TI was announced just before the grand finals, it's coming back to the US, to Key Arena, which is now Climate Pledge Arena, any thoughts on that?
Yeah, that's hype! That means that my friends and family can come and see us play as opposed to having to pay thousands of dollars for flights. So, it's super cool for me, I think TI back in the States is super hype and I'm really looking forward to it.
Big congrats on everything you and Gaimin Gladiators have achieved over the past few months. If you have any shout-outs to wrap up our interview, please go ahead.
Shout out to all the people supporting me behind the scenes, people helping me along the way. I wouldn't be anywhere without having them in the background, so yeah, ty!
