Just before the playoffs matches were set to begin at the Bali Major, we had the chance to sit and talk with Tundra Esports' Wu "Sneyking" Jingjun and coach Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling, who had to stand in for his team from the second day of the group play.
We tried to learn from them how having Aui stepping in at the last minute impacted Tundra’s gameplay and the team dynamics. We were also curious to hear from Aui if this might have triggered a desire to make a return to competitive play.
We touched on multiple topics with both of them, including their start of the season as TI Champions, expectations, pressure, the current meta and the overall big 7.33 patch and how they feel playing on it.
We also asked them who do they think is the Dota 2 GOAT and what does it take for someone to be the best at the game.
Check the full interview below for their insights and thoughts.
Hello both of you and thank you for taking the time to talk to us. It’s unfortunate that you had to play with a stand-in right from the second day of the group stage matches, but at the same time, I’m sure many were happy to see who the stand-in is.
With Aui stepping in for this event is Tundra becoming an NA team now?
Sneyking: We definitely have the most NA players we ever had on this team and hopefully, we will carry the torch if, you know, Shopify Rebellion is getting eliminated.
On a serious note, how has playing with your coach impacted you as a team?
Sneyking: Playing with Aui is definitely different from playing with Saksa. Obviously, Aui is playing position 5 so, I had to switch to position 4. The dynamics are a bit different because of that and I try to figure out what heroes I'm supposed to play for the team. Aui is trying to figure out what he is supposed to do, so it's a bit of a trial and error. We are still in the middle of testing things and seeing what works.
Aui, how does it feel to play again and win some matches?
Aui_2000: To be honest, it's sort of weird because I feel like I'm not doing much. I'm sort of in bad form for playing, honestly. But it's nice to be carried. It's so easy to play with my team!
You are the only one to have won TI as a player and as a coach. When you made the transition to coaching, were you confident that you will be able to transfer all your game knowledge to others from the coaching seat?
Aui_2000: I think transferring the game knowledge is kind of easy, but a lot of aspects about coaching are a lot less intuitive. And I think it took me a long time to become a better coach. It was like an improvement thing for me in this area. I coached a lot of teams before Tundra. Even when I was still playing, sometimes when I wasn't at a tournament, I would coach some team and that allowed me to become a better and better coach leading up until now.
We are in a meta where Techies is so contested, and more recently Naga has started to pick up some momentum as well. How hard are your fingers itching to make a full comeback to active play when you see these two heroes being so popular?
Aui_2000: Not that much I would say. I don't really want to play. I mean, they needed me to stand in, but honestly, I didn't want to.
If you could remove one hero from the game right now, which one would it be?
Sneyking: Probably it will be Morphling. He obviously is the most contested and controversial hero of the tournament. A lot of teams are choosing to play against him, and a lot of teams are trying to just permanently ban it so, one thing for sure is that the contention for this hero is very high.
What are your overall thoughts on the Universal heroes? Are they suited for the game, can they be balanced somehow?
Aui_2000: I think it's an interesting approach, just as a lot of the things in Dota are. They give you more avenues to bounce the game. If the heroes are weak or too strong, they can just adjust how much they benefit from the Universal stats, or like from a specific talent, and stuff like this. So, theoretically, I like the Universal concept.
Have you had to adapt your coaching style after the drop of the 7.33 patch?
Aui_2000: I don't think that there was any difference in that I had to adapt my coaching style. I think a lot of coaching is basically listening to your players and their ideas and finding out how you want to play as a team, and that hasn't really changed with the patch.
After winning the most important trophy in Dota 2, has the motivation been slightly lower this entire season or nothing of that sort?
Aui_2000: I feel like there hasn't really been a drop in motivation, but we had some external factors that affected us as a team. It wasn't a lack of trying or stuff like that from us. We are still really hungry to win.
How about from your perspective Sneyking, has winning TI put extra pressure on the team to do well right from the start of the new season?
Sneyking: Feeling pressured after winning TI really depends on the person. I also think that in the correct environment, these things shouldn't affect you. A new season is a new, fresh start, it doesn't matter what happened previously. You just keep working hard and focusing on what's ahead of you.
For us, I'd say we did a pretty good job as a team of doing that, I don't think we have any expectations of “we have to run it back" or "we have to win because we won previously." These things are not helpful and unnecessary so, we are just focusing on what's ahead. And what's ahead right now is this major with me as position 4 and Aui as position 5 and we try our best to make it work.
Are you enjoying Dota a bit more since the New Frontiers patch or is it the other way around?
Sneyking: The new patch is quite refreshing. All the big changes and all these little balance changes since the big 7.33 drop, drastically, completely shift how the meta is going. I enjoyed all the a,b,c,d, patches so far and I think after this major we will probably have an e patch so, will see how that will change things up.
How has this huge update impacted your personal gameplay?
Sneyking: The biggest thing about 7.33 patch has been the Twin Gates and the wisdom runes and as a support, they force you to move around a lot more. You need to understand the timings, when you should be ganking on the Twin Gates and when you should be positioning for the wisdom runes. Also, the lotuses that I forgot to mention.
So, for supports, there's almost always an objective every minute and you kind of need to feel it out when you're supposed to be going for it and when you are supposed to be pulling. Understanding a lot of these timings comes down to just playing a lot and getting a good feel for the game.
Who would say is the GOAT in Dota 2?
Aui_2000: For me, the GOAT is Puppey just because he had such good results for so long.
Sneyking: Definitely Puppey. He's been a veteran of this game ever since the beginning of Dota and growing up I was inspired by his gameplay. When he lifted up that first TI trophy, that was when I was really inspired to play and that's when I actually started in Dota 2. Ever since then, people had come and go, but Puppey has stayed and become a rock of the scene and I really respect him for that.
How about who is the best individual player?
Aui_2000: I think Sumail had the highest peak compared to other players. I feel like at TI5 he was so much ahead of everyone and I think Miracle can be a contender for the 2016-2017 period. But honestly, I think that the gap between Sumail and other players was bigger than it was between Miracle and other players.
Sneyking: This thing really depends on the day. If you're feeling it, you are going to be the best player in the game that day. It could be me, it could be my teammate, it could be anyone. Because the competition is so tight, it really just depends on who is having a good day.
With that in mind, we wish you to have only great days here in Bali and as well as in Seattle in October, and again, thank you for your time!
