Interview with Dota 2 analyst Purge at TI12, where the topics of discussion included the current Dota 2 meta and his predictions for who will lift the Aegis.
Kevin “Purge” Godec has been a popular analyst in the Dota 2 scene for a long time. Purge is most well known for his segments at tournaments where he describes specific points in games that define the result, which has earned him the nickname from the community – Weatherman Purge. Purge is also well known for doing patch analysis videos on his stream when a new Dota 2 patch drops. At TI12 in Seattle, GosuGamers caught up with Purge to talk about the tournament till now, the current Dota 2 meta, his predictions for who will lift the Aegis and some fond TI memories, amongst other things.
*This interview was done in the days between the TI12 group stage and playoff weekend.
Thanks for talking with us Purge! How are you liking the return of The International to Seattle?
Personally, I’m really happy that The International is back in Seattle, because I have a lot of good memories here. The first TI I went to was TI2. It definitely feels nostalgic to see familiar sights.
What do you think about the TI format? How is it from a player, talent and viewer perspective?
The best thing about this format is that we get to the best-of-3s relatively quickly. The first two days of watching the group stage as a viewer was overwhelming because of the number of games being played at the same time. After that was over and we got to the bo3s, it just felt easier for me to focus.
The downside is that there is a possibility of teams getting worse placement than they might deserve. If there is a bigger group stage and lesser groups, you know that every team is getting the placement they deserve. But, it doesn't have to be perfect every time. The prize pool is lower this time, so you don’t feel too bad when teams get knocked out early.
Having seen the group stage, what team(s) have impressed you the most?
I was impressed by nouns’ upset win [over Tundra Esports]. I was happy for them. Virtus.pro beating TSM was surprising; they weren’t on my radar. LGD have been playing amazing [Dota 2]. All the top teams look good.
If you had a team that is the most probable to win TI12 other than Team Spirit and Team Liquid, who would you pick?
I was going to pick one of them (laughs). Other than them, LGD look quite good. Team Spirit looks like the strongest team right now.
What do you think of the current Dota 2 meta? Do you like playing and watching it? Is it a good TI meta?
Playing the meta is fine, because it isn’t as refined as it is on the professional level. In terms of watching it, the games are really long. At DreamLeague Season 21, the average game length was seven minutes longer than the previous season we had. There are good and bad things about that – it is harder to close out games quickly, there are lot more Hand of Midas pick ups and greedy play. Some teams showed us that you can cut through that if you play well enough, but maybe those matches were also mismatches. It’s hard to say. I’m looking forward to Blade Mail and tanky heroes getting nerfed a little bit.
Has a significantly lower prize pool than the previous years reduced the excitement that typically comes with The International?
I thought about the prize pool reduction a lot during the group stage. When I watched a team go far at TI, normally I was happy for them [for going further in the tournament] and they also won a lot of money. Now, the latter part isn’t there. I have gotten over it in the last couple of days, but we’ll see how it feels when the teams get on stage. But if Valve can keep good on their promise and pump out a lot of good stuff throughout the year, it will be worth it. The majority of the season’s prize pool being TI centric was bad for the scene anyway.
A case has been made over the last few months that with the amount of farm increasing with every major Dota 2 patch, the game has just become a farm fest instead of one having unique strategies. As a long time analyst, do you think that is the case?
Is there more farm than there used to be? In a way there is, because as players get better at farming, everyone has to match that. But that doesn’t mean you cannot end the game early. It feels like strength heroes have a lot of value – strength gives too much HP per point. Perhaps they could reduce that, or reduce armor or magic resistance across the board to make the heroes less tanky.
Players are buying Midas at an abnormally high rate right now, so it might also be a Midas problem. My guess is kills are worth a lot of gold right now, so if you fail a high ground push, the situation gets very dangerous. Maybe it is related to kill bounty, but I’m not completely sure.
There won’t be any DPC Leagues from next season. What are your thoughts on that? Did the DPC Leagues serve their purpose?
I think the DPC Leagues had their positives and negatives. They were really good for tier 2 and tier 3 players that needed stability. Another upside was it made teams stick together, which was also better for sponsors. It also meant that if you were washed as a team or a player, you would be pushed out of the scene more rapidly. It revitalized the new talent to an extent, because what typically happened in a third party tournaments is the big teams got invited to get more viewers.
I would say the DPC served its purpose, but it definitely hurt third party tournaments.
As an North American resident, are you supporting one of the NA teams?
I’m not the most nationalistic NA person. I’m more likely to know the players, and I’m happy for nouns, but generally I tend to support teams that have interesting strategies and drafts that synergize well. For example, there was a team that picked Elder Titan and Skywrath Mage and paired that with a high magic damage mid, I believe it was Lina. Watching the two magic reducing heroes with Lina made sense for that draft. That is kind of stuff that gets me excited!
Can nouns be this year’s OG with their weird off meta drafts?
I don’t think nouns will do a lot more of the weird off meta drafts, but I definitely had a lot of fun watching their drafts!
Having been in Seattle before, is there anything you would suggest the spectators can do on the days there is no Dota 2?
You can go to the Crimson Witness community merchandise, where you can buy Moonduck merchandise from me on October 25th. That is the only time I will leave the hotel.
For you, which was the best and worst TI?
TI6 was the best one for me – that was the first time we did the ‘weatherman Purge’ segment. But across the board, the production was amazing. Valve were very receptive to our ideas, so it was an amazing collaborative process that made it better for me.
Worst TI in terms of the games was TI4. The games leading up to the grand final were fine, but in the grand final, the strategies got a bit distilled. TI10 was sad as there was no crowd. But if I had to pick one, I’d go with TI4.
What is your favourite Dota 2 team of all time?
It would have to be the OG roster from TI8 and TI9. They did weird stuff all the time that synergized well, which is how I try to play the game too. It makes me biased towards them.
And what about the current favourite Dota 2 team?
I definitely like Team Liquid a lot. I liked Tundra Esports during their TI11 run – the way they played around Wraith Pact and pipe and got it before everybody else was smart.
