Kure and his team UTA HOTD are undefeated in the NA Open Division and will surely be one of the teams fighting for a spot in the HGC during the upcoming crucible. On top of that, his Heroes of the Dorm team will be competing once again after their 2nd place finish against ASU's Real Dream Team last year. UTA's Dark Blaze was the only team that stood a chance against the ASU, and now that GaleForce eSports squad is out of college, Kure is determined to take Dorm by storm
While he wasn't busy maintaining both #1 and #2 spots in the NA GM leaderboard, Kure answered a few questions for GosuGamers regarding his explosive 2017 so far:
Have you and your team been paying close attention to the HGC Pro League? Which low performing team do you think you can defeat in the crucible and why?
Yeah, we’ve been paying attention to HGC really closely, since a lot of our drafts are HGC inspired and we can see how a lot of team comps that we want to run work in the pro scene.
Since they are currently 1-5, it is almost guaranteed that No Tomorrow will be one of the teams facing relegation. They are a relatively new team who haven’t had much success in the HGC, so they are the obvious choice for us to take on if things stay consistent.
It is too early to tell who the second team might be in the crucible, but we would like to avoid B-Step and Naventic. They have the most collective experience out of any other teams in the entire NA scene, and although they have been underperforming in this split, with their backs to the wall it is unlikely that they will lose a best of seven series to any amateur team.
Winning Hero League for me is a lot more difficult if I don’t actively type and direct the team to do stuff together.
What is it about your team that separates you from other open division teams? In other words, how can you account for your tremendous success so far?
Our team dynamic is unique in the fact that we only exist because we are the best players at our university, and our primary goal as a team is to win Heroes of the Dorm. What this essentially means is that we don’t run into a lot of the problems that other teams in the open have.
For instance, there is no threat or worry of ever getting kicked from the roster, since we cannot make any roster changes for dorm. No one has to play with the fear of losing their spot if they have a few bad games, and we are a lot more open and honest with each other regarding mistakes or things that we could be doing better since we’re in this for the long run.
Additionally, we treat the open division primarily as just practice for Dorm, and this mentality allows us to play without too much pressure which often translates into better play and less stressful matches.
After coming so close to winning the full tuition and then getting crushed by ASU in the finals, I was extremely motivated to actually learn how to play the game and win it all in 2017. So far that motivation has not worn out, and it won’t until we win it all.
What is the most important rule to follow when trying reaching the top spot on the GM leaderboards? What gave you the idea to try and take both the #1 an #2 spots?
For me, the key to getting to the top was to influence my team’s draft as much as I could, and shotcall in chat basically all game. Although I’d prefer to just not type at all and just play, winning Hero League for me is a lot more difficult if I don’t actively type and direct the team to do stuff together.
Also, learning and spamming OP heroes helps too. I didn’t really try to get the top 2 spots, I tried really hard for #1 and kinda just played my smurf on stream when I was feeling less serious or wanted to practice a couple of heroes that I’m not as comfortable on. I just happened to end up pretty close in points one day and decided to try hard for the last couple of games to #2.
What inspires you to put in so much time and dedication to Heroes of the Storm? What, as a player, are you most proud of so far?
My main inspiration is to win Heroes of the Dorm. Before Dorm finals last year, I planned on quitting Heroes and going back to LoL since it was my main game anyways and I only picked up HotS for Dorm. But after coming so close to winning the full tuition and then getting crushed by ASU in the finals, I was extremely motivated to actually learn how to play the game and win it all in 2017. So far that motivation has not worn out, and it won’t until we win it all.
As a player, I’m most proud of hitting #1 every season since the introduction of grandmaster, as well as my overall improvement from when I started playing in February of last year till now.
From left to right the University of Texas, Arlington 2016 Heroes of the Dorm Team: DXN, Kure, Yuuj, Mist, and Kladeus
What does it take to win Heroes of the Dorm?
Winning Dorm first and foremost requires that we are all on the same page in terms of our dedication towards the team. We decided a set practice schedule right at the start of the semester and have stuck to it, and the results have been paying off.
Complacency is also always a looming issue when you are considered the favorites for any tournament as big as this, however I think we have been handling that well by keeping each other grounded and by constantly setting new goals for improvement as a team.
Having the HGC Open to play in is also a huge help for us, since we can familiarize ourselves with what it feels like playing in a competitive tournament environment
*Bonus question*
What is your take on the current Lucio patch that has got so many people turning heads. Are Lucio and Murky busted?
I haven’t played much PTR but Murky’s 20 spike seems really annoying to deal with, over 6k health. Lucio looks like a fun off-support but I’m a bit afraid that the speed boosts will be really oppressive to play against as a ranged player.
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