China Electronic Athletics Magazine interview with DK.BurNIng

China Electronic Athletics Magazine got DK's BurNIng for an interview recently. The original source can be found here in Chinese; the full interview is translated below.

Upon defeating Empire 3-0 on April 21, DK completed an undefeated championship run through SL9, winning their first international title of 2014. What excited more than DK's title was their play throughout. Apart from going undefeated, BurNIng played nine heroes in nine games. Even though DK took the title in near-perfect fashion, BurNIng maintained his famed calmness and humble attitude.

CEA Magazine: Ever since you moved to Dota 2, you've successively won the likes of WPC and G-League, yet prior to SL9 had never won an international event (in Dota 2). Now that you've won SL9, how does it feel?

DK.BurNIng: International events and domestic events do indeed have some differences. Our SL9 win had some elements of luck to it; foreign teams weren't very familiar with our system and couldn't adjust to our style right away. Additionally, we ourselves were playing a lot of different styles, so it was very hard for opponents to counter. For me, SL9 doesn't count as a hugely important international-level title, because NaVi and Alliance were clearly not at their best form. EG performed very well, [but] on the ride leaving, while chatting with RTZ he told me that their five players hadn't actually trained together. So, if you ask me about winning SL9, I can only say that taking first place is pretty nice, but in a true major event there will certainly be greater difficulties, more challenges awaiting us. In the future we must do even better.

CEA: Were you satisfied with your team's overall performance?

DK.BurNIng: To be honest, our team's form wasn't the greatest. March 28, Mushi and iceiceice went back to their respective countries to get visas, LaNm needed to replace his passport but that didn't go smoothly. So by the time we got back together in Shanghai it was April 12, which left us with a measly 3 days of time to train, so our form absolutely wouldn't have been at its best. But we were very determined regarding the SL9 title, and we had the confidence to go along that we could gradually find our form during the span of the competition, and thus play to our team's unique style.

CEA: From the group stages to the Grand Finals, your team maintained an unbeaten record, ultimately winning the title. It seemed like no team caused a real danger to you guys.

DK.BurNIng: I think there were two reasons for this: one was the other teams did not have their best form; and two was everyone else was unfamiliar with our style, thus we were able to take the title undefeated.

CEA: Which opponent left you the deepest impression over the course of the competition?

DK.BurNIng: EG was the deepest impression. RTZ is a technically gifted, mechanically sound player. EE-sama's ability is widely recognized, while Zai and ppd are close to the best 4-5 position tandem in Europe and North America. Universe also does very well on a few of his favored 3-position heroes. These players coming together definitely shows good chemistry.

On our first day in Ukraine, they approached us for two games of scrims, the result being us losing 0-2. Their style is very aggressive, and their drafts are hard for us to read. In the Winner's Bracket at SL9 against them, we made adjustments in both our drafts and our style. I felt like EG didn't make the changes well there, which is why those games didn't look very difficult for us.

CEA: Can you rate European and North American teams' strategies and playing styles?

DK.BurNIng: I cannot necessarily rate these teams based on their SL9 performances. Fnatic, C9, et al, are all very exceptional teams, they all have very unique strategies and styles. From watching replays it is difficult to fully comprehend what they have planned, so perhaps it will only be through meeting in future international competitions that I will be able to fully answer your question. But maybe by then we will also have deeper understandings and more precise tactics?

CEA: In DK's nine matches in SL9, you used nine different heroes. This feat had many fans impressed, what are your own thoughts on this?

DK.BurNIng: Haha, this doesn't really represent too much. If I used the same hero all nine matches and we won the title, that would be pretty good too. Our hero pool is indeed very broad. Honestly speaking, prior to going to Ukraine we weren't even clear ourselves on what heroes we could each play. I recall that after our first five matches, I remarked that I had used five different heroes. The drafts in the following matches had an element of coincidence, and an element of fate.

My so-called 'complete player' label is one that refers to coordinating with the rest of the team; we are an all-around team, I am only one element of that which makes the team strong.

CEA: What type of carry hero do you feel suits this version most? Why?

DK.BurNIng: I don't know which heroes are stronger, this is dependent on the opponents' draft. Perhaps Dire Lycan is very strong, fast Roshan, which helps with more daring pushes? Our carry picks need to play well with the team's tactics, so it's hard to say which hero is great, or maybe it could be said that right now there isn't really any carry hero that you need to rush to grab in drafts.

CEA: From the past where you only played the hot heroes of the meta, to now where your picks cater to the situation at hand, do you feel that it is your own play that has changed, or the entire team?

DK.BurNIng: I believe that our training methods and our match approach has gradually departed from traditional Chinese mentalities. Maybe in future competition we will try even more things. Trying things doesn't necessarily mean victory, but we will persist with our own ideas nonetheless. As for your observed change, it is certainly change in the team's playing style, but of course, we each must also individually adapt accordingly.

CEA: Recall that last year at MLG, after losing to Speed Gaming, you once posted on Weibo that "championship is not in your fate". But after that, from small to large events, you've taken quite a few winners' trophies home.

DK.BurNIng: That was nearly two years without winning anything, and with such a great opportunity at the time I did get down and lose myself a bit. Our successes afterwards were the results of our collective hard work and perseverance. An interview is an interview, iceiceice often says some silly things publicly as well, but it all actually doesn't represent much.

CEA: While you won the title in a near stomp throughout, after returning home in your first match your team lost to NewBee. What might have caused this?

DK.BurNIng: First of all it must be said that NewBee is a very good team. Their Lycan style is much more difficult to deal with than Western equivalents. On our end there were also some reasons -- jet lag, taking a break, etc, but those aren't important. Realistically speaking we didn't feel that it was a must-win for us, losing to strong teams in Best of 1 is also very normal. Don't read too much into things like our world ranking.

CEA: You originally planned to retire after TI3, yet you finally decided to fight another year. Now with such great form, what are your considerations regarding retirement today?

DK.BurNIng: This question is not one that is convenient for me to reveal right now, let's just pass on this one for now, everyone will eventually know the answer with time.

CEA: As for this year's TI4, what do you think it will look like?

DK.BurNIng: This year sees even more strong teams, so TI4's competition will be even fiercer. The two Internationals that I have played in have all been held at Benaroya Hall, this year it's said that TI4 will be held in the Supersonics' [former] basketball arena. I think there will be many new and memorable spots there, and this will also be my first time competing in a basketball arena.

CEA: Last words for our readers?

DK.BurNIng: Thank you to our sole sponsor TT-esports, and I hope that you can all continue to support and watch Team DK. Thank you.

Image source: StarLadder, CEA

Interview source: China Electronic Athletics/中国电技杂志