Who do you think will be the two grand finalists at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023?
Azure Ray have super impressed me in the group stage.
Gaimin Gladiators are obviously kind of the favourites for the tournament.
Probably we might have a Gaimin Gladiators vs Azure Ray grand finals.
China had a pretty rough year until TI12.
But then, they came to Seattle with two teams and had them both placed top 4.
What are your thoughts on what happens with the Chinese region, which used to be the strongest one?
It’s probably a symptom of some of the other problems that were happening.
The pubs scene has been debilitated quite a bit in the Chinese region.
There was that whole time when they were all playing on the Southeast Asian servers.
I don’t know too much on this side, but I think there are also some organisational issues.
There’s been this LGD powerhouse but who else other than them?
There was this move from Aster who picked up Sumail.
That move always felt weird to me.
I feel like there is no way that roster ever wins Riyadh or TI.
That era where one person comes in and just carries the team to win a tournament is long gone.
Entertainment value in esports
1v1 mid for solving the breaker is back.
How do you like this format as opposed to an extra bo1 or bo3 series?
I love the possibility of a 1v1 to determine things.
I think it’s super fun.
Ultimately esports is in the entertainment field so, you better create a product that people want to watch.
The third-party tournaments have to actually be profitable and making a product that brings viewership is super important.
We are heading into a new competitive season which wont have the DPC anymore.
To be honest, my biggest concern is the quality of events.
Will they be able to maintain the quality of the events even if the prize pool goes down?
That’s the part that I want to stay top-notch.
I have wanted Aghanim’s Labyrinth to come back for a really long time.
I think it is the best custom mode that Valve has ever done.
And I think it fixes some of the problems that Dota 2 has.
So, I think Aghanim’s Labyrint was a really fun and casual way to engage with Dota.
The top-down view, the control of a hero, and stuff like that.
It gives you a chance to be able to experience that without all the baggage of the 5v5 competition.
It’s a very nice introduction to Dota 2, if you want.
I guess I always have a resolution every Dota year: to cast TI finals.
That’s always the goal.
My initial goal was to cast the final day of TI, because I had never done that before.
But I guess throughout the year I and SVG created a product that was worth doing TI finals.
I feel like this has always been the case with you.
One thing I thought about is the difference between esports and traditional sports and specifically commentary.
I could be completely out of a job at any moment.
How about 2024 resolution, are you adding something to casting TI finals?
I’m trying to make a push to make it happen.
Basically, the overall resolution is to try harder on content.
Alright Cap, with that, it’s time to wrap up our interview.
Thank you so much for your time.
