OmniEulogy Profile Joined July 2010 Canada 3018 Posts #1 Bulba InterviewCreditsFocus Mode Akke - Alliance: Brothers In Arms Im here with Akke from Alliance, how are you doing today?

- I’m doing great.



Alright, back during Manila you ended up in the lower bracket and lost to Na`Vi. We saw you not only beat Na`Vi here, but you also made it into the winners bracket. What has changed over the last 2 months?

- We’ve been working on a lot of things. Communication, play styles, drafts, and everything you can be working on. I’d say a big part of that is Synderen. When he coached us at Manila, I think he did more for us than we’ve been doing for ourselves in a long time, so I’m very grateful for that. At the same time the past 3 majors, well maybe not 3, but 2 it’s been a very small thing which makes the difference between going far and not going far. At the shanghai major we were in the upper bracket and lost 2-1 to Liquid, and we could have won that game and then made top 6. So its very very small things, but this time we’ve ended up on the other side of the luck or whatever and I’m very happy for that.



You 2-0d EG so it’s not entirely luck y’know.

- Well, I don’t mean that it’s luck, but like all of the teams are so good that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.



Speaking of which, you’ve been struggling a little bit more against the Chinese teams, and you have EHOME coming up in your next match. So is there anything in particular with the Chinese teams that cause you to have more problems?

- Not in particular, but I would say it was good for us that we lost these games so we can look back and see what we did wrong and see what we can improve on. We have a couple of days to prepare for EHOME, so we can sit and see their replays and their games and come up with something that is going to be good for us.



Is there anything in particular about the way you play that matches up well against EHOME?

- Not really, I think we’re very versatile. Like we’ve been playing a lot of different things, and a lot of different heroes so we just have to find what’s good against them basically.



During the group stage it was a bit of an up and down ride for you, how do you keep your morale high going through your losses and into the next match?

- Every day I was like... Well I was like okay, it’s not good, but its not bad either, because we finished 3-3 and then 5-5 over the first two days. At the same time I felt like it would have been so nice to have one more game so we could have the edge of going to the upper bracket. Like we don't have to win the next game like compared to TI4 where we had a very bad start. I think it was good for us to have a good start here. At the same time, I think because it happened at TI4 we would be more prepared if it happened that way again. We have grown a lot as a team over the years.



Is there any special meaning to "El Classico" for yourself when you play against Na`Vi?

- Not really right now. It's a bit of fun, because it’s Na`Vi, but it’s not really the same team right now, and it’s not really the same when we are not playing them in the finals. Although, yeah it’s a lot of fun when we play them and I love those guys. Dendi is such a nice and good person, so it’s nice to play against them.



Was your 2-0 against Na`Vi in the group stage a result of playing against them more than other teams? How do you prepare for matches where the team knows you very well?

- Sometimes when I know people study us a lot, and when it comes to wards and such I try to change them. If I know I’ve been placing the same wards, and I know there’s a guy on the other team that studies those things I just change everything.



Is that easy for you to do?

- Yes, I think so. If you just think about it, it is very simple, but at the same time when you’re in the moment and you need to think about something it can be difficult to do, but you should at least try it. When it comes to us and teams that we know, we might get too comfortable and think we know what they are going to do, and then suddenly they surprise you, and you lose a game. So when you are at TI you need to treat every team the same. You need to know every team can beat you. Like when we faced Escape and they were 1-9 in score, I was still like they can beat us, we need to take them seriously, and they still showed they can beat us so we so you need to be very serious for all the games.



Is that just due to the level all of the teams are at this year?

- Yeah I think their playstyle is very good against us, and what they picked was good so it was our fault to not counter that, because we basically knew what they were planning, but thought we could beat it. When it comes to it, Synderen might have been our coach, but it’s not like he knew what we were going to do because of it, just like we didn’t fully know what they were going to do just because we know him.



With more teams picking up coaches, does it make it easier for the players to prepare against certain teams with their help?

- Yeah we prepare just as much with a coach, but it’s about having somebody on the team who can look at things objectively, and point out things that we might not want to point out ourselves. When Synderen was our coach it was quite good because he had been playing against us a lot, so he knows what our strength is and that's not something you normally get, because most coaches don’t play against the team they are coaching. He's back in the scene now too. That's why I think it was so good when he coached us. For me though, I would still prepare just as much even without a coach, because you really need to prepare and have your head focused.



Are there any other contributing factors to everybody’s increase in performance over the last few months?

- I think we play better together just because we’ve been through a lot. I mean, if you just look at the game vs EG we know we can win games that look like they are over. Everybody else said they thought the game was over after our bad start. We died, I died when I tried to go top, S4 died mid, the game looked over, like SUPER over straight away, but we kept on fighting and trying to find ways to win the game, and it just shows that we believe in each other to keep trying our best. Otherwise you would lose straight away if someone gave up, but everyone keeps fighting and I think it comes from us trusting each other from being in these situations before.



Was there ever a time where, knowing you were a TI winning team, a game would look kind of over and you would just phone it in?

- Well, after TI3 we didn’t really think about that too much, but we weren’t as sad about the losses anymore, because like "oh hey lolol we just won TI", so it doesn’t really matter. You can kind of feel that way, but we’re still a good team because we just won TI so we don’t need to change anything or change our draft or whatever. We’ll just keep on planning and then win TI, and that just proved to be very wrong thinking as proven by TI4 and the tournaments that happened prior to that. So winning TI is very weird, you have to experience it to know how it affects you and I think it affects PPD as well. Maybe in ways they don’t think about and know, it affects everyone in a different way.



Alright, thank you very much for taking the time to talk with me.

- Thank you.



- I’m doing great.- We’ve been working on a lot of things. Communication, play styles, drafts, and everything you can be working on. I’d say a big part of that is Synderen. When he coached us at Manila, I think he did more for us than we’ve been doing for ourselves in a long time, so I’m very grateful for that. At the same time the past 3 majors, well maybe not 3, but 2 it’s been a very small thing which makes the difference between going far and not going far. At the shanghai major we were in the upper bracket and lost 2-1 to Liquid, and we could have won that game and then made top 6. So its very very small things, but this time we’ve ended up on the other side of the luck or whatever and I’m very happy for that.- Well, I don’t mean that it’s luck, but like all of the teams are so good that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.- Not in particular, but I would say it was good for us that we lost these games so we can look back and see what we did wrong and see what we can improve on. We have a couple of days to prepare for EHOME, so we can sit and see their replays and their games and come up with something that is going to be good for us.- Not really, I think we’re very versatile. Like we’ve been playing a lot of different things, and a lot of different heroes so we just have to find what’s good against them basically.- Every day I was like... Well I was like okay, it’s not good, but its not bad either, because we finished 3-3 and then 5-5 over the first two days. At the same time I felt like it would have been so nice to have one more game so we could have the edge of going to the upper bracket. Like we don't have to win the next game like compared to TI4 where we had a very bad start. I think it was good for us to have a good start here. At the same time, I think because it happened at TI4 we would be more prepared if it happened that way again. We have grown a lot as a team over the years.- Not really right now. It's a bit of fun, because it’s Na`Vi, but it’s not really the same team right now, and it’s not really the same when we are not playing them in the finals. Although, yeah it’s a lot of fun when we play them and I love those guys. Dendi is such a nice and good person, so it’s nice to play against them.- Sometimes when I know people study us a lot, and when it comes to wards and such I try to change them. If I know I’ve been placing the same wards, and I know there’s a guy on the other team that studies those things I just change everything.- Yes, I think so. If you just think about it, it is very simple, but at the same time when you’re in the moment and you need to think about something it can be difficult to do, but you should at least try it. When it comes to us and teams that we know, we might get too comfortable and think we know what they are going to do, and then suddenly they surprise you, and you lose a game. So when you are at TI you need to treat every team the same. You need to know every team can beat you. Like when we faced Escape and they were 1-9 in score, I was still like they can beat us, we need to take them seriously, and they still showed they can beat us so we so you need to be very serious for all the games.- Yeah I think their playstyle is very good against us, and what they picked was good so it was our fault to not counter that, because we basically knew what they were planning, but thought we could beat it. When it comes to it, Synderen might have been our coach, but it’s not like he knew what we were going to do because of it, just like we didn’t fully know what they were going to do just because we know him.- Yeah we prepare just as much with a coach, but it’s about having somebody on the team who can look at things objectively, and point out things that we might not want to point out ourselves. When Synderen was our coach it was quite good because he had been playing against us a lot, so he knows what our strength is and that's not something you normally get, because most coaches don’t play against the team they are coaching. He's back in the scene now too. That's why I think it was so good when he coached us. For me though, I would still prepare just as much even without a coach, because you really need to prepare and have your head focused.- I think we play better together just because we’ve been through a lot. I mean, if you just look at the game vs EG we know we can win games that look like they are over. Everybody else said they thought the game was over after our bad start. We died, I died when I tried to go top, S4 died mid, the game looked over, like SUPER over straight away, but we kept on fighting and trying to find ways to win the game, and it just shows that we believe in each other to keep trying our best. Otherwise you would lose straight away if someone gave up, but everyone keeps fighting and I think it comes from us trusting each other from being in these situations before.- Well, after TI3 we didn’t really think about that too much, but we weren’t as sad about the losses anymore, because like "oh hey lolol we just won TI", so it doesn’t really matter. You can kind of feel that way, but we’re still a good team because we just won TI so we don’t need to change anything or change our draft or whatever. We’ll just keep on planning and then win TI, and that just proved to be very wrong thinking as proven by TI4 and the tournaments that happened prior to that. So winning TI is very weird, you have to experience it to know how it affects you and I think it affects PPD as well. Maybe in ways they don’t think about and know, it affects everyone in a different way.- Thank you. Front Page Lead