VG.Black

Congratulations on getting through the Starladder qualifiers! How do you feel about your run?

Thanks! Feels pretty good to go to Kiev again... The last time I had the chance to go there was ages ago. Overall I'm pretty satisfied, though we still have to improve a lot!

Can you give any insight toward VG's general strategy going into games?

Since I don't really know how much I can or cannot say I will say the really obvious...we play aggressive! ^^

VG have used the Drow/Visage combination several times now to great effect. Do you feel it's a stable lineup or is it a niche strategy that just needs figuring out?

I honestly believe there are a ton of counters to it... I think it should be more of a pocket strat if anything. If the strategy goes through though, it's really hard to stop it.

The current VG has been compared with the TI4 DK squad. What are your thoughts on that?

Well, we like to pick a lot of different heroes to make sure we are as unpredictable as possible. Before I joined VG I knew they are all super good players, but actually seeing them play and playing with them amazes me just that much more... Maybe they compare us to DK because we recently had a decent winning streak?

Which Chinese teams do you find most interesting to play against, and why?

The *newer* teams, LGD.cdec, HGT, Tongfu etc are really fun to play against, because you can see a steadily growing team, every time you play versus them they become better and better. The interesting thing is to see how much better they have become since the last time you played them haha.

And which non-Chinese team do you look forward to playing against at Starladder and ESL?

Definitely C9 and EG, they are the teams that beat us at our first LAN together, so we definitely want to get our revenge!!

With 6.82 right round the corner, what changes are you hoping for? Except Anti-Mage buffs, of course.

Well, I hope Doom ult won't disable all passives anymore... Other than that I really like this version. Most likely though, all the popular heroes will receive nerfs, Skywrath, Void, Panda, Centaur etc. Every new patch makes DotA a completely new game so I'm really looking forward to it.

Have you come across any new Chinese dishes recently that you like?

Hangzhou Rou!! In English that means Hangzhou meat... It's a city speciality and it's super super tasty... Can't compare with all the good vegetables though :D

Anything else you'd like to talk about or share?

Hmm, I haven't been here for too long, so I don't really have any fun stories to tell. But the whole team has been really welcoming (even though my Chinese is obviously not that great outside of DotA) they don't really mind... I feel like we all have become great friends and continue to grow a teambond! I also found a Chinese teacher now and I'm taking daily lessons, so that should help us out quite a bit too. Other than that I would just like to thank everyone who supports us. Big big shoutout to you guys!