





Interview with JayPL by Azax

First thing I want to ask you: your last BlizzCon, your last time on stage. How are you feeling?

Kink:Well, I feel like it’s so special! I used to go to all the BlizzCons, I think this is the fourth one right now? And the fact that it’s probably my last one, yeah, makes it feel so special I think. All I miss in my career is just a World title, and the fact that it’s now BlizzCon can make it so special. I just want to win it, and I will give everything to get it.

A year ago, you completely rebuilt the roster. You added in Zaelia and POILK. Now you’re the best Dignitas roster. Does it mean a lot more that you have the best incarnation of Dignitas?

I would agree that this is the best incarnation we have of Dignitas this year, but it still doesn’t change the fact that every year we give everything to win the title.

Usually everyone talks about Gen.G, but Dignitas at big events has a history with Ballistix and Fnatic. Not having them here, has that made it easier for you to focus on Tempest and Gen.G?

Well, this year was a bit… weird with the Fnatic roster. It just didn’t feel like they were existing. It felt like a full year without Fnatic. And the fact that they are not here obviously takes away the pressure to have a potential rivalry with a European team. So yeah, I guess it makes us focus more on the Gen.G team, not really thinking about the other teams.

A change in the competitive atmosphere? “I don’t have to worry about EU.”

Yeah, competitively. It’s completely focusing on the Koreans.

You faced Tempest during the opening week and took down all six bell towers on Towers of Doom. What’d you think when you were in the game, like, “Did we just do that?”

Well yeah, it’s so weird! Because as I said, we were not really expected to win that hard against Tempest, which is probably one of the best teams in the world. The fact that we got a clean-up on the bot fort, and were like ‘Oh, we can actually take out the six’ or whatever. The heartbeat begins to really rush, a lot of adrenaline, and actually we made it. And I think making six bells against a top team like that, it just doesn’t happen a lot! It’s really rare.

As a spectator, Towers of Doom feels completely different than watching any other map. Is it like that when you’re playing it? Like a completely different level?

I think the difference between Towers and the other maps is there’s a lot of fights for the objective, even if you’re behind. If you’re even 1 to 40, you can still win the game if you manage to take everything, fight good, positioning. Towers of Doom is one of the maps which gives advantage to the most skilled team for sure.

Something I wanted to ask you, since this is your last BlizzCon, and it’s been a hot topic in the community: what are your thoughts on BlizzCon and its format, versus the prestige of GCWC and MSB?

Oof, the format! Well, I don’t want to say, but it’s kind of a shame that the format is kind of… really bad compared to MSB and GCWC. I guess it’s just because of time, and we can’t really blame Blizzard for that. But for the pro players, it feels so pressuring because of the fact that it’s Bo3, single-elimination. For me, that gives an advantage to the worse team. People always prepare completely insane cheese. It just feels really hard to play, because every map is so important, and the pressure will be always at its highest. I’m actually really disappointed about the format, as it’s the biggest tournament, especially my last tournament. But we are seeded 1, so I’m actually not! “It’s okay, thank you Blizzard!”

“I don’t need to worry about single elimination, I’m first-seed!”

(laughs) Yeah!

A really hot topic recently has been the tank meta. Things were so stale for a while, and all of a sudden North America is using Uther. To the point Korean teams ban Uther against them, and even Xul. What do you think of the current tank meta?

Well, I think that the current meta for tanks didn’t change that much. I completely disagree with NA when they said “oh, the tanks are bad.” I think there’s a reason why you win with Uther against lower teams, but lose against the top teams with our draft. I think it didn’t change anything. All the tanks are still present, all the tanks are still good, and they’re obviously really needed.

Why do you think it’s so hard to make a “main tank”? Are E.T.C. and Muradin too well rounded, too utilitarian that it’s hard to make new tanks as good as them? Every new warrior that comes out seems to kind of miss the mark.

I think it’s because they are not tanky enough. A good tank for me is a type who can sustain by himself, something who doesn’t even need a Support. Someone who’s got CCs, got a lot of peeling potential, and obviously an escape. Like this is just the core for a tank. Obviously you can talk about Yrel, that she doesn’t have CC or whatever, but at least she can still have a really good ultimate, and an escape, and engage as well. So, I don’t know. Every tank who has come out at the moment cannot fit the main tank role because: how do you want to engage a teamfight? If you use your E, you cannot go back again, you just cannot escape! So I think that’s what they miss, for tanks right now, they just need to be way more beefy and have the feeling that you cannot die. Kind of. Obviously not doing 1v5 around the core!

So after that… Mal’Ganis. How you feeling on him?

(wince) Oh! (laughs) I mean I’m just really sad! I just came to this tournament, we cannot play Mal’Ganis, and it’s my last tournament! I’ve never practiced with Mal’Ganis, but coming into this event when I’m playing a bit of Hero League or Quick Match, I’m actually playing Mal’Ganis and he’s actually a really good hero! A lot of people say that Mal’Ganis can be played as a main tank in Hero League, or Quick Match or whatever. I’m not sure yet about competitive, but I think he can! He definitely tanks a lot, and as I said, he gets a kind of escape, avoid damage with his ultimate, and actually do really impactful things. He’s really kind of tanky and can escape. I’m really sad not to play him. He looks so good and it’s really fun to play!

You might have to stay around a little bit longer then!

Oh, man! (laughs)

Reflecting back on your career, what would you say is the biggest moment for you?

The biggest moment for sure is when I won the first European championship in Prague. That was the Road to BlizzCon, that was my first team Na’Vi, that was the time when I was kind of searching for myself in real life. I didn’t know what to do, and I just dropped everything and went into Heroes of the Storm professionally. And the fact that we won the actual event without conceding one single map, made it feel so special. I had the feeling that I actually did something in my life, and the fact that we were there with the team, lifting the trophy, just felt unreal. Completely unreal! That for sure will remain in my memories.

If you could go back to the start of your career, would you have any advice for yourself?

Woo! Oh, uh advice… I don’t think so! I think I had a successful career and I think I did everything completely perfectly. I think I can say that because I have ten, eleven titles. I don’t think I could say… yeah, I think I did everything correctly!

Thank you for your time and we wish you luck in the future!



@JayPL_hots You can follow JayPL on Twitter:

During the Heroes Global Championship Finals, we had the chance to sit down and talk with JayPL about the tournament, the game and his retirement.