Ryze: 'We are testing to see what's worth practicing'

The interview was conducted by Sovann 'Skim' Kim on the 6th June.

Name: Christoffer Winther

Alias: Ryze

Date of birth: February 20

Hometown: Copenhagen

Role: Ganker

Previous Teams: SK Gaming, Quantic, Monkey Business

Favorite Items: Hand of Midas, Dagon

One thing to change in the next patch: Remove the 3 sec CD from Dagger when receiving damage

Favorite Heroes:

Ryze, thank you for agreeing to this interview, let's get right into it. Just yesterday your team's sponsorship with Flip.Sid3 and IsMyGolf.com has been announced. What is your take on that?

I'm SUPER excited! The community was so helpful at giving us the attention we needed for our sponsors to pick us up!

What was your reaction when you first heard about a golf-related company actually going into eSports?

I was heavily suprised. This is not exactly what or who you expect to contact you. We've gotten really good response so far from golfers that love Dota2 aswell, so apparently it's not a bad match. My first thought was actually that if it's going to work it's going to be one of the next steps for eSports to grow (much) bigger, since it's a non-gaming related sponsor that sees the potential in Dota2 as a marketing point. Could be really huge ^_^.

Definitely! Anyway, your team will be going to Dreamhack. Would you have been able to travel if no sponsor had picked you up?

No, I'm afraid not.

Phew, that was lucky then. Anyhow, to how many Dreamhacks and LANs have you been? Can you actually remember all of them? And which one would you say was the best/holds the fondest memory for you?

I'm not sure exactly how many times. I've got three that stand above the rest. My first LAN , where I played with the MYM guys Mania, Pusher-Street, Maelk, Misery. First International and ESWC 2011. Our groupstage play was almost flawless in Paris. Every LAN I've been to has been special in its own way though. I'm definitely looking forward to this Dreamhack!

Are there maybe some players in particular that you are looking forward to meeting again, both outside the game as well as in-game?

In person I'm looking forward to meet with my team and friends! I'm not sure exactly who will be there but I know Waga, Black, syndereN, atze link, cr1t, noia, heste, French trio! =D, bulba, universe, fear, demon will be great to see again! (not sure if I missed anyone but you aswell! ). In-game, the French trio has to go down haha.

Haha, they certainly look strong these days. They are a team that likes to experiement a lot with rather unusual picks. Could this become even worse with the new patch?

Yes , trust me. These guys will pick anything. Just don't tell Quantic that Lich got buffed.

Ryze with SK Gaming at Dreamhack Winter '11

Well, if they pick it now, it's on you! Anyway, in terms of unusual picks, we've seen a lot these past days - not just from Quantic - like a solo mid AA, carry Necro and much more. Do you expect teams to revert back to a more safe and conservative playstyle once they are on lan or will we see more picks like this?

Every tournament has it's own special hero pool. G-1 face rush line-ups, DHW Magnus + Sven , TI3 West Quali Slark + Treant, TI3 East Quali Visage + Spec, and so on. This tournament surely will have conservative picks but as always new stuff will be revealed!

Would you dare to predict what could be the "flavor of the tournament"?

GOLF Ofcourse! - It's too early to say to be honest. But it's definitely easier to make comebacks in this version . Gyro, Alch, Visage, Spec, LD, Bat, Wisp, etc still seem strong.

True. Either way, how is your team preparing for the event? Is it possible to maybe meet up a few days before for a small bootcamp?

We will be scrimming against the others online . We aren't able to bootcamp this time. Right now we're testing the buffed and nerfed heroes to see who we think will be worth practicing. It's not a lot of time so let's hope we find the right ones

Describe your teammates with one sentence:



Mania: I always know what he wants to do before he says it; Super reliable in-game and out of the game aswell!



Miracle: Ganks you in lane, in river, from fog, from invis, whenever you don't expect it. He is EVERYWHERE !! True viking



miGGel: scariest player you'll find when he is focused : I always know what he wants to do before he says it; Super reliable in-game and out of the game aswell!: Ganks you in lane, in river, from fog, from invis, whenever you don't expect it. He is EVERYWHERE !! True viking: scariest player you'll find when he is focused





Unicornxoxo: Give him a hero and he masters it a wee : Give him a hero and he masters it a wee k after. *!#?ING STRONG!*grins*

The groups have not been released yet, but how far do you think can your team go in the current state and who would you rate as the favorites?

Na`Vi, [A]lliance, mouz are all fairly even. The other teams can hope to make upsets . How far we can go? It depends on the day and draft. If we can come out on top of both, we can beat any team as we have before. If we aren't on top of our game, we can lose to any aswell. We will have to wait and see. Fortunately RoX.KIS isn't there *smiles*.

Makes sense. Competition this time around is going to be a lot harder than last time around - granted everyone is going. Do you think that - if there was time for it - a change of format might be good?

The format seems fairly good. Four groups and a playoff. It all comes down to how they construct the groups and who they match in the playoffs. It will be interesting for sure and quite a few good teams wont go past the groupstage.

Aside from better teams, Dreamhack has also provided a higher production value. Is there anything specific you as a player would like to see?

Hopefully there will be good playing conditions. The most crucial thing is for players to be able to communicate together without having too much noise or listening to casters. I really liked the way EMS handled it with soundproof headphones (for all games, not just the finals). It would be sweet if others would follow their road.

Ryze with SK Gaming at Dreamhack Winter '11; Photo source: joinDota.com

Let's talk about you personally: What do you do aside from playing Dota?

I'm studying computer science and am currently reading about AI and how to implement it into simple games (board games typically). I've applied it last week and my bots got very good in a span of only 100-200 games. I put two bots against each other and waited one day. They executed perfectly after that. The game I used is called Connect Four. Then I'm working at Nykredit, an asset management company, as a developer. In my free time besides gaming I try to teach myself piano, it is a long way! I'm currently trying to learn this one.

How long until you get your degree? Could you see yourself taking a year off afterwards to try full-time gaming?

Yes, if I get the oppotunity I would even be able to take a break . If I don't it's around 2 years from now . It's quite expensive to go full-time Dota2 in Denmark though.

I can imagine. Last year around, after the whole SK-Eclypsia drama, your team back then fell apart and most of you left the scene for a few months. What did you do during that time?

I waited for Link to come back from army, focused on work and studies mostly. I didn't have a PC for a few months so I wasn't exactly on top form when I returned back in December. I've got a new found love for the game and I'm happy to play with my friends again even if we aren't always able to practice as much as we want or need to.

That's what it's all about and a good note to end the interview on. Ryze, once more thank you for the interview, do you have any shoutouts?

Thank you aswell! Some good questions. Shout out to Maelk! As much as I love to see Ayesee+Draskyl - those two are awesome! - Tobi always got something special to offer at an event like this. I want to thank the dota 2 comnunity for supporting us in hard times and bonus shoutout to Knightswarm - the best server hosting company! - flip.sid3 our sponsor, aswell as hoping you guys want to show ismygolf.com that dota 2 has a lot to offer in terms of advertisement & marketing.

Please, for my team mates and I, check out their website here - THANKS everyone!