posted by ProxyPL

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Proxy: Hi Madara! When I interviewed mstco from NoT he said that attending minor LANs like Razer Think Fast is the best way to learn how to play at an offline event with a crowd. Would you agree? Was playing on a stage in front of people ever a problem for you?

Madara: I agree that playing LANs is the best way to learn mostly because there's more pressure for the players and its more motivating than online tournaments. Playing on a stage was never a problem for me, I go to LANs to play and win dota so I just have to deal with minor things like these.

When we last spoke with you it was just before StarLadder XII. You had a tough run at that event, what did you take away from that tournament? In what field you feel like you lacked the most compared to top teams? Do you think it is more about individual skills or team play?

The most important thing to be taken from StarLadder was the experience and improve playing against top teams both individually and as a team. It was a combination of both, our mindset going into the tournament wasn't that good so it was all a good experience for us.

In the interview before StarLadder you/your team told us that “the prospect of LAN doesn’t scare us, on the contrary it makes us stronger” but unfortunately you had a bad result. Did you feel the same way before MLG?

I personally felt the same way, I wanted to give it my all and beat every team we faced and I think my teammates had the same mindset but unfortunately we couldn't, but with the result we got I am happy as we managed to get to the top 4, but the feeling that you can do better is always there so I can't say I'm content with the result but we tried our best.

London Conspiracy during Razer Think Fast

MLG - The tables have turned

What is more, Madara told us:

We only practiced for 1 day before going to MLG and that was it. We just went to play our best, show what we learned from the TI qualifiers and take as much as we can from the tournament.

Was there anything different about MLG compared to other LANs that helped you perform better? Was the format something that benefited you?

Well in MLG we actually played on stage, in comparison to StarLadder where some teams didn't get the chance to play on stage, for example, us. It probably motivated us more to play better.



It definitely helped us because I don't think we could beat EG in a bo3 format, but in bo1's you never know what can happen and the chances to win are high, I think LC is a good bo1 team for sure as we use a lot of pocket strats and we yolo quite a bit

Eliminating EG at MLG - No Wispect

In the first match you faced EG, but you unfortunately lost. What was the key factor in your defeat? Was it the fact that your support combo didn’t achieve as much? Did you notice anything that helped you in your rematch against them?

We were overaggressive against a team that plays a passive game on a top level, so we gave them an early lead which they used to take roshans and made teamfights easier for them. Their support did a lot of work for them in the early game in comparison to ours, because of some mistakes we made. We still had a chance to comeback tho but they had good positioning in all the fights and it was hard for us to get the fights as we wanted, so we got forced into bad fights, which gave them a bigger lead.



PPD about the rematch against LC: "In just few seconds we lost the game"







Madara: For the rematch against them we had a better draft and we wanted to play a more passive game as our over aggression didn't work against them the first game, they had no catch and we could use the map as we pleased in most cases. They made 1-2 big mistakes and gave us 2 lanes of racks. After that it was almost impossible for them to comeback.

I see, were you surprised that EG last picked Io in the rematch? How did you expect them to lane after you saw their lineup?

We were surprised because, honestly we don't believe they play Io that well and we are confident against better teams using Io so we were really confident when we saw them pick Io, we knew how they were gonna lane because they didn't have that many options. We were prepared and knew what they wanted to do pretty much.

That knowledge seemed to pay off in the early game, you were actually winning. You went for some impressive plays like Spartan’s Black Hole from the low ground catching QoP. Was is a planned move or something that happened in the heat of the moment?

Spartan tried to gank qop with a smoke, unfortunately failed but luckily for us it was night time so he went around to catch him of guard which worked . So pretty much it was a planned move that didn't go as planned and then Spartan had to improvise.

Did you feel that you needed to keep pulling something like that off in order defeat EG or were you confident that if you play your own game you can still beat them?

We were confident as long as we can take the game into late game. We had better picks and we had a better position 1 carry than them, so what we needed to do was to create space and make some plays around the map which worked for us, mostly because they had no catch.

What was your reaction when you managed to pick EG off one by one when they were returning to defend? Did you feel like you have the game in the bag at that point?

We saw that not everyone had a tp when they killed roshan and we knew we could pick them off, I think they were a bit overconfident and underestimated us a bit because they had the aegis. We were really happy when we actually picked them off we knew we had the game under control when we took 2 sides or racks.

You personally played very well on PL that game and eventually carried your team to victory. Do you feel like you performed the best out of your team in that match? Who would you call the MVP of your team that game and why?

I feel that I performed well and did my job but for that to happen my team had to create space and make stuff happen around the map, so I think we performed well as a team. Everyone did their job as they should and that led us to victory. About the MVP I think everyone played their best so I don't know whom I can call the MVP of that game.

PL seems like a top priority pick for you. Why do you favour that hero so much and what do you think he excels at?

I think PL is one of the best carries in the patch right now he is good in laning phase, can farm extremely fast and does so much in the teamfights with good positioning. He mostly excels in long fights.

Madara at joinDOTA MLG Pro League Season 2 Championships

Playing against Io - "We understand the concept"

In both of the games you won in the group stage you gave up Io and managed to defeat it. You even let NiP have their signature Tiny + Io in the playoffs and still won. Are you confident against this hero? What is your approach when playing against him?

We are confident against Io as we think it can get countered easily most of the time. I believe we have good drafts against this particular hero. We understand the concept of having Io in the team and how the team plays around it. We try to outplay the game style that Io has and most times it works for us.

Both times when you played against Tiny + Io you personally didn’t play a hero with an escape mechanism. Do you think that it isn’t necessary (to have a carry with that ability) when playing against that combo or maybe you are just confident in your positioning throughout the game?

We don't think its necessary as we try to outplay them with good positioning, and tanky heroes to tank the damage or just kite them around. We are used to playing against Io so we are confident with our positioning in the game in general.

The playoffs - "we lost was because we had a standin"

How did you feel after eliminating EG and heading to the playoffs?

We felt really happy and confident going into playoffs as we eliminated one of the best if not the best team at MLG but we had to contain ourselves so we can perform equally as well in our other matches.

In both matches you lost against NiP you didn’t draft many hard disables, do you feel like that was the main factor why you lost?

I think the main factor we lost was that because we had a standin. We had to pick out of our comfort zone and that was a downside for us in bo3 matches. Mostly it was because we made a lot of mistakes that led us to lose, but drafting was equally important.

Madara and Spartan with their manager

I see, why couldn't the full roster go? Also how did you pick your standin?

Well our mid player Keyser had to do exams for his university, so couldn't attend. Skylark knew ThuG our standin and we agreed to going with him as we knew him a bit from the Greek scene. He's a good player so it was natural to go with him.

Were you thrown off by the Pugna pick from Fnatic in the 3rd place decider? It seems to be quite popular in SEA. Do you have much experience playing against it?

We actually were surprised, but we knew Fnatic play these kind of 5 man fighting heroes. We don't have much experience against it especially when he's that farmed as he was in that game. It was insane, he did a lot of work, and together with his team it was really hard to break their teamfight potential.

Why did you decide to run it yourself in the second game as you didn't have much experience with that hero? Looking back do you think that it was a good decision?

It wasn't a good decision for sure as ThuG our standin didn't have much experience with the hero and we as a team as well didn't play well around him. We wanted a mid hero that goes mek and works well in a 5 man, so that's why we picked pugna.

I see. So would you say that not having the full roster was what cost you the X-Games medal in the end?

Well we had to play differently from what we are used to playing, and our team coordination wasn't the same but ThuG brought other things to the team which I think helped us in other ways. I think what cost us was that we didn't prepare for the tournament because we had no time.

Okay let's move away from the games at MLG to some other things. How did you like the organization of the event and how do you feel about it being a part of X-Games?

The organization was really good, everything was well organized, the hotel was nice, the only downside was that being at X-Games, at least in the place, that it was it couldn't hold many people to watch it live because the place wasn't big enough. Overall it was a really good experience and we liked it a lot.

As the Dota 2 world will be a bit quiet now before and after TI what are your plans for the near future?

Me and my team have decided to take a small break after our LAN that we attended, to regain strength and play as many tournaments as there will be before TI. After TI we will see what happens. It's too early to predict what we will do after TI.

Alright, any shout outs?

Shoutout to my team and to ThuG for attending MLG for us and achieving 4th place. Also shoutout to my family and to all our fans for supporting us. Thanks a lot guys, you are all amazing!

London Conspiracy during Razer Think Fast

London Conspiracy have definitely been on the rise recently. Last time we spoke to them they were a relatively unknown team that, thanks to some upsets, managed to qualify for StarLadder XII. For sure, this is not the case anymore. The Greek squad playing under British organisation has made a name for themselves.They were the only team to beat Na'Vi in the European qualifiers for TI 5. After that, as a result of Empire's and Vega's visa issues, they got an opportunity to compete at joinDOTA MLG ProLeague Season 2 Championships. They definitely made the most out of the opportunity, as they finished in the top 4 eliminating the heavy favourites of the tournament - Evil Geniuses in the group stage.After X-Games they have not slowed down and attended yet another LAN - Razer Think Fast which they won in dominating fashion. We caught up with Madara whilst the event was still going on.LC didn't have a great showing at their first major event as they were the first team to get eliminated. Their performance during The International 5 qualifiers was not the greatest either as they got eliminated in the group stage. Being the last minute replacement at X-Games the expectations weren't high for the Greek squad.You can follow Madara @MadaraDotA2