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Lysander Interview



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Lysander Says:

Never Underestimate Korea

Lysander Interview by Kipsate

For Western audiences, Lysander was the face and voice of the NSL

Hey Lysander, thank you for granting us this interview. First some basic questions:



Tell us a bit about yourself (Age, where do you come from, current occupation/study)

Hey, I am Lysander Xonora, and I cast for BeyondTheSummit. I am best known for casting the Nexon League, and various other Asian Dota 2 events. I am 20 years old, and study mass communication at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

When did you get in touch with Dota (1) and then Dota 2? What is it like in Singapore for Dota?

I was introduced to Dota at a friend's place in 2004. I think it was around the time that 5.84 came out. I picked Enigma, and just played against creeps. I remember I got very excited when I destroyed my first tower (and my friend cheered me on). After that I played on and off in high school at various LAN cafes. I became active in some Dota forums, and managed to get my beta key 3 months after The International. I never looked back after that.

When did you get in touch with casting and BTS? How did you get to cast the Nexon Sponsorship League in Korea?

I was super hyped for The International. Smoke ganks and trilanes were things that didn't exist much in pub Dota back then to me. After The International I saw a lot of interesting things. Tobi was one of the first casters I started following. I really liked his energy and character, and was inspired by him. However it was not until this year when Flash Esports organized a Shoutcaster tournament that I really got into it. Singaporean teams play in a tournament while you casted it, and you got voted by the viewers. I won, and as a result I was able to cast a few small DotaTalk events. Eventually I got into the same Skype conversation as Godz/LD, and I heard rumors that they needed a caster for the SEA scene. I told them that I was the winner of the Shoutcaster tournament, and I managed to get a trial with them and as such here I am today.

"...I was the winner of the Shoutcaster tournament and I managed to get a trial with them and as such here I am today."

We do not know much about the current SEA scene, could you tell us a bit about it? How is it currently going? Some great SEA stars such as Meracle, IceIceIce, and Mushi have left for China. Is this a sign of things to come or are they making a place for new stars to rise?

The SEA scene is reasonably balanced. First Departure did fall apart a bit without Meracle, as they are without a leader. Overall there are a lot of semi-pro level players, and most pro teams are evenly matched. Chinese join-ups are a good thing because they give players a place to aspire to, and they offer something SEA can’t. The bad thing is I feel like it's not enough, because you are taking a single player but not the entire team. Dota is a team game, and as such you want to aspire as a team rather than as a single player. Call it a brain drain if you will, it might lower the interest of sponsors. As for outstanding players, I would say the Insidious Idol player Ysera shows good promise. He stood in for Impervious and did very well. SEA players in general show really good individual skill, but often have problematic (such as stunless) drafts.

Patch 6.79 has been out for a while now, what are your thoughts on it? What do you like? What do you dislike?

6.79 is great, I support most of the patch. At the Pro-level I like the direction drafting has been developing. Batrider isn’t as prominent as he once was. Before we got to see the same few heroes every game, but now we see newer heroes and newer strategies all the time. On the other hand I am not a huge fan of Midas on every single support hero, as I feel it takes away from useful support items such as force staff. There are two things which I'd like to highlight that I don't see very often in 6.79, but feel like could be considered good play.



1. Tranquil boots are a heavy nerf, but I feel like they have been buffed in a way as well as they still give a considerable amount of movement speed compared to the Regular Boots. Gankers work really well with them as well on heroes such as Abbadon. It is the between battle regen that matters, and it also wouldn’t be bad on BH because you can roam without having to go to the fountain.



2. Venomancer has been seeing a lot of play. Fans probably know how much I hate how pros build Venomancer these days. In my opinion the best build is to Max gale as soon as possible, then leave 1-2 points in wards to apply the poison, and then level poison sting. Venomancer in mid is very powerful because he can do a lot of damage early on. Venomancer’s weakness is that you can deny his wards, but you can’t do that in mid. He plants a ward for the poison sting/slow, and then pushes you out with gale and another poison sting which will also disable your regen. Venomancer's damage early on is quite underestimated as I feel like a combo with the ultimate will kill most heroes at early levels.

How would you describe your casting style? Do you feel like you have developed your own casting style which is unlike any other?

I tend to cast the way I see it, and try to make things fun and humours, which my fans seem to like. Theorycrafting is something I tend to do during the draft, and I also like looking at the the little things such as tooltips of cosmetics. I would say that a little bit of it comes from HuskyStarcraft. I consider myself casual with a lot of jokes and humour.

"I consider myself casual with a lot of jokes and humour."

Who would you choose if you want to duo casting?

I think that I would pair very well with Godz. Godz is very versatile and he can cast both play by play as well as do analysis when he casts with LD. What I would like to try sometime is cast with a pro player like Winter. Lastly, I would really like to co-cast with Tobi one day, since he is one of my sources for inspiration in the first place.

What are your favourite heroes to cast?

I like the heroes I personally play a lot such as Zeus, and Skywrath Mage. Aside from this anything unorthodox or that can get the crowd going wild such as Pudge, Invoker, or Rubick.

What are your least favourite heroes?

I dislike Rat Dota and as such Furion is at the top of my list. Aside from this, I was not a huge fan of Magnus as I feel like he could change the game with a single RP, while Engima had to work hard to get a good Black Hole off.

"I dislike Rat Dota and as such Furion is at the top of my [hate] list."

Korea has been known for its professional esports broadcasts for years, from BW to SC2 to LoL, what did you think of the NSL? Was it something unlike anything before in terms of production value for you?

Nexon has done a really good job, and there is a large amount of production value from them in their leagues so far. They seem to know what the fans want. They have behind the scenes interviews with players and a pretty girl. They also have short replay segments, and they know how to do crowd shots really well. The crowd is often filled with great pieces of fanart, which is shown during downtime.

If the Korean pro Dota 2 teams could learn one thing from the rest of the world, what would it be?

Dota 2 is an objective based game, and it's not based around killing, but about taking down the throne. Starting from the draft all the way down to the end game, every step has to be a step forward in the direction of downing the throne. This is not uncommon among lesser experienced teams. The Tongfu B Squad might outlane DK, but DK will win in the mid-game, and the late-game because they have a game plan. Korean teams don't capitalize as well as other teams on their advantages, and don’t take towers and control the map enough. Remember the Na`Vi philosophy that goes, kill you under your tower and then take your tower.

If the rest of the world could learn one thing from Korean Dota, what would it be?

They seem undaunted so far, which shows Koreans are really determined. You can already see a big improvement since the league started. They seem to plow through the difficulties. It's hard to learn Dota, and despite that they are making significant improvements. Koreans take it really seriously, and it is like a job, but moreover they are not afraid to try new things. Never underestimate Korea as they have also been dominating League of Legends quite heavily.

"Never underestimate Korea as they have also been dominating League of Legends quite heavily."

Korea has some ''interesting'' builds from time to time, from Poison Sting level 1 invisibility gank over Gale to no Shuriken Toss Bounty Hunter. What is the most interesting build you have seen from Korean Dota?

The most successful I believe was by Virtual throne. Nao played a solo mid Nature's Prophet and went with a Null talisman, into a no Boots Dagon Rush. He then proceeded to get Phase boots, finishing into blademail. It was silly, but it worked.



The least successful I believe was in Startale vs Eye of the tiger. A Chen converted 3 Wildkins, and got a fourth one by having a helm of the dominator on his team. They used four tornadoes and it looked really clowny, but after a while it just didn't work anymore.

What are your favourite picks for player, team, and play (a single moment in any game) of the NSL?





The fOu vs Startale Bo5 series is the best series if you love Korean Dota. Team Startale shows the most promise even before they played in the final. MP from Startale is impressive, and right now he could become the Dendi from Korea as he played a really good Invoker:

Where do you think the Korean scene will be by this time next year? Be specific! What kind of events and tournaments do you expect to see over the next few months? How good will the Koreans be?

Given the rate of improvement in the league, they will soon be on par with some of the Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams in the other regions. I will go out on a limb here and say that in a year they might even give T1 teams trouble. As for how the Korean scene will look I think it will completely depend on Nexon, Valve, and the community. I have seen a lot of those advertisements in various places so hopefully it will pick up, because if it does then it will be big. Koreans love their games.

"I will go out on a limb here and say that in a year they might even give T1 teams trouble."

Sum up Korean Dota 2 in a single sentence.

Entertaining regardless of what happens.

Korea is not only famous for its esports, but also for its K-pop. What do you think about K-pop?

I am not a picky guy, I like the songs. I don't really have any favourites, and they are all nice to look at. It's not to be hated because it's plastic or fabricated. I think we should have an open mind. Not only does it have some catchy tunes, it also has great ballads as well as rap, and they all deserve a chance.

Where do you see yourself going in the next few years in Dota 2?Where do you hope you will end up? Do you see yourself moving to Korea to cast if they give you the opportunity?

I am currently working on something that will include community submissions right now, and people will have to wait a while before I reveal it. If I were to be invited to cast in Korea I would like to settle some things locally, but I would go if the opportunity presents itself.

Any final comments for your viewers, fans (and haters)?

Shoutout to all my friends in real life who supported me, and I would like to especially thank the BTS crew. They are really nice and they gave me all these opportunities to evolve myself as a caster. To all my fans I would like to see much love and Kappa. To my haters I would like to say that I am constantly trying to improve, and I would like it if you gave me a chance to showcase it.

Thank you for granting us this interview once again!





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CREDITS

Writers: Kipsate

Gfx: riptide

Editors: TheEmulator, riptide

Banner photograph via Writers: KipsateGfx: riptideEditors: TheEmulator, riptideBanner photograph via Valentin Janiaut

After months of great Dota 2 games, the Nexon Sponsorship League has come to an end. With this event the Korean Dota 2 scene has grown leaps and bounds, and finally showing that it has the potential to be a force in the grand scheme of esports and Dota 2. While the teams still have a long ways to go, and will take a while to catch up to their Western/Chinese counterparts, that doesn't mean the NSL was any less entertaining to watch. Nexon gave us amazing production quality, great casters, and most of all it helped develop the Korean Dota 2 scene.Last week we had the finals, where Startale and fOu battled it out for the grand prize of $93,000. In the end Startale took the series 3-1 over fOu, not only winning the sponsorship package worth $93,000, but also advancing to the EMS One LAN Finals in Poland.Behind the NSL this whole time for us in the English scene was none other than Lysander Xonora. Lately he has been skyrocketing in popularity, and thus got the chance to do the English casting for the NSL. We got a hold of him for an exclusive interview on his start in casting, and also got his thoughts on the Korean scene and NSL in general. We hope you enjoy this interview!