Korea is a nation famous for its extremely competitive and talented eSports scene. Korean players have long ruled the world of Starcraft I & II (the 2013 WCS featured 15 Koreans among the 16 finalists) and have recently also started making headway into the world of massive multiplayer online arenas.



So far this dominance has not translated into Dota2, which has not seen any Korean teams truly compete on the level of their Chinese or Malaysian counterparts. Yet this is also in part due to the relative lack of attention it has seen in Korea and its lacking presence in the ever popular Internet Café culture there. This seems to be changing now with more and more investment into the scene by Korean Dota2 Publisher Nexon.





Not only are they heavily advertising the game in subways and billboards across the country but they also started running professional tournaments in the form of the highly popular Nexon Starter & Nexon Sponsorship Leagues. Boasting a 120 Million Korean Won prize pool (around $112,000 USD) the Nexon Sponsorship league featured top Korean Teams such as Startale, For Our Utopia and MVP. Although relatively unknown in Dota2, they are the home to many SC2 legends such as Startale Life, FoU Leenock and MVP DongRaeGu.



Nearly a hundred teams gathered in Seoul for the qualifiers of the Nexon Sponsorship League. Of those only 16 qualified for the league. After a team groupstage and a double bracket play-offs, during which they bested teams such as MVP, it was StarTale which came out on top by defeating FoU 3-1 in the finals, winning them $93,000. This makes them the currently highest ranked Dota 2 team in Korea and the perfect candidate for our EMS One finals in Tychy, Poland.





We spoke with Jeffrey "Tenbird” Yi, the captain for team StarTale, and asked him a few questions about his team, Dota in Korea and their chances versus the European teams.



EMS One: Hello Jeffrey, congratulations on winning the Nexon Sponsorship League with your team. You've gained a few fans through the tournament, but a lot of people might still not know you. Can tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into Dota 2?



Jeffrey: Hi, I am Tenbird and I am currently the captain of StarTale's DOTA 2 squad. I have played Dota for several years, but only got into competitive play recently. Everyone on my team enjoys playing Dota. Before NSL we had no intention of going pro, but we ended up winning, lol.



How do you feel about Dota 2 in general, balance wise and the feel of the game?



I have been playing Dota for many years, and the reason behind it is because there are limitless possibilities. Of course there are balance issues, but in my opinion I feel that Dota is close to a perfect game.





You showed some amazing play in the Nexon Sponsorship League. How hard was it for the team to overcome your opponents? Did you pratice a lot going into the tournament and the final versus FoU?



To be honest we knew the odds were against us going into NSL finals. I think the

reason for our success was that we went to play the finals while having fun.

We really weren't expecting to win, but on that day of the finals we were the better team.



With the help of Nexon we've seen a bigger presence for Dota 2 in Korea. How do you think the Dota 2 scene is evolving there? Korea has had a lot of dominance in both StarCraft and League Of Legends, will the same apply to Dota 2?



Nexon is doing a hell of a job promoting DOTA 2. With the dominance of League of Legends in Korea, it is difficult for the player base to increase, but I have faith that DOTA 2 will become a popular game in Korea.



The Western and Chinese teams came for a visit in the Nexon Invitational Super Match, what was the impact of this on your training? Did their playstyle affect your teams mentality and your view on the game?



As expected the Western and Chinese teams were strong. They have been playing

competitive dota for several years, where for us it has been around five to six months. It was expected that we would lose. However, they did not mentally break us. We hope to someday compete with top tier teams around the world, and we will only train harder to catch up.



Some Korean teams have started to pick up “foreign” players, with DeMoN joining MVP and Blitz doing the same with FoU. Do you think these players will help the teams improve or is this just a fluke?



Well I also am technically a foreign player, but the difference between me and

demon is that I have no competitive experience. I believe players like Demon or

Blitz have a lot to offer Korean teams, and Korean teams can definitely learn a lot from them. However there are rumors where it is only a temporary thing, and I think that can have a negative effect on the Korea Dota scene.



The RaidCall EMS One finals will be StarTale's first tournament outside of Korea. With some of the strongest teams in the world there, how are you preparing to face off against these juggernauts? How do you see your chances going into the tournament?



We are going to RaidCall EMS One finals to learn. We are realistic people, and realize that we have our work cut out for us, and we need more time to be able to compete with these teams. Hopefully we can learn much from this event, and we feel very honored to play with teams that we always looked up to.



Thank you for your time Jeffrey, where can people follow you or any shoutouts you wish to give?



As of now there’s is nowhere you can follow us, lol. Shoutout to all our Korean fans, NADOTA, Bonk, Febby, Jubei, IXMIKE88, Felony, Babyj, Frankie and all of my good friends I met playing Dota!







Join StarTale at the RaidCall EMS One Fall Season Finals this weekend, 7-8th of December in Tychy, Poland. For more information on the tournament, be sure to check out the





In League of Legends they have already established a firm foothold with a 2012 second place in the World Championships by Azubu Frost and a first and third place finish in 2013 by SK Telecom T1 and Najin Black sword respectively.So far this dominance has not translated into Dota2, which has not seen any Korean teams truly compete on the level of their Chinese or Malaysian counterparts. Yet this is also in part due to the relative lack of attention it has seen in Korea and its lacking presence in the ever popular Internet Café culture there. This seems to be changing now with more and more investment into the scene by Korean Dota2 Publisher Nexon.Not only are they heavily advertising the game in subways and billboards across the country but they also started running professional tournaments in the form of the highly popular Nexon Starter & Nexon Sponsorship Leagues. Boasting a 120 Million Korean Won prize pool (around $112,000 USD) the Nexon Sponsorship league featured top Korean Teams such as Startale, For Our Utopia and MVP. Although relatively unknown in Dota2, they are the home to many SC2 legends such as Startale Life, FoU Leenock and MVP DongRaeGu.Nearly a hundred teams gathered in Seoul for the qualifiers of the Nexon Sponsorship League. Of those only 16 qualified for the league. After a team groupstage and a double bracket play-offs, during which they bested teams such as MVP, it was StarTale which came out on top by defeating FoU 3-1 in the finals, winning them $93,000. This makes them the currently highest ranked Dota 2 team in Korea and the perfect candidate for our EMS One finals in Tychy, Poland.We spoke with Jeffrey "Tenbird” Yi, the captain for team StarTale, and asked him a few questions about his team, Dota in Korea and their chances versus the European teams.Jeffrey: Hi, I am Tenbird and I am currently the captain of StarTale's DOTA 2 squad. I have played Dota for several years, but only got into competitive play recently. Everyone on my team enjoys playing Dota. Before NSL we had no intention of going pro, but we ended up winning, lol.I have been playing Dota for many years, and the reason behind it is because there are limitless possibilities. Of course there are balance issues, but in my opinion I feel that Dota is close to a perfect game.To be honest we knew the odds were against us going into NSL finals. I think thereason for our success was that we went to play the finals while having fun.We really weren't expecting to win, but on that day of the finals we were the better team.Nexon is doing a hell of a job promoting DOTA 2. With the dominance of League of Legends in Korea, it is difficult for the player base to increase, but I have faith that DOTA 2 will become a popular game in Korea.As expected the Western and Chinese teams were strong. They have been playingcompetitive dota for several years, where for us it has been around five to six months. It was expected that we would lose. However, they did not mentally break us. We hope to someday compete with top tier teams around the world, and we will only train harder to catch up.Well I also am technically a foreign player, but the difference between me anddemon is that I have no competitive experience. I believe players like Demon orBlitz have a lot to offer Korean teams, and Korean teams can definitely learn a lot from them. However there are rumors where it is only a temporary thing, and I think that can have a negative effect on the Korea Dota scene.We are going to RaidCall EMS One finals to learn. We are realistic people, and realize that we have our work cut out for us, and we need more time to be able to compete with these teams. Hopefully we can learn much from this event, and we feel very honored to play with teams that we always looked up to.As of now there’s is nowhere you can follow us, lol. Shoutout to all our Korean fans, NADOTA, Bonk, Febby, Jubei, IXMIKE88, Felony, Babyj, Frankie and all of my good friends I met playing Dota!Join StarTale at the RaidCall EMS One Fall Season Finals this weekend, 7-8th of December in Tychy, Poland. For more information on the tournament, be sure to check out the official website Metabie , Thursday, 05/12/13 16:55