WPC Week 2: Godz on Titan April 7th, 2014 12:51 GMT Text by riptide Focus Mode

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Godz on Titan

"[Net] takes playing initiator to the extreme!"



began their WPC bid this week, and they initially tore through their Chinese opposition, demolishing teams like CIS, HGT and TongFu. The team was always known to excel in the laning phase, and that has not changed. Titan’s early game movement, including the rotations of their supports was top notch in WPC this week.



However, they began to falter when faced against the higher tiers of Chinese Dota, and despite showing strong performances against LGD, VG and DK, were unable to take any games off of them. They did manage to finish off their WPC league run in style by beating iG 2-0, however, so that's something!



In this quick interview, long-time SEA Dota aficionado





Will Titan's WPC round robin run leave them in one of the first six slots?

[View detailed results on Liquipedia] Will Titan's WPC round robin run leave them in one of the first six slots?







How do you feel about Titan's run in WPC so far? Are they performing as expected?



They're performing how I expected them going into the tournament, but under-performing based on their good start and how they were looking in their earlier matches. Sure, they started off with far easier matches, but those teams they beat are legit good tier 2 Chinese teams, and Titan crushed some of them (like DT), while looking really good. After I saw those games I expected them to take at least 3-4 of their last 10 games, I think they'll be a bit disappointed with only the win over iG. They did come very close a few times though.





How is the Titan of today different from the Orange that took 3rd place at TI3?



Confidence more than anything. While all stories I hear point towards Mushi not always being the most amicable teammate, the guy has strong self belief, and can inspire his team to do better, even if he does so in somewhat harsh ways. Yamateh seems much more mild. He's opinionated during drafting and talking lots there, but I feel the confidence and just general belief doesn't come close to matching Mushi.









Titan showed us flashes of brilliance this week, and if they bring it together in the months to come, could very well be a force to be reckoned with at TI4! Titan showed us flashes of brilliance this week, and if they bring it together in the months to come, could very well be a force to be reckoned with at TI4!







What do Titan need to do in order to perform the way they did during TI3? Are there any changes you think they need to make to the way they draft and play?



Well, TI3 and even TI2, the team did well based entirely around winning the laning stage with strong hero picks and lots of early rotations. I think that's a playstyle they can maintain, although maybe not to the same extent without Mushi. As far as reaching a similar play level, the late game decision making, and not cracking under pressure has always been an issue for the team. People remember the kyxy aegis deny at TI3, but go back to TI2 and it was the Mushi morphling throwing against EHOME when Orange had a massive lead. The team struggles with late game decision making.







What could other top Dota teams learn from Titan, and what can Titan learn right now from top tier Chinese teams like DK, iG or VG?





"[Net] takes playing initiator to the extreme!" "[Net] takes playing initiator to the extreme!"



They can watch Net! He takes playing initiator to the extreme. His surprise spots as well as his willingness to blink disable into a teamfight (often at the cost of his own life) to take out a core hero is almost unmatched. Also, I think Ohaiyo's off-lane play is very innovative and unique, going level 1 teleport on prophet to ward block jungle camps then cliff jungling, or his Centaur/Nyx which positions itself to constantly stop smoke ganks towards mid lane, while keeping himself safe, and does constant sweep throughs on mid lane. These are the two most impressive players for me on Titan when it comes to decision making and standing out.



I think the biggest thing Titan can learn from other teams is how to itemize and be more efficient in a lot of ways. Yamateh played a couple games of Clinkz recently and rushes Orchid with free-farm, when there's really no reason to not get Midas. It slows down your Orchid 2-3 minutes, but long term you get more farmed and Clinkz benefits from the attack speed. I think Yamateh's skill is there, but it really shows that he doesn't watch many other top teams play or follow the top competitive trends.





Describe each of Titan's players in a single word:



kYxY - Shy

Ohaiyo - Underrated

XtiNcT - Oldman

Net - Trees

YamateH - Mushi's Shadow Titan began their WPC bid this week, and they initially tore through their Chinese opposition, demolishing teams like CIS, HGT and TongFu. The team was always known to excel in the laning phase, and that has not changed. Titan’s early game movement, including the rotations of their supports was top notch in WPC this week.However, they began to falter when faced against the higher tiers of Chinese Dota, and despite showing strong performances against LGD, VG and DK, were unable to take any games off of them. They did manage to finish off their WPC league run in style by beating iG 2-0, however, so that's something!In this quick interview, long-time SEA Dota aficionado David "Godz" Parker looks closely at the great Malaysian hope. What must Titan do in order to beat the top Chinese teams? Godz tells all, below!



CREDITS

Contributors: riptide

Editors: riptide

Images: Contributors: riptideEditors: riptideImages: Liquipedia and Titan

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