CSW.Godot: There are no captains that stand out in SEA

Darcy 'Godot' Jose is one of Australia's finest Dota talents, having played in the scene since 2012. Under the banners of Natural 9, Absolute Legends, and more recently Can't Say Wips, Godot has an extensive competitive record and is one of the most recognisable players from Down Under.

This interview was conducted by Mervyn 'ISB' Tan via Skype on 22 January 2015.

Hi Godot, thanks for giving us this interview. How are you today?

I’m fine, how about you?

I’m doing well. First, let’s get some background of yourself as a Dota 2 pro - how long have you been playing?

I’ve been playing since Dota 1, and I remember it very well - I started when the Priestess of the Moon, Mirana, came out in Dota 1. I don’t know the exact patch but I’m assuming that it’s about 7 years ago, or so. But obviously back then I was a casual.

So your professional play started off with Natural 9 in 2012, which later transitioned into Absolute Legends. You guys were actually considered a top tier team in the European scene despite playing with immense latency/ping. Tell us about your experience from back then.

Back then, since it was like a new game and everyone was trying to adapt to it, I guess that if you look back now you will see that the game was so underdeveloped back then. When it comes to playing, individual skill and strategy-wise, everything was worse.

Obviously the hero pools were smaller, but I guess for us back then, since we got an early invite we just trained a lot every day and night at pretty much bad hours. We started at 3am Australian time, which is pretty early for European time, at about 4pm or what not. So our training regimen was pretty hard. But we just endured and tried to play with it, same thing with the ping. I mean, there was no other choice, we wanted to play competitive so we just had to make do.

After aL’s rather disappointing TI2 run, the team fell apart and you guys basically vanished from the competitive circuit. Why did you take a break and what did you do then?

Prior to TI2 we already had some internal problems within the team, a couple of members were having arguments. I’m not going into specifics, but pretty much they could not agree to each other. That’s why at the actual event we didn’t perform as well as we should have had. And after TI2, the arguments were still going on and TI2 was the major tournament back then. Since we kind of screwed it up on our own, we just split up, and I took a break since I felt like that the team was not going to go anywhere - most of us just split up.

So is it like what iceiceice said about Dota - when you play Dota you will never retire from playing Dota. Is that why you’re back now?

Yeah, I guess you could say it like that. In my case, I like playing competitive games, I’ve always been like that since I was a kid. Dota is one of those games where I can compete at a high level. Even though we have the ping issues, it’s always been fun so I’ve always come back.

So how did your current team, Can’t Say Wips come about, and what was the reasoning behind that name?

I came back from my break, and xMusiCa asked me if I wanted to form a team, within Australia first. We picked up some players - we initially picked up Slickz, we picked up zMuffinMan and Tiboursin which was an all Australian lineup, which didn’t end up working out. The CSW name originated from an inside joke - xMusiCa couldn’t pronounce Wisp, he kept saying Wips so we kind of formed the team name like that.

CSW is currently comprised of two Australians, two Singaporeans, and one Malaysian. What are your in-game dynamics like?

Once R1sk retired we picked up Xtinct, but we picked up Xtinct just for the DAC tournament because we needed to play with him to take the spot that KS vacated because they disbanded. So we kind of formed for that tournament only, we’re not with him for now, he was a standin for that tournament specifically.

Regarding Xtinct, we have already parted ways and we are still looking to try out others to replace R1sk, and until now there is still no replacement. So we will be using stand-ins for our next couple of games.

Are you guys playing in the upcoming Major Allstars SEA qualifiers?

Yes, we already registered for it.

In the current team of you, Tudi, xMusiCa and Chains, who does the drafting for the team, and who does the shot-calling?

I normally do most of the drafting - back when R1sk was here he would help me and give me some insight on the teams. He would also give me opinions on what would be good since we are kind of on the same page when it comes to both drafting and in-game strategy. It kind of hurts us that he is gone now since I don’t have my kitchen hand now, he found another job.

Now it’s just me mainly, and after the game we kind of discuss it. Obviously every player has their little own shots when it comes to getting ganks and whatnot in-game, but most of the shots come from me.

Have you learnt a lot of Singlish and Mandarin dialect swears from playing with them?

(laughs) Dialect, maybe not so much, I mean I know some words, but they’re not nice. But when it comes to Singlish I’ve never really noticed it. I know that in Singapore they have their own accent and words they pronounce differently. As soon as we formed with a couple of Singaporean players like Chains and TuDi I’ve never really struggled. I think that their English is really good. It could be different for other people, but with my team not really.

I asked this because for example, after Loda spent a year in Team Zenith, he has a slight Singaporean lilt in his talking now. But back to CSW - are there any sponsors on the horizon for the team?

Right now, R1sk and I are still under contract with Immunity. We did get some offers, but nothing is certain yet, so there is no point naming out certain sponsors. Until my contract expires or we terminate the contract, then we can go into another sponsorship.

What are your team’s goals from now until the TI5 qualifiers?

Our initial goal was to play as many SEA tournaments and win LAN events and potentially get a direct invite to TI5. As it looks right now, we don’t even have a stable 5th so it doesn’t look too good for us. Until then, our main priority is to get a stable fifth, and train as hard as we can and then perform in some Asian events to get the invite. If not we’ll just play the qualifiers.

The current SEA scene is struggling at the moment, but in the most recent tournament you guys won the OK.- Dota cup in Singapore. That was your first major LAN victory, how did the victory feel to you?

It felt awesome! Personally I’ve never really come first in any Dota 2 tournament outside of Australia, so it was pretty awesome, especially since it was a LAN event as well. It was pretty fun, but I feel like that tournament was not a good gauge of our footing in the scene since the Korean teams were not there. The teams that could challenge us the most at that time were Rave and MVP.Phoenix, but we performed really well because we had a strategy. No one could beat us with that strategy until now, because most of them have already figured it out. But still, it felt awesome to win it.

Has the team taken a large morale blow after David ‘R1sk’ Arnous retired? You mentioned that you were playing with Xtinct with a stand-in, but is R1sk irreplacable given your recent results?

I don’t think that R1sk is irreplacable, but I feel that it would take too much time, and we don’t have the options to find someone who can replace him right away. Initially we were going to take someone, but he had army duties so he couldn’t play with us.

Regarding R1sk, we have just played together for such a long time and we knew stuff on our own - I wouldn’t really need to tell him specifics because he would know, he would be on the same page as me. So if we needed to push, he would already be in position for that. If I did a call that wasn’t too good, or someone in the team did a call that wasn’t too good, he would be on top of them, saying pull out, or what not. That was a really important factor to our success at Ok.- Dota.

I felt like most of our players don’t have the best decision making so it’s really good to have two support players who know what they are doing to control them. When we’re missing that other voice, it is kind of hard to replace it. In SEA I feel like individual skill is not a problem, but when it comes to in-depth strategy or like decision making it is hard to find someone like that.

Would you say that this is why SEA teams didn’t do well in the DAC Asian qualifiers?

I’ve always thought that the SEA scene is behind the other scenes. There’s no doubt about it, the Western and Chinese scenes are that much stronger. Sure, maybe one or two SEA teams like MVP have competed with some of the Western scene and some of the Chinese scene, but but in a long series they will never win out. The scene in SEA right now is too underdeveloped, I feel like strategy is lacking in the SEA scene, that’s for sure, even if the players individually are very good.

For example, when we played against the Chinese teams we felt that all of their individual skill was so strong, much stronger than SEA teams. But their strategy was what was on top of us, so it’s very hard to take games off them in a long series. That is why we kind of underperformed, especially since we did not have our 5th back then.

But most SEA teams underperformed as well, maybe they could take a game or two, or tie games with some Chinese teams, but in the long run only Mineski performed better than others. But I feel like Mineski only performed better because of their playstyle - how they play is like very aggressive, sort of like the Russians where they can take games off other teams, by being unpredictable and very aggressive. But if they had to play a best-of-five against Chinese teams then they would have a hard time. Mainly strategy wise the SEA scene is behind other scenes.

Do you have any ideas on how to rectify these issues in SEA - more tournaments, would that really help?

I don’t think that more tournaments is the way to go. I feel like in that regard it comes down to whoever is drafting or doing the calls, they have to be players that have to be really creative and who can also see the overall strategy. In SEA I feel like there are no big captains, even in the teams that are performing well I don’t really see a main captain. They are all really good individually and they can play their lanes very well, and they mesh together well, but there is no real captain that really stands out.

For example, in the Western scene there is pieliedie and PPD back then who had their own ideas and really changed the game with their drafts and how they played. I don’t see that in the SEA scene so I feel like it’s more of a captain’s job - one or two individuals within the team who have to think this through thoroughly.

Pertaining to the SEA scene, it was announced today that Malaysia is getting an eSports association giving eSports official recognition in the country. Do you think that it would help push the scene further?

I hadn’t actually heard about that but I’m looking at it right now. Sure, it will help the scene - there have been a lot of problems in the SEA scene not just in gameplay but also in people match-fixing. The problems can be solved with some kind of community or government backing it up - I believe that in the Chinese scene there is a governing committee, where if they have a problem they all talk about it and decide what are the rules and regulations.

But if this is just for Malaysia then I don’t think it is going to change much - it is just Malaysia, and will not affect most of SEA as a whole.

As for some more personal questions, what are your motivations for playing Dota? Is it passion? If so, what about Dota drives that passion?

Maybe everyone in our team have different motivations - for some maybe it is money, for others it is about the competitiveness and pride in playing. For me, I’m not really too sure, it’s definitely not the money, since money is never the problem here. I feel like it is more of the competitive spirit, it is really good to do your best and play your best to beat people, especially if they are better than you, and find a way to best them. So on my part is is really for the fun and competitiveness.

Do you think that Dota is the most competitive game out there, or are there other games you want to try outside of Dota?

Well I’ve played many games competitively, including Warcraft III back then, ladder-wise. But I’m not sure, I’ve never really found a game that’s as fun - where you put so much time into a game that you find as fun as Dota. I was thinking of playing Hearthstone competitively when it came out, but I’m not sure, I probably wouldn’t be able to do it in the long term. I don’t find it as enjoyable as Dota in a long term scenario.

As an Australian, do you find it problematic that you have been lumped into the SEA scene? Do you hope for an Oceanic competitive region instead?

Sure, but the Oceanic scene is too weak, and there are not enough sponsors for an Oceanic scene. The scene in Australia is developing and growing, but it is not at a point where you can play in the Oceanic scene and be known, you have go play outside of the scene. Which is why I feel that playing in the SEA scene is fine - there are good teams, there are many tournaments and I feel that it’s actually better for us to be in the SEA scene since there is more talent and competitions there.

How is the Australian Dota2 scene doing, are there any stand-out teams/ players?

I know that there are a couple of teams in Australia and I’m not sure how well they will do. I don’t think that they will do so well until maybe next year, they need too much time to develop. As for talent, there isn’t that many but there are a few - like Kphoenii is quite good and a talented player, but he lacks the motivation and is unsure if he actually wants to play Dota. So motivation and commitment is a big problem for all these talented players from Australia.

If they really wanted to do it, any Australian player could venture out into the SEA scene and try to form teams, or even start from scratch and play joinDOTA leagues. Generally the talented players will be noticed, or be scouted and they will talk to other teams. So if there is talent and they have commitment, they can go far, but if it’s just talent by itself they will not make it.

With these difficulties, have you considered leaving Australia to head to Europe or China to pursue Dota 2 as a professional?

I’ve already thought about it many times, but it’s hard to make a living out of something that you are not sure will work. If I were to leave Australia and live in Europe - I’m actually from Portugal and I have relatives there residing in Portugal - then in that regard I’m not working or studying so I have to play Dota full-time. That means I have to somehow get a job there, and everything is really risky. Maybe if I had some sort of sponsor that would allow me to play overseas and help me out, then maybe I would consider.

Thanks for the interview, Godot. Out of personal curiosity, is your name derived from the play by Samuel Beckett?

No, a lot of people ask me that. But personally I call myself Go-Dot.

Do you have any shoutouts that you would like to make?

Shout out to my team - Chains, xMusiCa, Fixes, who has been standing-in for us a lot. Shoutout to TuDi because he is gay, shoutout to R1sk, our ex-teammate whom I’m missing, shoutout to our manager Mjelmas who does a lot of work for us, and a shoutout to our fans who have been following us all the way, although we have been struggling a bit.