SyndereN Interview

At the time of writing, mouz is 59-35 (63%) since officially adding you to their roster. What would you say has been the biggest reason for Mousesport's recent stellar performance?

A clear game plan, confidence and being generally comfortable. We found our way of playing, developed the communication and had a solid hero pool in the version.

You've been involved with competitive Dota for nearly 5 years now and watched the game grow exponentially. What do you see in the future for the scene? Do you feel like Dota 2 has the staying power to continue gaining in popularity for years to come?

We’ve seen nothing but growth since I joined, so I see no reason not to stay optimistic. I’m expecting a massive boost in the growth once China gets more involved.

This will be the third time you've attended The International as a player and also the second time you've had to win a qualifier to do so. Does having to prove yourself in a qualifier give you a bit more motivation going into the main tournament? Do you want to "silence the haters"?

I don’t think anyone prefers going through the qualifiers; the competition and preparation of the other teams puts you under a lot of stress and pressure. That said, I’m just happy we made it through and got a lot of important practice and experience from the games.

What do you think made Alliance’s performance so formidable at the G-1 S5 LAN Finals? On the back of that, do you believe the “gap” (whether it be a perceived one or not) is shrinking between Eastern and Western Dota? Will TI3 still mainly be about “East vs West”?

The East was not prepared for their playstyle and simply couldn’t deal with it. Whether it’s arrogance or lack of intelligence or practice on their part is hard to say, but they had no solution for the play of Alliance. Alliance was very well prepared, confident and played some strategies they are comfortable with on a very high level. I personally think the scenes are coming closer to each other in terms of skill and strategy, and I feel that at the current state, the West has a higher impact on the East than vice versa — but then again, we also have an abundance of competitions whereas they have had very few.

Given the chance, would you go to China to train and take part in mainland LANs?

If you mean making the move LGD.int did and living in China, it’s something I would have to think through really thoroughly. On the other hand, if it was a few week bootcamp of some sort like Na`Vi are doing, I would definitely be up for it under the right circumstances. For the practice itself, it’s not so much about the location for me, I think — if there are good opponents available, any place works for me. As for experiencing the culture and everything else, that would of course be amazing.

Will Mousesports be bootcamping before TI3?

Yes.

Who do you believe will be the most picked / banned hero in 6.78?

I think now that the East is catching up on Io, it’s going to be the most influential hero for the time to come, particularly if we don’t see any more patches before TI3.

And finally, of the recent photoshops of you on various heroes, which do you think is the most well done? I’m partial to the Synd-headed Dragon myself.

Haha, I don’t know. I don’t really have a favourite, I just love the involvement of the community and that people are having fun supporting my team. I love them all!