photo by: ESL One

One of the most iconic figure in the Dota 2 community and a player who was once regarded as the best carry in the world, Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei has retired from the competitive scene for over a year now. Over the past year, he’s been coaching and now he is also the co-owner of Team Aster where he wants to nourish the new talent in the Chinese scene.

BurNIng’s fans can often see him joining the commentator’s desk or they can join a conversation with their idol on his streams. Yesterday, BurNIng was commentating for the Chinese community the first day of matches of ESL One Birmingham and at the end of the stream he took the time to answer a few questions from the fans. Our Yuhui Zhu translated for the western readers a few of the most interesting questions and answers.

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Which game in your professional life has left you the deepest impression?

iG vs Newbee at TI7 upper bracket round 2. We had a good shot, but we didn’t manage to take it. Had we won that series, we would have secured a top 3 finish and it would have boosted team’s morale significantly going forward. Also, top 3 would have broken my old TI record.





If you need to choose a game in which you played 100% flawlessly, which game would that be?

I don’t think there’s a game where I played flawlessly, every game I played I feel like I could have done it better.





Do you think there is a Dota2 player in the scene who’s more handsome than you?

Sorry, but I don’t think so.





Who are the top carries right now?



I feel like AME and Nisha belong to tier S while Ramazes, Paparazi, Miracle and I are at tier A.





Which carry players do you think have a similar style with yours?

AME and Paparazi, because both of them are serious and passionate about the game.





Which Chinese team do you think could win TI9?



VG or LGD. If I have to pick one of them, I’d go with LGD.





How’s your diet plan going so far?

You may not believe me, but I lost 5 kg in May alone.





Have you ever considered returning to the competitive scene?

Not officially, but I may still form a stack to play some open qualifiers and small tournaments. I’m not that young boy anymore, what if my wife leaves me for someone else if I go back being a pro?





Have you got the tickets for TI9?

I stayed up all night to purchase the tickets, but I didn’t get anything. I reached out to people at Perfect World and Valve but they ignored me.

