I'm good, how are you?

I grew up in America, single child family. And I've played DotA since I was like 14.

I learned about DotA from one of my cousins when I was over at their house. And when I came home I bought WarCraft III myself to play. Probably my first LAN was ESL NY. [ loved the feeling of playing on stage and the thrill.

Umm, it's not much different I think from normal but it's also not the ideal. You want something stable and to grow together and that's hard if you're not always with the same roster but it kind of goes with the game and job. But it's getting a lot better a lot of teams are preferring stability these days.

I just really wanted to play with Raven. I thought he was really good for a really long time and Dubu asked me to join and I really enjoyed playing with him as well from my time in Immortals.

I'm fine. I was really excited to go to WePlay! because I've never been to one and always heard good things about the tournament so I'm sad I can't attend, but it's fine. Again it kind of comes with the job sometimes even if it sucks.

I'm not sure to what extent teams pre-meditate kicks and stuff but I don't think they go to players and are like, “If ‘X’ doesn't go well then we're going to make roster changes.” I've only ever had this happen once in my entire career. But I think it did come as a surprise.

We’ve had team meetings in the past but it's mainly about what we can do to improve and play better as a team. Definitely isn't a vibe of trying to ostracize someone, I guess?

But I didn't think I would go home for Christmas break and get kicked mid break since I think we finally figured out exactly how we wanted to play and I thought we were meshing well. but of course you also always have the looming feeling if your team isn't performing up to expectations.

I wasn't really given any information at all, so my guess is only slightly better than yours. I don't

think

it was a personal issue. Maybe more on the Dota side. But I still really like all of them; I had probably the most fun I've ever had playing with them, so I wish them the best.

I think it's a bit unfair but I think it's out of control. It's just going to be in favor of the fan favorites.

Yeah it was discussed and so far no problems.

Yeah, I think the new patch is great. Mmm hard to describe the patch in short but maybe “fresh”?

I think the top teams will always be the top teams. You know EG/VG/Secret etc... because the top teams are the ones that know how to improve no matter what the patch is.

I think Gambit is a good team, especially GPK. He is probably one of the top mid-laners in my opinion. They're a new team and I think none of them have had the experience of being on the top except maybe FNG. I think they have room to grow.

Just want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Thanks.

We got hold of Eric "" Dong for a quick interview post his unceremonious departure from Geek Fam. Ryoya talks about his unexpected kick after helping Geek Fam qualify for WePlay! Bukovel Minor, how a similar situation would have escalated had it been some tier 1 player in his stead, expectations from the upcoming Minor/Major, and more. To read the full interview with Ryoya, read below:We wish Ryoya the best of luck wherever he ends up next.If you would like to know more about my work, you can follow me at. You can head over to our Dota 2 hub for more content. Headline image courtesy: Dreamhack