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Black^ in his new team shirt Black^ in his new team shirt

Malystryx: About three weeks ago you tweeted that "I talked to Iceiceice, Burning and Mushi, and they said, even if I was able to master Chinese, it would still be almost impossible for me to find a team in China." Since then you've stood-in for Burning in Team DK and more recently joined up with CIS and helped them qualify for WPC-ACE. How did you turn the situation around?

Black^: Honestly, after they’ve told me that I gave up on staying in China. I started looking around for teams in Europe and the west in general, but there wasn’t really much of a chance there either so I figured staying in China would be the best idea. One day ICEICEICE messaged me and said they needed a standin because Burning got sick. Shortly after that game CIS asked me to play some games with them and asked me to help them out. We have recently qualified for the WPC and hope we can have good results there. The only thing that helped me to turn this situation around was luck…haha.



Malystryx: LGD.Ruru praised you heavily in an interview following the death of LGD.int stating "Black and 1437 are the most serious western players I know, they will be rewarded for their ways." You also mentioned she was trying her best to find a team for you. Why do you think she put so much effort into helping you? How do you plan to thank her for her commitment to your cause?

Black^: Honestly, Ruru is the best boss I’ve ever worked with. If you work hard she will reward you accordingly. Ever since I joined LGD.int I tried to work as hard as possible and she noticed that. I think the only way to impress Ruru is to work hard, because she herself is working very very hard. Sadly I cannot do much for her at this point, other than represent LGD as part of my names in the games I play with LGD. Ruru and the company have always been very very nice and helpful towards me and I will never forget what they’ve done for me.



Malystryx: Now you helped out Team DK after Burning fell ill. In China you have the nickname Little-B God because you apparently have a deep admiration for Burning who is known to Chinese fans as B-God. What is your relationship with Burning? You said you asked him for advice about finding a Chinese team, so would it be fair to say he is perhaps some kind of role model?

Black^: BurNing and I became very good friends ever since I came to China. He is a very kind player and he doesn’t mind sharing his thoughts with others. I learned a lot from him, not only in DotA but also in Life. It is true that I am a very very big BurNing fan and I admire him a lot. In China I am known to be the biggest DK/Burning fan.



Malystryx: They say that once the student is ready, the master will appear. Do you think when you replaced Burning for Team DK you were sufficiently skilled enough to keep up with the team? Were your first expectations of playing in Team DK very different from the reality? What were you apprehensive about?

Black^: Our match was very hard. The problem wasn’t that I couldn’t speak Chinese, but that the four of them were in one house and I was in another, making communication very very hard. Since I’ve watched DK a lot I kind of knew how they were going to approach the game so that wasn’t a big issue. However I felt really nervous, not only did I play in the team of my favourite player, but I also replaced him…it was the first time in a long time I’ve felt so nervous. I’ve said many times before, even if others one day think I am better than BurNing, I don’t believe I can surpass him. For me he is one of the most flawless players in DotA.



Malystryx: If you continue on your path you could become a professional mercenary in China, which would allow you to gain experience from a wide range of teams. Would that be something that would appeal to you? Why?

Black^: The difference between China and the west is quite huge. The mindset is totally different and players take the game (in my experience) much more serious. I’ve played standin for a couple of Chinese teams now and every team has a different approach to the game. I’d definitely say that playing around in many Chinese teams will leave positive remarks. However I hope that I won’t have to be a mercenary for long and that I can find a stable team and compete consistently.



Black^ with CIS team-mates inflame and June Black^ with CIS team-mates inflame and June

Malystryx: Fair enough. So from observing LGD.cn as well as playing with DK and now CIS you should have quite a good idea of how Chinese teams operate. Let's imagine an aspiring foreign player decides to come to China like you did and join a Chinese team. What 3 pieces of advice would you give him to ensure he could succeed in the environment?

Black^: First, it is a tough decision to make the move to China. Not only will you have to adjust to how Chinese teams practice and live, but you will also have to adjust to many other things. You will have a hard time going out to a club or something, because most people won’t understand you at first.



Second, I can only speak from my experience, but most teams and their bosses expect you to work hard, VERY HARD. If you feel easily tired from playing DotA for example, then it’s probably not a good idea to go here. I am not saying that other ways don’t work, but that’s what they expect.



Third, unless you already know Chinese from home, you will have to sacrifice a lot of your free time to learn the language. It is very important that you can talk to your teammates properly. Although that’s pretty obvious, it’s one of the most important things in DotA haha…





Malystryx: Chinese women are often very attracted by foreign men, is that one of the real reasons you stay in China? What's it like to live in China and for suddenly your race to become a selling point?

Black^: HAHA, at first you will feel kind of awkward and weird, because most people will stare at you, but as time passes you will get used to it. All the people are very kind though, so you shouldn’t worry about that! As for the Chinese women…I am very shy myself so I do not interact with many people myself, but from what Misery, Pajkatt and some of my Chinese friends said, it’s *relatively easy to get a girl when you are a foreigner* it should be safe to assume that's true.



Given TI generally only invites four Chinese team, while China's teams (DK IG NB VG LGD) competition has been very intense - if you would like to participate TI4, wouldn’t going to Europe or South Korea be easier? Why you would rather stay in a foreign country without any games for months, learn Chinese that is difficult to learn in order to stay in Chinese Dota area? What keeps you going?

cSisyphus on fromon SGamer.cn

Black^: It’s true. I can definitely say it would have been much easier for myself to have a chance for TI4 if I went back to Europe or made the move to Korea, however I strongly believe that Chinese DotA is the best DotA at the moment and my goal is to become the best player, so I figured staying in China and trying to find a team would be the best choice…That however didn’t turn out so well and now time is very short. I can only hope that CIS will be in the qualifiers for TI4 and prepare properly for that.



It will be very hard nonetheless, because there will be many good teams in the Chinese qualifier this year. What keeps me going are mostly my fans. Daily I get many supportive messages that really cheer me up no matter in what mood I am in. Learning Chinese by the way, is really fun and the language makes a lot of sense! If you like languages you should definitely learn this one!!!



How did you stay in shape during the time you weren’t playing competitive matches? And how were you feeling at that time?

千门01 on fromon SGamer.cn

Black^: I played at LEAST 11 Matchmaking games a day, so that I could practice my mechanics at least. I’ve lost a lot of competitive experience in that time, but I tried to keep up with the scene by watching as many replays of tournaments as possible. To be honest during that time I was feeling very bad and didn't know what to do. I’ve talked to many friends daily to get advice on the situation, but all the opinions were split all the time. Very big thanks to all my fans, without you I’d have had very sad days haha!



Black, why do you think Chinese Dota can easily beat European and American Dota? Will they always be left behind? Do you know why the European and American players are afraid of their Chinese counterparts so much?

来自广东省广州市的水友 on fromon Replays.net

Black^: I am not sure whether they are afraid of the Chinese players, but I do think that Chinese players are better than European ones. I think the main reason for this is, that they treat the game in a more serious fashion, for example they play matchmaking as if it was a real game and also they play their practice games to prepare for real games and don't treat them as jokes. From my experience many European teams like to just troll around in practice matches, which leads to poor results and impressions.



Black^ with CIS Inflame and June Black^ with CIS Inflame and June

If you have a chance to choose four Chinese players as your teammates to form a dream team, which four will you choose?

Unrandom on fromon Replays.net

Black^: Do Mushi and Iceiceice count as Chinese by now? If so I'd pick Mushi, Iceiceice, BurNing and fy! If not then, BurNing, fy, Yao and Zhou.



Maybe), would you return to LGD to help? If LGD's youth team needs you (the one rumoured might be happening with former playerMaybe), would you return to LGD to help?

zhanghui998877 on fromon SGamer.cn

Black^: I am not sure. I am currently playing with CIS, but I do owe Ruru a lot, so I would probably have to do a lot of discussing with her. I would love to play/work for Ruru, but for now I am under the Service of CIS! A mercenary is not allowed to break his contracts without very good reason hah!



Some Chinese pro players have demonstrated that you only focus on your farm instead of focusing on the big picture. They think this is due to a lack of insight of the general situation, and they are inclined to believe this may be the reason why you did not achieve in China so far. What do you think of this comment? Is this your style or just a part of a certain team composition?

八宝111 on fromon SGamer.cn

Black^: Definitely part of it! My playstyle was very faulty and I did indeed farm much more than I should have and didn’t help my team enough, however my time in China helped me work on this issue a lot. I hope I can showcase that in the upcoming WPC games and show people that I am not just a creepkiller!



Your former teams such as LGD.int and Mouz both have picked up global line-ups made up of Tinker and Beast Master. Now Liquid also like play this kind of lineup. Do you like this lineup or do you prefer more traditional ones? Can we expect to see CIS play this kind of style?

MR浮夸 on fromon SGamer.cn

Black^: I definitely love those kind of lineups. It allows you to punish every mistake very heavily and it’s very strong in pretty much all parts of the game. The only risk is, that if you fall behind early, it might be difficult to recover from it. Concerning CIS, I am not sure what suits us best yet, we are still trying to find what works out the best. Traditional lineups, as opposed to more *funky* ones are much safer of course and every team needs to be able to play those.



You've had a hard time in China recently(before join CIS). Do your family or friends know that?

黄晓闷 on fromon SGamer.cn

Black^: My friends and family do know that, but they have encouraged me to chase my dream and not give up. If not for them and my fans, I would have probably given up a long time ago. When I told them I finally found a team and that I qualified for WPC they all were very very happy. I have been very lucky to get the chance to play with CIS and I hope we can grow together, not only in DotA but also as friends.



Malystryx: Any last words?

Black^: Thanks to everyone that has been standing behind me all this time! Sorry for the disappointments I’ve caused so far, but I have finally been given a chance and I hope that we can make the best out of it together! Special shoutout to all of my teammates from CIS.

Given Black^'s popularity in China, I reached out to SGamer.cn and Replays.net who both posted on their website letting their users have a chance to submit questions for Little-B God. The following are the chosen questions from users of both websites. Shoutout to Liu Yan and Zhu Qiong from SGamer and Mo Wu from Replays.net for making this happen.