posted by Venediction

ADVERTISING:

Alliance

Chan ‘WinteR’ Litt-Binn

WinteR

Evil Geniuses

Clinton ‘Fear’ Loomis

Fnatic

Steve ‘Excalibur’ Ye

Natus Vincere

Arthur ‘Goblak’ Kostenko

Vici Gaming

Yao ‘QQQ’ Yi

DK

Wen Yi ‘71’ Tang

...he gave us many advices not only on mentality but game strategies as well. Many things he tells us are based on professional competitive sports. It’s very helpful. ...he gave us many advices not only on mentality but game strategies as well. Many things he tells us are based on professional competitive sports. It’s very helpful.

-Zhang ‘LaNm’ Zhicheng

LGD

Zou ‘820’ Yitian

Cloud 9

Aaron ‘Clairvoyance’ Kim

Newbee

Tong ‘Sydm’ Junjie

At the live playing area, the behavior of DK's fans caused Newbee to lose, because their excessive jeering affected NB players. At the live playing area, the behavior of DK's fans caused Newbee to lose, because their excessive jeering affected NB players.

-Tong ‘Sydm’ Junjie

Alliance have gone ahead and picked an inside man to help them face the Asian onslaught at the TI4. They've not chosen an European coach, but rather Chan "" Litt-Binn.After six months of searching for a coach, Alliance allegedly picked up him up when they heard him casting, but WinteR has been giving the World Champions his input since long before even the WPC Tournament, he admitted to skyping with the team even at the Dreamhack to give them pointers.This former National Malaysian Chess player is no newcomer to strategy nor the professional E-sports scene. He has been an avid Dota player from back in its Warcraft III days and has transitioned well to Dota 2.Captaining as many as four asian teams in the last four years and leading them to a total of 14 first and second positions in tournaments all over Asia (most notably their best of 5 win versus Vici Gaming at the Netolic Proleague #2 East last year) has given him quite the know-how on Asian playstyles. In his many years of gaming he's had constant first hand experience battling up against players who have now moved into big league teams like DK and iG, there's no doubt that this knowledge of Asian strats and how they've evolved through the years will be an instrumental tool for Alliance to abuse in the coming tournament.In various interviews WinteR claimed that Chinese teammates act like colleagues rather than friends and this is absolutely unlike Alliance's team environment; he believes that this is what lends them the exceptional synergy and communication to be World Champions once again. It's apparent from the interviews that he has already formed a bond with the team and fits in well with them due to their shared philosophy of friendship over professionalism.This man who needs no introduction has gladly taken up the role of the backseat driver due to his unfortunate injury. There isn't much that can be said about him that everyone already doesn't know from the Free To Play documentary. There is no doubt that after half a thousand matches with the same team, no one knows and understands the mentality of the SADBOYS/Evil Geniuses roster better than him. It also could be said that very few players understand the game as well as he does either because of his 6 year career in the Defence of the Ancients Pro scene with 10 different teams before finally going pro in Dota 2.During his long years as a professional Dota player, he has had the opportunity to play with and against other longstanding pros like Puppey, Kuroky, Merlini, Pajkatt etc. giving him a deep understanding of how the minds of his now adversaries work. The rest of the Evil Genius roster have played a minimum of 178 professional matches together, making it less likely for Fear to have to deal with petty arguments and waste time on trivial discussions on better team cohesion. We can already see how Fear is giving his 100% to the team's tactics when they face off against other top dogs from the world over.His crucial feedback could be attributed to EG's latest accomplishments, namely, at The Summit, then defeating Na'Vi 3- nil at the HyperX D2L Western Challenge and then moving on to win second place at the ESL One Frankfurt just 5 days later. Even with his absense from the playing seat he has made sure to keep his team in top notch shape.His team has always impressed fans with their performances at the previous Internationals and his continued involvement with the teams strategies will no doubt help EG reach new heights at the TI4.This fresh blood on the professional Dota 2 scene isn't as much of a rookie as people may have assumed. A DotA player since he was in the 4th grade and former HoN and Starcraft player only began playing Dota2 after the TI2 and has outshined many others to claim his current spot as the 5th ranked player in the EU Leaderboards with a 6951 Solo MMR and 5679 Party MMR (Source: dota2toplist ). But how well does a "professional pub player" really fare on the big leagues. Well his 10-0 Tinker versus DK at The Summit should be proof enough of his mad skills. ( watch it here It was Fly who admitted to having been carried by Excalibur's Meepo in a pub match which made them consider him as a potential stand-in candidate for Era. It was entirely his skills and not his connections or history that impressed the team into offering him a position as a player and now as their coach.Despite having played only 38 matches with Fnatic thus far and it being his first exposure to the professional scene, the kid has proven himself time and again as a capable member of the team. He has even garnered a significant fan-base with his stellar plays, some people even dubbing him the E-God.With the re-introduction of Era into the roster his professional career seemed to have been abruptly cut short until Fnatic announced he would be their coach for the TI4. While some scoff at the newest player being the coach for a team such as Fnatic let it not be said that Excalibur is inexperienced. Coaching seems to be the most ideal position for him, with his inexperience in professional LAN events, he can focus most on what he does best, observing games and designing plays.Goblak is no stranger to Dota drafts neither is he to Natus Vincere, having captained the original team back in 2010, although only Xboct remains now from that roster. Goblak is popularly regarded as a game changer, making unusual picks and plays which have gone on to become a signature style for the Natus Vincere team. He is often credited for popularising Wisp and Treant Protector in the professional scene, both of which are now some of the most picked and successful heroes in the meta.Since his departure from the Na'Vi team, he has switched teams six times in 2 years, playing most for successful teams like Rox.Kis and Empire. His contribution is always prominent in matches thanks to his usefulness as a support and utility player of his team. He impressed everyone at the TI3 when he managed to make Quantic Gaming qualify for the tournament and stand their ground and put up a fight against the eventual World Champions.His presence will probably prove crucial to help Na'Vi avoid their frequent slumps by having a new pair of eyes examine their plays and Goblak is definitely a qualified player to do so. He may also be able to suggest new strats that would mix things up and make Na'Vi an even more unpredictable team as they look to secure a top position in the biggest E-sport event to date. While some fans expected LightofHeaven or even ArtStyle to take up this role as the coach, fans can do nothing but keep their fingers crossed for yet another Na'Vi breakthrough to the Grand Finals with a legendary drafter on their side.Most popularly known for his involvement with Chinese fan favorites EHOME back in the day, QQQ's prowess has once again been recognised when VG offered him a chance to return from retirement as their Coach. In his official statement he asserts his belief in VG's skills and promises new success for the team.His illustrious career actually dates back to Defence of the Ancients where he played with EHOME before eventually transitioning to Dota 2 and coming second place in the first International. They also qualified for TI2 after which he moved on to play with DK.He will be responsible for honing the players' skills and analysing the matches and briefing them on improvements.While he may not have any recent firsthand exposure to the professional scene, QQQ is a wealth of knowledge at 28 years, he is currently one of the if not the eldest Dota player. This could -in theory- help Vici Gaming adapt long forgotten strategies to the new meta, making way for never before seen plays.It's no surprise that QQQ is so confident in this team's capabilities given that he is now reunited with his friends from 2013, Super and rOtK who were former DK players alongside QQQ, probably looking forward to facing up against their old pal BurNIng who still captains DK.After a long period of absense yet Tang reunites with LaNm, MMY(X!!) and BurNIng whom he worked with back in EHOME and often called his biggest prides. The feeling was mutual as DK officilly confirmed him as their coach and revealed that their win at the WPC was largely due to his guidance.Throughout EHOME's illustrious career pre and post TI1, 71 had been backing them up. There are countless testimonies of his dedication to the player and the game, making him a role model for every other prospective coach in the scene. The legendary manager is now on his was to assist DK towards their ambition to acquire the Aegis of Champions.The famed EHOME player revealed his desire to return to the competitive scene just half a year ago and LGD jumped at the chance to recruit him as their coach. He is yet another old star with a professional gaming career dating back to 2006. His longest stint was with EHOME from 2008 to 2011 where he specialised in both Carry and Support roles.After EHOME disbanded following The International 2011, 820 retired and moved on to managing a DotA team, World Elite. Recently however, probably due to the immense Prize Pool, he has set his sights once again towards The International. His years of experience as well as successfully reaching second position at The International make him an invaluable asset to the LGD team.During his years with EHOME, he played alongside LaNm, QQQ and MMY all of whom will be present at this year's International as players or in the case of QQQ as a rival coach. This should give LGD somewhat of an advantage in understanding the opponents' mentality and styles of play when they face up against DK, VG and Newbee at the TI4.The popular multi-game caster has taken a drastic step up in his career by accepting to coach Cloud 9 for The International 2014. Inspite of lacking much of a professional gaming history, Clairvoyance is no less knowledgeable than many of the other players around. He has played alongside Arteezy, Mason, Bulba, Demon and even EGM during his 3 brief stint with Take 5. He will be seeing these players again at TI4 and will obviously teach Cloud 9's roster ways these players' minds work.Having casted for several years now, Clairvoyance has had one of the best opportunities to see the game evolve and different teams adapt to new metas. This makes him a good choice for a coach not only due to his analysis skills but also his experience in the past analysing other teams' plays.No doubt Cloud 9 had this in mind when offering him the position of the team's coach, only time will tell if he can prove his worth and make this into a long-term job.The former VG solo mid has now moved on to coaching after being demoted by the Vici Gaming squad earlier last year.He has been coaching Newbee for quite some time now and seems to have grown quite attached to the team, enough to post a controversial message on a social network regarding the negative effects caused by the DK fans booing Newbee.This aside however his involvement with the VG team is bound to prove useful for the Newbee roster when they eventually face off against them. Much like the other new coaches in the scene Sydm will have to prove himself at TI4 before much can be said about his coaching abilities at all.This article was written byMohammad Shadman, a joinDOTA writer.After on and off flings with LoL, Venediction now goes steady with Dota 2. Nowadays he manages his time between trying to raise his mediocre MMR, university and writing for JoinDota. He wishes to someday co-cast a match with Tobi while working for Valve. Location: New York, USA