DotA
Receiving a vouch from former captain to get into IHCS1, toMpa continued his rise up the ladder joining Team_Team, the team who would later join SK, as a stand-in. Nearly two years on from his introduction to DotA Tompa is an integral part of the current SK.DotA squad and despite other members changing his presence remains constant.
2008 was both up and down for me personally. We performed both really well and not so well during some time especially between ESWC Masters of Paris and the ESWC Grand Final. We won the ESWC Masters but then totally flopped in the USA.
For DotA as an esport it has both been good and bad. Worldwide DotA has become huge, more and more people play it. ESWC was probably the biggest thing, even though it could have been handled so much better from a DotA player's and the DotA community's perspective. But overall DotA has grown a lot even though it could have been better.
How could DotA have realistically had a better year?First of all, I think the spectator part is a problem for DotA. It's harder to understand what people do for a guy who never played DotA before. And also the length of matches is a problem compared to Warcraft 3, Quake or FIFA, even though it has been reduced some over new patch-changes. A game can be up to 70 minutes sometimes if its an intense match. Tournaments could have handled DotA much better too, especially the offline ones.
Yeah, but how do you fix those problems? Can this be done without hurting the casual player?
For DotA games to be shorter farming should not be rewarded as much as ganking should be! People would definitely follow it more if there was more action on the map. Maybe it should be easier to get into a base and mistakes should punished more, such as being picked out by being ganked.
DotA is a unique game which is constantly growing both communty-wise and the game itself does too. I for one hope that the tournament organisers will realise it in 2009. From what I've seen in big DotA matches which were streamed over garena, they usually go above Counter-Strike's numbers with big matches.
Can you think of reasons why DotA is not bigger in pro gaming than less popular games?
I think it's mainly due to the somewhat "slow" gameplay which makes it not as spectator friendly.
What about SK Gaming? Could you have achieved more? I mean realistically, not theoretically.Yes, preparation is a very important part in e-sport overall I think. But since you can't really make a living out of DotA, your team mates and yourself often either go to school or work. But on our behalf in SK I think we could have done some things better. But most things I am satisfied with!
How does the new team of SK compare to the one with Akke and Bogdan?
The team works really well with chemistry and communication. Of course I miss the old good conversations with Bogdan and Akke! But I think if we practice more our old SK team play will be back once again! And I believe we will be better than we were before!
Snow and KwoM are both motivated which brought in much more motivation into the team and also very good and important roles to the new team. Snow is our new carry and solo player, he's the one that tries to get a lot of items on lategame heroes. KwoM is a ganker who keeps much action on the map and a nice team player.
Before Snow and KwoM were on the squad it was usually Loda who played the main carry which more or less switched over the last months where we found it much better for the team if he could play semi-carry who could gank more. The new gameplay is much more efficient as we don't rely too much on one guy any more. We increased our individual skill a lot over the last months.
What makes a good DotA team? Communication? Strategy? Counter-strategising? Individual skill?
A good dota team is one that has all of the above, with an emphasis on communication, strategy and team spirit.
Asian teams had their style, Americans had theirs, European teams had their own. It was interesting to see them mix against each other. Has the "proper" way to play DotA been found out yet? There's no 'proper' way to play DotA as you express it, as it changes with every game, every pick and every version.
What have you learned from teams from other continents?
When we practice we try to play out every hero possible, but I have definitely learned some from the Asian picking strategies compared to the European picking even though we're the best continent! ;)
Previous eSKlusives
eSKlusive: June "Lyn" Park (Warcraft3 player)
Carmac
I am tired of everyone asking for the title of the song from the interviews. It was made by Christian Linke. Search in the damned file section.
I sometimes forget to respond to a PM or a guestbook message. I do apologise if I have ignored you at some point!
I am a bad person. Malicious, cynical, annoying, petty, rash and impatient. Good luck making friends with me.
* DO NOT BUDDY ME IF YOU DO NOT KNOW ME IN PERSON *
Work:
XS/ESReality 2000-2004
GGL Dec 2005-> Dec 2007
SK Gaming Jan 2008 -> Dec 2008
ESL Feb 2009 -> ...
Events visited:
2011
BlizzCon 2011
Intel Extreme Masters VI Global Challenge New York
Intel Extreme Masters VI Global Challenge Guangzhou
Intel Extreme Masters VI Global Challenge Cologne
European Battle.net Invitational 2011
Intel Extreme Masters V World Championship, Hanover
Intel Extreme Masters V European Championship, Kiev
2010
Intel Extreme Masters V American Championship, New York City
Intel Extreme Masters V Global Challenge Cologne
Intel Extreme Masters V Global Challenge Shanghai
2010 Blizzard Warcraft Invitational, Cologne
ESWC 2010 finals Paris
Intel Extreme Masters IV World Championship, Hanover
Intel Extreme Masters IV Asian Championship, Taipei
Intel Extreme Masters IV European Championship, Cologne
2009
Intel Extreme Masters IV American Championship, Edmonton
Intel Extreme Masters IV Global Challenge Dubai
Intel Extreme Masters IV Global Challenge, Cologne
Intel Extreme Masters Europe, World finals, Hanover
EPS XIV IFNG Cologne
2008
World Cyber Games finals, Cologne
Intel Extreme Masters III Global Challenge Dubai
ESWC Masters of Athens 2008
ESWC finals, San Jose
QuakeCon 2008, Dallas
Global FIFA 09 Community Event, Vancouver
ESWC Masters of Paris 2008
Blizzard Worldwide Invitational 2008, Paris
EPS Season XII Finals, Cologne
ESCONF 08, Cologne
Kode5 Global Final 2007, Moscow
2008 AFI Film Festival, Dallas
CyberAces Gala, Warsaw
WCG Samsung Euro Championship / Intel Extreme Masters II / CeBIT, Hanover
2007
Championship Gaming Series World Championship, Los Angeles
DreamHack Winter, Jonkoping
i32 LAN, Newbury
Heyah Logitech Cybersport finals, Warsaw
Extreme Masters / E4All, Los Angeles
World Cyber Games finals, Seattle
Games Convention, Leipzig
ESWC finals, Paris
ESWC Qualifier Poland, Poznan
Crossfire Prizefight Challenge 2, Enschede
i30 LAN, Newbury
WCG Samsung Euro Championship / Extreme Masters / CeBIT, Hanover
2006
World Series of Video Games finals, New York City
Poznan Game Arena / Creative Polish Invitational, Poznan
World Cyber Games finals, Monza
GGL DigitalLife Pro/Am Tournament, New York City
WCG USA, Las Vegas
Kode5 Quake 4 finals / Games Convention, Leipzig
ESWC 2006, Paris
ESWC Qualifier Poland, Poznan
Hip Hop Gaming League finals, Hollywood
GGL VSports AllStars / E3, Los Angeles
GGL TransAtlantic Showdown, New York City
WCG Samsung Euro Championship, Hanover
2005
DreamHack Winter, Jonkoping
CPL World Tour Finals, New York City
EuroCup XI LAN, Almere
ESWC 2005, Paris
CPL World Tour Stop Spain, Barcelona
WCG Samsung Euro Championship, Hanover
2002-2004
SMAU ILP 2004, Milan
WCG 2004 Italy, Milan
ESWC 2004, Poitiers
ESWC 2003, Poitiers
WCG 2002 UK, London
WCG 2002 Italy / NGI LAN 2, Milan
Movieing:
XSUnreality (see below)
XSU:Gold (see below)
Mad Mint Julep (see below)
Firebreath (see below)
Conceived the Golden Llama movie awards.
Gaming:
UT for clan DFP: quite a few domestic titles. Currently semi-active and not planning a comeback.
Other interests:
Competitive judo, sports, movies, music. MY OWNAGE NIECE.
SHOP
CHECK OUTTHE NEW JERSEY
