Ice will be vying for the right to participate in The International as they fight in the East qualifiers this week. In an interview with GosuGamers, team manager MoNzAi and team player Bboy share their thoughts about their endeavors in the near future:
How do you feel playing in the qualifiers this Wednesday?
Bboy: "We are very happy to have a chance to play in this qualifier, but as GoDz mentioned, TongFu will be a tough opponent for us. We'll still try our best nonetheless."
Yes, GoDz ranked TongFu as the team with the most potential to claim the East spot (as compared to your team), followed by Aeon and then WE/Trust. Do you agree with his evaluation? (see)
Bboy: "No doubt that while TongFu is very strong and they're one of the teams with the higest chance of claiming the East spot, but they will always be some surprise factor from SEA teams I guess.
Teams like Aeon and Duskbin have been playing very well recently from what I see."
Which teams do Ice usually train with and how do you think it will affect your chances at the East qualifiers?
Bboy: "Hmm, we have been training alot with a couple of Chinese teams such as EHOME and DK, as well as some Singaporean teams. I don't think our training will affect our chances this Wednesday as it will be based on our performance there and then."
Well, what did you gather from playing with EHOME and DK?
Bboy: "They employed a very typical Chinese strategy of sticking together and pushing. Their farm and teamwork is awesome though!"
Typical Chinese Dota 2 strategy is to stick and push?
Bboy: "*laughs* Yes. They did very well pushing - they played very safe and stuck together for towers."
As 'underdogs', what are your thoughts about Valve's best of three, double elimination brackets for the qualifiers?
MoNzAi: "It's fair enough for every team - I just felt the scheduling was a bit tight."
Bboy: "This means that strategy and tactics will be very important for this best-of-three and double elimination bracket."
Do you model your strategies after Malaysian teams like Orange/MUFC?
Bboy: "*laughs* I feel that Ice is still not good enough to be compared with MUCF and Orange - they're professional gamers after all, and they train very hard and almost every day.
Also, I feel that Ice doesn't have any unique strategy of our own. We're basically playing very 'free style' for now."
Thanks for this interview. Any shoutouts?
MoNzAi: "I would like to express my gratitude to GosuGamers for this opportunity to be interviewed! Of course, I am grateful for the hard work of my Ice players, our sponsor GNA Internet Cafe (located at Perak Road, Penang). Thanks!
Anyone who is interested to sponsor Ice can also contact me here. And support our Facebook page!"
