posted by ziminaite,
According to sg Daryl Koh 'iceiceice' Pei Xiang it still might take some time for the "Major tradition" to become ingrained in the competitive scene. The Singaporean spoke to us earlier today and commented that it is a little too early for the Majors and with TI5 only just ending, the Chinese teams are not taking the Fall Majors too seriously. He also spoke about VG's upcoming match against Virtus.pro and opponents he wants to face.
IceIceIce at the Fall Majors (Image by ESL)


On the first day of main event cn Vici Gaming brought joy to dozens of fans, who could pose for pictures with their idols and get their signatures. After that iceiceice agreed to give an exclusive interview to joinDOTA.com, where he discussed Chinese teams preparation for the first ever Dota 2 Major in, his confidence and thoughts on match-up against Russian Virtus.pro.




IceIceIce: "I think the Major tradition has just not rooted yet"

What do you think about other Chinese teams taking part in the Frankfurt Major? Who is strong, who can perform?


I do not think that there are any other Chinese, who can perform as well as we can. EHOME and CDEC have potential but every Chinese team has been looking pretty sloppy.


"I’m not really taking it seriously myself" (NYC)
What are the reasons for it?


Hmmm… I guess it’s because TI “just ended” and everyone is not used to this new Majors format yet. People are not taking it seriously at least from Chinese side. I’m not really taking it seriously myself.

Why?


Probably the reason for it is still lack of understanding of how the Majors work. Also the 3 million USD prize pool in comparison to TI, where it was 18 million USD, does not seem so significant or impressive.

Don’t get me wrong, it is still quite big, that is about the prize pool of TI two years back. I think the Major tradition has just not rooted yet.

I doubt that it has anything to do with tiredness. It’s been two months after TI and teams could get all the preparation, there was plenty of time. It’s just people being people.


How confident do you feel yourself? How far Vici Gaming can go?


I was pretty confident few days ago but now I will be happy if we can get to Grand Finals. EG and Team Secret are really strong and Virtus.pro as well.


On VP: "I would say 60/40, giving 60 to us"(NYC)
Who are you looking forward to face on the Frankfurt Major stage?


I want to beat EG. I would like to face Team Secret. I don’t want to face EG, I want to win against them.


You have to beat Virtus.pro to stay in the Upper bracket, how do you evaluate your chances? What are the weaknesses of Virtus.pro and what are your advantages playing against them?


Depends on how much alcohol they will drink tonight and how well we will sleep. I would say 60/40, giving 60 to us.

They play aggressive, they are rushing and committing to what they decide to do, they don’t call it off or get scared. Whereas my team consist of very good players, so if we can work as coordinated as them, we can win.


How do you like it so far in Frankfurt?


I’ve been here few times, I think twice. Usually we just stay in hotel, go to the city, eat some Chinese food. I hope we can look around a bit more this time and explore Frankfurt, generally the mood in the team is good.


Vici Gaming were one of the direct invites to Valve's inaugural Major, and finished 1st in group C ahead of OG and ESL One New York winners ru Vega Squadron *. They face Virtus Pro tomorrow, with the winner going on to face either Secret or Mineski in the second round. IceIceIce comments today are ironic and refreshing, considering how he commented on Western terms being unprepared at Starladder XII back in April. The Singaporean is not afraid to tell it how it is and remains one of the gatekeepers to China's Dota scene.

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