Jon BabyKnight Andersen will be a familiar face to fans from the days of Warcraft 3 Dota, not only for his time as part of the legendary 2010 MeetYourMakers that finished third at ESWC 2010, but also for consistently keeping hold of the much coveted top spot in the Dota-League SIG system.One of the biggest names of his time, it's a return that will cause excitement amongst the veterans of the pre-Valve days. Announcing the switch on the teamliquid forums, he noted that he had lost his passion for StarCraft, but was still able to play Dota 'for almost unlimited amount of hours with no breaks'. We caught up with Babyknight earlier this evening and got to speak to him about his return to the Dota scene.
BabyKnight returns after several years as a professional SC2 player.
You've taken a big step in dropping your Starcraft 2 career in order to return to Dota - what about the game has prompted you to move back?
BabyKnight: It's a lot of things really. I recently started playing again and I still enjoy the game immensely. I had my reasons to quit in the past, but most of all I really wanted to try out a 1v1 game. I have no regrets in regards to this decision. Problem is nowadays I feel like Blizzard made a lot of poor choices in regards to SC2, but even without that I think I still just figured out that I enjoy DotA more.
Now that you're returning to the scene, have you been making any plans to join a team in the near future, or will you look to set up your own?
BabyKnight: I'll probably be looking to join an already existing team in need of a mid player. However if I do find 4 really talented individuals without a team, maybe I will make my own. We will see! :D
Your return will bring a smile to those who fondly remember the Warcraft 3 era of Dota and the MYM team that performed strongly at ESWC - how far do you think you can go as a player this time around?
BabyKnight: I believe I can go as far as I am motivated to go, given enough time. I am currently shaking ofd the rust but it's already been a month since I started playing again and in another month I think I'll be pretty close to if not fully back to my old shape. The biggest hurdle has been figuring out all the changes to the game. I still get surprised every now and then.
I imagine adapting to a few years changes is pretty tough - on a similar note to that, you once said that you felt Dota didn't require as much skill as StarCraft - is that still something you agree with?
BabyKnight: Yeah, of course. Dota is a really hard game, but StarCraft is like the hardest video game out there.
A few years ago when you were part of the scene, you were up against players who are still amongst the world's elite - are there any old foes you're eager to battle once more?
BabyKnight: Haha no one in particular, I'm just looking forward to meeting all the guys again :D Online and IRL. ^_^
BabyKnight (middle), with a couple of his teammates during his time with MYM
One thing for sure is that the scene can only benefit from the return of BabyKnight and there are certainly going to be a lot of interested parties monitoring how he peforms on his return - only time will tell what impact he ends up making.
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