We sat down with Aurora’s midlaner, Abed, to discuss his region change, his thoughts on SEA, and much more!
The BB Dacha is going through its Group Stage, and we got a chance to talk with Abed, Aurora's midlaner. Despite the big names in the roster, the SEA team is not coming as a favorite for this tournament. Aurora placed 7th-8th at The International 13, and 9th-12th at Riyadh Masters 2024.
On the other hand, only Anucha "Jabz" Jirawong and Worawit "Q" Mekchai are still playing in this new iteration. Abed "Abed" Yusop is one of the three new members of the team, who's been playing in South East Asia for almost a year now. Previously, he spent four years of his career competing in North America, with Evil Geniuses and Shopify Rebellion.
When he returned to SEA, Abed played under the Blacklist International banner, but didn't get to play many Tier 1 tournaments. After this complicated season, he's finally back to the international grounds, and Aurora promises to be the team he was looking for.
Months ago, SaberLight revealed that he was leaving Shopify Rebellion because “something” was holding his game back. Did you feel the same way when you left?
I had my own reasons. One of them is just wanting to leave NA. The region is not growing, and the pubs were just going downhill. I just wanted to play in SEA or Europe.
After almost a year of your region swap: What's the biggest difference between playing in SEA, compared to NA?
The South East Asian region is just more competitive, specially last season. The pubs are for sure way better, because nobody plays NA servers. We have Chinese players playing SEA, SEA players playing SEA. We just have more players there.
Do you have an opinion on the CN servers' drama regarding players using a VPN to play in SEA? Do you think having them on the server is positive or negative?
Playing with the pro players from China is nice, but it also comes with stream snipers and win-traders. There are a lot of Chinese players that snipe their favorite streamers. That’s what ruins some games; it's not very fun to play in those situations.
Why do you think SEA teams have been a little off the map lately? Do you feel this new Aurora will bring back the golden era for the region?
That’s definitely our goal. What I’ve seen in SEA is that we have a lot of individual talent, but not many captains. I don’t really know what’s the reason behind this. The region is just lacking coaches and captains, so you have to bring someone from another region.
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It's also a region with many young players, but you're gaining a lot of experience. Do you see yourself as a captain in the future?
Not right now, that’s for sure (laughs).
You seem to like competing in SEA a lot, do you think this is the definitive region for you?
I don't know. I always wanted to play in Europe. But during my career, I’ve had better opportunities to play in NA and SEA. I’m definitely open to explore this in the future.
One more thing I'd like to ask. What's the team everyone would like to beat?
Probably Falcons. They were the best last season, and they are still the team to beat.
Aurora's results with Abed at BB Dacha Belgrade 2024
Aurora was directly invited to the last BB Dacha tournament of the year, and it may be Abed's last chance to compete internationally before the next year. They failed to qualify for the next DreamLeague S24, and there are no invited teams for the first BLAST Slam yet.
These are their Group Stage results:
Played against Date Result |  Oct. 19, 2024 2-0 Victory |  Oct. 19, 2024 1-1 Tie |  Oct. 20, 2024 0-2 Defeat |  Oct. 21, 2024 1-1 Tie |  Oct. 21, 2024 1-1 Tie |
Remember to check all the activities you can do at the BB Dacha if you're attending, you can even get Abed's signature! And don't forget to follow esports.gg for more Dota 2 content.
