Aui_2000: “I think TI10 is Arteezy’s tournament to shine”

With the International 10 on the horizon, esports.gg reached out to some talent from the Dota scene to give their takes on the participating teams. For the North American region, we spoke to Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling. For those unfamiliar Aui is a former TI winner with Evil Geniuses, and has since been an analyst and caster, working events such as the NA DPC and the WePlay Animajor!

There is a big NA Dota following that only follows competitive Dota 2 at TI. How would you best describe the playstyle of the three teams representing NA this year EG, QC and Undying. What makes them different from each other or unique in the scene as a whole?

Aui_2000: I think at this point in Dota there’s a bit less region-specific playstyles (i.e. the old TI1-4 slow teamfight grind all Chinese teams style) and more diversity. EG are a very laning focused team who are good at snowballing advantages into map control. I think they play a bit more of a stable macro style than the other top tier teams and look to extend their lead through map oppression rather than straight aggressive moves.

Quincy crew play a lot like TI8-9 OG does. They want to turn the tempo up and play the middle of the map out and just kill a lot of heroes. They focus pretty heavily on playing through Quinn and high activity supports. Undying I think are similar to Quincy but are willing to take extra risks to force additional mistakes from the enemy. Undying are a pretty go big or go home team and I think this style is pretty good for them as underdogs against most of their competition at TI.

The thing about competing in NA is that every team is forced to have high lane proficiency because if you don’t, you will just lose to EG in 5 minutes. There are too many things to learn in Dota 2, so usually if you get really good at one skill it can also result in being slightly worse at other parts of the game. I’m interested to see how the three NA teams have improved on their non-laning phase game since the last DPC season.

Who do you think has the best shot of winning TI out of these three teams?

Aui_2000: EG are going in as top 2 favorites for TI based on previous results, so it has to be them.

Where do you think NA ranks as a region out of the six, and do you feel NA as a region has anything to prove heading into TI10? 

Aui_2000: I think NA was given a pathetic two slots for the major and managed to secure the most DPC points per slot out of the regions. It’s sort of hard to talk about how I feel about regional strength, but results wise, China is a clear #1 and NA purely off DPC results is #2.

It’s extra weird because SEA should have more strong teams at TI to compete for that #2 slot and WEU was in some weird sleep mode during this DPC season so it’s hard to tell how WEU and SEA will perform. It has been a long time with zero LANs since the last major, so anything can really happen at TI.

Few new faces to TI. Lelis of Quincy Crew, Bryle of Undying but who for you are the NA players that might surprise people based on the DPC season they had?

Aui_2000: It’s sort of weird to say about someone who’s consistently been at the top of the Dota scene for seven years already, but I think TI10 is Arteezy’s tournament to shine. I have very high expectations for both EG and QC and I think Undying definitely have the potential to make a sick run as a dark horse. I am also watching Quinn and Bryle pretty closely because I think they are omega talented mid players.

Based on how the patch is developing, what do you feel are perhaps some sleeper hero picks the NA teams know how to use that could do well for them at TI10?

Aui_2000: I feel like teams came to EU pretty early to bootcamp and deal with COVID restrictions so I’m not sure if there are regional specific heroes. Maybe some SA core Abaddon, but even that has been run in other regions now. Teams seem to be more accepting of weird stuff and willing to play—or at least try in scrims—anything in modern Dota. As previously mentioned, I feel like there’s less specific variance between regions and possibly more between individual teams regardless of what region they played from. Look at LGD, they are the least stereotypical Chinese team playstyle-wise since Wings Gaming.

We have had very few opportunities for cross-regional play for NA teams. What potential match-up would you love to see on stage and why?

Aui_2000: I want to see EG vs OG because they seem like really good friends. Honestly, I think any NA vs EU match produces the most salt so I’m down for that. I’m pretty excited to watch any QC and UD game because I think both teams haven’t really gotten the space to prove themselves internationally compared to how long they’ve been strong for.

Specifically, Undying as they were ahead in the Bo3 vs LGD at DotaPit but then ended up losing to the #1 and #2 finishers of the tournament in a row. Sort of a rough draw for them bracket wise. Honestly seeing any inter-regional LAN play at this point is exciting for me.

The International 10 kicks off on October 7 and features the largest prize pool in esports history. With $40,018,195 on offer, there is a lot at stake. Evil Geniuses, Quincy Crew and Undying are the three teams representing North America at TI10.

Stick around with us at esports.gg for coverage of the International 10. Stay tuned for more interviews and previews!