SabeRLight is not your average Dota 2 player. He’s a performer. Catch his interview with Esports.gg where he talks about his on stage shenanigans.
The average Dota 2 experience is pretty basic. We have the drafts, the games, a post-match interview, and that's typically it. But Jonáš "SabeRLight-" Volek has been upping the game of entertainment. The TSM offlaner - aside from being really great at Dota 2, also aims to deliver to fans on a personal level. He goes on stage, he puts on his wig, he puts on his red nose. He is not afraid to be a clown or be clowned; in fact, he wants to inspire people to loosen up.
Luckily for fans in Genting, SabeRLight- did not forget to bring his energy at the ESL One Malaysia. The Czech player recently stood in for Entity at the PGL Arlington Major, in which the team saw impressive results. And when TSM clashed against Entity in the Playoffs of the ESL One Malaysia, they brought the friendly fire in front of the crowd.
“Look at these guys, the only reason they were top 6 at the last Major was because of me!” SabeRLight- taunted on stage. The crowd was ecstatic. They loved it.
Esports.gg had the opportunity to talk to the lively SabeRchad and asked him about his amusing fire on stage.
KZ: I like what you do on stage a lot, cool stuff.
SabeRLight-: Thank you, I try to make some content. It’s important.
KZ: Did you practice before or just happen to do it spontaneously on stage?
SabeRLight: (Regarding the trashtalk on stage with Dzmitry "Fishman" Palishchuk) It was Fishman’s idea like let’s do this and I was like yeah, that sounds fun. I didn’t practice it, I just had something I wanted to say. Like the line, ‘You got top 6 because of me,’ so I just wing it there and I’m sure something fun is going to happen.
KZ: That time when you revealed your TSM jersey on-stage, was that also planned?
SabeRLight-: It wasn’t really planned out. That day, I was wearing a hoodie over my TSM jersey because my Entity jersey was too dirty. After we were finished (with a series during the PGL Arlington Major) , I was already wearing the TSM jersey, so I thought I might as well do this. That might be pretty funny. So I actually thought about it as we were finishing the games.
KZ: You also clowny with your team?
SabeRLight-: I would say so, I would like to lift up the mood - like have a good time. Especially on LANs, it’s important that we give good Dota 2 and also give the fans a good Dota 2 experience. It’s very important to just like, do some stuff so they can enjoy the tournament on a personal level.
KZ: That kind of behavior and pulling off stunts on stage.. we don’t see that, especially in the Dota 2 community. Do you think pros should start doing that more?
SabeRLight-: It’s very not typical for us gamers because we are all used to being introverts and not being in front of people. I think you need to have a somewhat different personality than most gamers. But yeah, if people feel like doing it, if I inspire them to also be clowny, I’ll take it. I turned Fishman into a clown too.
KZ: Have you ever felt stage fright when doing on-stage interviews and just standing in front of a crowd in general?
SabeRLight-: I used to have it a lot. Last Major, when I was doing the interview with Slacks, I remember being super nervous like doing the interview in front of a crowd. I’m still very nervous when I’m talking on stage but it just happens. You’ll get used to it.
KZ: Thank you so much for your time.
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