Sneyking talks Mirana 5, leaving NA, and 1v1 skills at BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024

Team Falcons has the closest thing to home field advantage at BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024, and team captain Jingjun "Sneyking" Wu is raring to go. Esports.gg sat down with the TI champion to learn his thoughts on the meta and how Falcons put together such a star-studded roster.

Join us from BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 as we interview Sneyking from Falcons Esports.

Esports.gg: First off, how is FISSURE treating you? How's the city?

Sneyking: Dubai has been great so far. I've been really enjoying the hospitality that FISSURE is providing. The accommodation is great, the food is great, there's no complaints.

Were there any pro players who inspired you to pursue Dota 2 full-time?

Yeah, I think this is a common story that many players would share. I initially got into Dota 2 because I was watching The International finals, watching Na'Vi hold up the trophy, watching Dendi playing mid, and it was quite inspirational. And it's like, $1 million prize pool. Back then it was a huge sum of money in esports, that was kind of unheard of, and it just inspired me to want to play the game because I already had a MOBA background from the original Dota and Heroes of Newerth. I figured I could easily transition, so I just started playing the game with a couple of my friends and see where it would take me.

What do you think about the DPC dissolving and third-party events like this taking its place?

I think the switch from the DPC to more of a third-party organizer tournament style has always been something that Dota has been used to. This would be how it was when I first started competing in Dota 2. It was after the TI1 era, starting in right after TI1, until maybe around TI7 or so. The DPC system didn't exist and it was just mostly third party organizers. And then there will be some Valve organized events from time to time and it's not very much different from that point. And to me, I'm very used to it, I'm very familiarized with it. But I think for some of the newer viewers or players, they definitely feel like there's less stability in the scene and there's not as much predictability. But I think that often comes as a trade off, of more excitement, that there could be things that are less expected. Maybe in return it'll be more exciting to watch.

You've won TI, you're on team Falcons. Do you ever abuse that in pubs? If people are mean, do you ever say "Bro, I'm Sneyking, chill out." to them?

I think I try not to use that very often, but sometimes it does come around where someone is really annoying. You know, it's always nice to ping the base and say "Hey, take a look at my name." But I try not to do that because I think you’d rather use more logical arguments. Because at the end of the day, if two people disagree on something, if it's something logical, you can work it out. But if it's something emotional and you don't really want to talk to the guy or deal with the guy, either you just mute them, which is what I do most of the time, or I will go on a back-and-forth rant with them a little bit.

This Falcons squad almost seems like a fantasy roster with the players on it. What was it like seeing the team assemble? Who was on the team when you were reached out to and did you have any input on who else was on the squad?

So when we initially reached out to [Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf] because we expressed interest in playing with him, he told us that he's been in contact with Falcons and he was saying he was very interested in playing for this. Definitely a big part of it is because he is a Middle Eastern player, so it makes sense that he wants to represent the Middle East, which is few and far between in Dota. Nigma Galaxy is the only other one that's notable. So how the roster came about is, after we reached out to Ammar, we talked with Falcons a little bit. They expressed interest in forming the squad with me, [Oliver "skiter" Lepko,] Ammar, and then we were on the lookout for two more players.

And at the time I really enjoyed playing with [Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak] because he stood in for us for the previous DreamLeague season back in Tundra. He was a really good player and I really enjoyed playing with him. I thought that he was very young and ambitious and I could help him become a better player. And then, as for the other position, at the time I was thinking of either switching to 4 myself or just continue playing 5.

But after looking for the position 4 and 5, there were not that many players to choose from. So after we reached out to [Andreas "Cr1t-" Nielsen] and [Tal "Fly" Aizik] initially, because Shopify Rebellion was also shuffling at the time. Then, after some considerations, we decided to go with Cr1t. And then Falcons was very happy with this roster and we were able to convince them to sign all of us.

So did Cr1t beat Fly in the tryouts?

No, ultimately it was our decision. We just decided to go with Cr1t.

It was a surprise to see you signed up for the 1v1 tournament. Are you a big mid player in your spare time?

I actually rarely play mid at all in my pubs, I mostly just play my support position. So I'm only signed up for fun. Maybe if I get lucky, we'll sneak into maybe top 16 or something, but just mostly for the kick of it.

Other Falcons players have signed up too. Do you think you'll beat them? Like if you match into them, who do you think you'll beat on your team?

Realistically? I think Ammar and Malr1ne are the best mids of the team. So I think the best chance I stand is definitely versus Cr1t.

You'll think you'll beat Cr1t?

Well, I wouldn't say I would beat him, but I have the best chance.

Related to your hero pool, we've been missing the Mirana. We haven't seen it in close to eight or nine months now. That's sort of your signature hero. Why'd you stop picking it?

I stopped picking Mirana because I think the hero is not in a very good place. It's gotten many consecutive nerfs and changes that I feel like has made the hero a lot worse than before. During the TI11 era, it was agility, and your stats were very good. Now you're universal, but your stats are way worse and all your spells pretty much got nerfed. It's just not the same hero as before. So I'm waiting for Valve to buff her a little bit, but I still really like the hero. It's my highest Dota Plus hero by far, but I'm just waiting for the day Valve decides to be graceful and finally buff her.

Do you ever feel guilty about ruining so many pubs with her?

I definitely do feel a little guilty. But the thing is, it's a lot of fun playing the hero. So I've also brought a lot of joy to many position five players. From their stale heroes, now they get to play this fun Mirana.

You're one of the very few NA players who has moved to Europe, now MENA, and you've done very well for yourself. Do you think more top NA players should spread their wings and go abroad?

I think if the opportunity arises, you should definitely take it. And I think it doesn't matter where it is, if you think the opportunity is better for you to grow as a person, as a player, you should try to do that and see where it takes you. For example, [Cedric "Davai Lama" Deckmyn.] He played in North America and now he's playing in South America, and it just depends on where the opportunity comes. But I think it's more about taking chances and taking some risks and seeing what could happen from it.

What's the biggest difference playing on Falcons compared to Tundra?

I think the biggest difference between playing on Falcons rather than Tundra is we have two really young players. One of them is 18, one of them is 19. And in comparison to our previous team, we were closer in age and people were older. So now it's more of a little brother, bigger brother type of vibe and you've got to help them succeed. Sometimes they won't listen to you, but then you stop to find ways to convince them. It's just a slightly different dynamic on how things would work.

A special thanks to Sneyking for taking the time at BetBoom Dacha 2024 to speak with esports.gg.

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