TI10 Vici Gaming had a media press conference before their opening playoff match versus VP. Here’s the juiciest quotes from the press conference.
Over the break day before the start of the TI10 playoffs all competing teams, aside from those in quarantine, took part in a press day. Esports.gg's staff were in attendance and these are the most interesting points we took away from the TI10 Vici Gaming press conference.
"7 out of 10" - eLeVeN rates the team's groupstage showing
old eLeVeN talked about his team's performance so far and he rated it a 7 out of 10 score. "I think group B is relatively easier so our performance did not surprise to us," said old eLeVeN in the press conference. He went on to say that he also felt the team underperformed in day 3 and 4, despite having a strong start in opening two days.
old eLeVeN went on to talk about the difference in terms of players form in group stage versus pre-TI boot camp, as well as the most satisfying moment from group stage.
"I think there is not much difference in our performance now compared to boot camp," said Old eLeVeN. "Personally I think the two 2-0s against Elephant and Team Spirit in group stage were the most satisfying for us. Those two series were really important to us."
The 2-0 wins versus Spirit and Elephant were also critical for their final placement, as they contribute significant to their 10-6 record that secured them a spot in the upper-bracket.
PSG.LGD the scariest team in TI10 for VG?
Vici Gaming was asked if there is any team that would like to play against in the playoffs. The team was laughing after hearing this question, and said that they wouldn't mind playing against anyone, as long as it is not PSG.LGD, as they are the strongest team in TI10.
Anyone is fine, just not PSG.LGD.
The Reinforcement of Coach 357
We ask Dy about the impact of Coach 357, and which is the aspect he has been helping with the team the most.
Before 357 joined us, Fenrir had to figure things out on his own. It was tough for him especially when he had doubts but there was no one to discuss with. After 357 joined, he could solve his doubts and come out with more and better ideas.
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Difference Between rOtK and Fenrir
We ask Dy if he could share with us the difference of rOtK and Fenrir. Dy laughs, and says that this is a very sharp and tricky question to answer. After taking his time to think about it, Dy says that rOtK would prepare the strategies and drafts himself, whereas Fenrir often discusses with 357 and will pick the heroes to the players' comfort. In this case, it sounds like rOtK is relatively dominant while Fenrir and 357 are more democratic.
Dy also shares that Fenrir is mostly focusing on the strategy and drafting aspect while 357 helps the team with improving communication and polishing the in-game details.
What happened to VG.23savage
The team was asked about what happened to the plan of acquiring 23savage at the beginning of this season.
There was visa problem for 23savage so he couldn't come to China, it was really tough playing online with him especially when he doesn't speak Mandarin. So we were forced to give up on this option.
On Puppey's Statement
One of the reporters mentioned that Puppey from Team Secret mentioned that Vici Gaming have not changed their playstyle in the recent 2-3 years. Dy disagreed and went on to explain why.
First of all, I disagree with this statement, I do think we have changed a lot in terms of playstyle, on offlane particularly. When we had Yang, he used to play very sacrificially with heroes like Omniknight or Legion Commander. However with old eLeVeN now, we are playing around him a lot more and old eLeVeN is a lot more like a core than Yang.
"50-50" to win versus Virtus Pro
In the press conference old eLeVen was asked how confident the team was against arguably the strongest team from CIS region, Virtus Pro on their first round in Upper Bracket. Although he initially answered 60-40, he quickly changed that to 50-50, saying that they are pretty even with them.
They won't fix what's not broken in terms of hero pool
Lastly, Dy was asked about the relatively small hero pool that they've had in group stage.
I think that's because we found success with certain heroes and our opponents were not able to find answers to what we are proposing, so we kept picking the same thing and won with them. If we started losing, we'll probably look for something new.
Vici Gaming's game against Virtus Pro will be starting on October 13, 12pm EEST. We wish both teams the best of luck! Here's the TI10 playoff bracket.
