Team Aze’s Dimitry spoke to Esports.gg’s Marn about his journey to MSI and much more.
Team Aze, a young and exciting roster from the LLA will be competing at the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational. The Latin American squad will not have to wait long to face stiff competition. The undefeated T1 has been placed in their group along with DetonatioN FocusMe.
In their first split in the LLA, Team Aze sent resounding waves across the community by winning the Opening Playoffs. One of their key members is Juan Dimitry "Dimitry" Hernández González. Dimitry is a rising star in the LLA. Listed as a prodigy, Dimitry becomes the first player from the Dominican Republic to participate in a major League of Legends international event.
Esports.gg got to speak with Dimitry in an exclusive interview before he jetted off to Korea to prepare for MSI.
"It definitely feels weird, I look back at a year and a half ago when I was teamless, texting all tier 2 teams in the region to give me a chance"
It did not take long for Team Aze to write their name in the history books. The young squad would replace the team that qualified for the LLA Opening, making their triumph even more impressive. The current roster has not been together for long and it required hard work and dedication to get them to this point.
For Team Aze's Dimitry it has been quite the journey, the young jungler has only been playing in the LLA for just under a year. To start off the interview, Dimitry walked up through his journey to becoming a professional LoL player.
"It definitely feels weird, I look back at a year and a half ago when I was teamless, texting all tier 2 teams in the region to give me a chance, and about to enter college since I was seemingly talentless, until Oddie was working as a positional coach on a tier 2 team and decided to give me a chance after just an interview. Last split I had to play promo/relegation to keep my previous team on LLA, and now am an LLA champion and at MSI, it’s been quite the ride"
Dimitry is relishing the opportunity of sharing the rift with legends
The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational will be a historic event for many reasons. One of those is the legendary match-up between Rasmus "caPs" Borregaard Winther and Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok. The two were part of a legendary storyline that highlighted the 2019 season. Dimitry was only sixteen at the pinnacle of that clash between giants at MSI 2019. Now, the LLA hotshot gets the opportunity to share the rift with two players he looks up to.
"I consider Caps to be the greatest western player and Faker to be the greatest eastern player. When I saw Caps and Faker collide at MSI 2019, I felt emotions I have never felt before and I knew I needed to play against them. Now I have the chance to do so, that’s why I want to go to stage 2 no matter what."
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"I want to make every match interesting, so I hope we have banger games against all 3 teams"
Although Dimitry will be attending his first international event, this is not unfamiliar territory for the LLA. In their group, Team Aze will be going up against DetonatioN FocusMe and Saigon Buffalo, two orgs that are no strangers to the playing under the international lights. DFM is a storied emerging region side, consistently pushing boundaries and going farther than they have before.
Team Aze Dimitry is looking forward to the opportunity of facing the LJL representatives, a region the LLA is very familiar with.
"As wildcard regions, we have faced Japan a lot of times already and we are comparing our development with theirs all the time, so it will be nice to be able to do it on the rift once again. On the other hand, playing two games against T1, the best team in the world nowadays, and Faker is a unique occasion for us as players and as a region. I want to make every match interesting, so I hope we have banger games against all 3 teams."
Expect us to play like each match is the last one, regardless of who we face off against
Team Aze's rise to the top of the LLA has been nothing short of incredible. It would have been easy at the start of the year to expect the storied Rainbow7 to be competing in South Korea next month. This wasn't the case, Team Aze scratched and clawed through the playoffs, edging out Estral Esports 3-2 in the grand finals.
When speaking to staff members behind the scenes from Team Aze, the consistent word that is echoed is hunger. Team Aze was created to win, and to serve the LLA community as a beacon of hope heading into international competition. This was one of the reasons Dimitry decided to join Team Aze, they shared the same passion he does.
"I joined Team Aze because they were new into the scene as much as I was, yet had the hunger for victory as much as I did, expect us to play like each match [at MSI] is the last one, regardless of who we face off against."
Dimitry's message to the fans
"All throughout my career, it’s been hard to keep moving forward, I do not possess unwavering confidence, but I wish to make others happy with my gameplay more than I fear failing. Receiving so much support on social media and having so many people chant my name at the LLA finals is reassuring, it reminds me of what I play for, and for that, I’m eternally grateful. I do not consider myself a prodigy, but I will pour my heart and soul into each game."
For any fan interested in following Team Aze, their content team produces a documentary series, following the team on their journey to MSI 2022.
Images courtesy of Team Aze.
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