Scandal Interview:'Abaddon is really op!'

Recently, Roman Sadotenkov (Scandal) in Team Empire received the interview from some media. Sadotenkov is a very gifted player playing solo. His Invoker and Templar Assassin are amazing! In the interview, he talked about some circumstances about Team Empire and his view about the new champion – Abaddon.








Hello Scandal. Thanks for accepting this interview. How are you doing recently?

Hello, I'm doing good enough.



What do you do when not playing Dota 2?

I'm watching movies/series or sleeping. Rarely going outside.



Many still regard you as one of the best solo players in Europe. What do you think of that recognition? Are there any players you hold up high in terms of your role?

I'm really glad that I still have people's support and recognition. I think I have everything I need to keep up with best mid players at the moment. As for the players I hold up high, I really like arteezy of Kaipi and s4 of Alliance. The way they play the mid role is awesome.



The team has really fallen in terms of achievement in the past couple of months, mostly after the departure of Goblak and Silent. Why did they leave the team?

In my opinion our team started falling apart after funn1k left, because he was a really good off-laner and overall player for the team. As for the departure of Goblak and Silent, we had some internal issues and that was the reason for their departure.



After their departures, the team added Mitch, Twista and LoH but you guys were unable to qualify for The International 3. Were the team members expecting to qualify for The International 3 to begin with?

Personally, I was expecting us to do well and probably qualify for TI3 but honestly, we had a really low chance of getting out of the qualifiers. Besides that, the gap between our skills and our opponent's skill was so big that it was hard to keep up with them. As you mentioned, the roster was not polished enough.



What is it like playing with LightofHeaven?

Dmitriy is an extremely experienced player. However, he is sometimes very stealthy and does not share his thoughts. We really enjoy playing with him though and I think he fits quite nicely.



Empire has been using stand-ins recently and not playing with the full roster. What happened to them?

Well, after finishing the qualifiers for TI3 everyone on our team knew that something needed to be changed. We sat with all our players and a manager to figure out what we should do. In the end we decided to part ways with twista and mitch, because their performance wasn't that great on the roles we gave them, and also due to the language barrier issues within the team. So we're, not being a full team, still using standins in our official matches.



Who are the possible replacements?

We're currently playing with former iCCup players fng and Sunlight. I think they are doing a great job fitting into the team.



Why do you think Na`Vi are different from other CIS teams?

Na'Vi has a lot of experience playing together. Besides, they also have strong individual skill in all of their players, and that matters a lot.



Do you think that Na`Vi's trip to China may in fact help the Chinese teams prepare for The International instead of helping out their Western counterparts?

Of course it has helped the Chinese teams. However, there are still plenty of streams and replays available for everyone to grab to do whatever research they need to do, I don't think it really mattered.



What do you think of the newest hero in Dota 2, Abaddon?

I keep on running into him in public games and he is a really annoying hero to go against. You can't exactly kill him unless you have Axe on your team and you can't exactly run from him either because he's got that Skadi-like passive. The shield can also remove any debuffs his teammates or himself are currently under. That hero is really op.



Do you think Abaddon is the new Treant? Will he get picked up a lot?

I honestly think he will become a popular pick among teams as a support or perhaps a mid hero.



Thanks for the interview Roman, do you have any shout-outs?

Shoutout to Team Empire and all our fans if you are still there with us. Shoutout to our sponsors Razer, TwitchTV and Seagate. And thank you for having me here with you.

Empire invites twiSta and Mitch,bench Vigoss

It has been unsteady period in Team Empire since Na`Vi picked Gleb 'Funn1k' Lipatnikov, and then Goblak and Silent were kicked out due to bad performance. The team is in urgent need of regrouping. Recently Team Empire starts to pick up new members and recruits Visar 'twiSta' Zymberi and Damir 'Mitch' Skaricic. Hope their joining brings glories to the team.

 

Laning

With the departure of Vigoss and the future acquisition of a new hard laner, this will allow Scandal to reclaim his solo mid role where he formerly thrived. As twiSta and Mitch take up support roles, this also means that Vladislav 'blowyourbrain' Morozyuk will remain the primary carry player of the team, however he does have a capability to play some support heroes as well, meaning that there may be room for role switching on his part. The further flexibility of the lanes from this new Empire squad will be determined largely by who their final player will be, whether he is a more straight up offlane specialist or a veteran who has done it all, only time will tell.

Announcement by the club:
The following statement was made by team manager Sergei 'AnahRoniX' Bikovskiy:

We are glad to welcome new players in our roaster. Guys will continue hard training to prove their name of TOP team. Ivan depart`s from training in the basic roster for a while, but remains a part of our team. Cheer for us and waiting for updates!

Statement by Visar 'twiSta' Zymberi, the new member:
It's been a long time since I was involved with the competitive scene. But I am very happy and excited to announce that I have finally found the team and the players that I truly want to work with. I am very thankful that Empire as an organization but also the players have put so much trust and faith in me and I will make sure that we won't disappoint. I won't sit and tell you guys that WE WILL BE THE BEST EVER, cause that would be a lie, but I can tell you that WE WILL WORK THE HARDEST and have a very strict training regime to become the best. Once again I would like to thank my team mates for such an opportunity and Empire and it's sponsors. Keep supporting us!

Statement by Damir 'Mitch' Skaricic, the new member:
When I was contacted by Empire, I felt delighted to be offered a chance like this as this team consists of some of the best players not just in the Russia, but of the whole Dota 2 scene itself. Having players like Scandal and Blowyourbrain in team is something that every Dota 2 player would prefer. We are full of enthusiasm and looking forward to complete the roster and training with the new team after a long time out of the competitive scene.

Team Empire current roster

Visar 'twiSta' Zymberi (Captain)
Vladislav 'blowyourbrain' Morozyuk
Roman 'Scandal' Sadotenkov
Damir 'Mitch' Skaricic
To Be Announced
Ivan 'Vigoss' Shinkarev (6th player)

Sergei 'AnahRoniX' Bikovskiy (Manager)