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.

Analysis on DOTA2 Mainstream: Three Different Strategies

As one of our popular champions, Juggernaut of DOTA2 can always kill the enemies far away from him with his swift movement and fast pace in the battle. Here is a special guide I bring you on how to play this champion well and make him a lasting nightmare for the opposing side.









In general, the current mainstream can be divided into three strategies. When you have been good at these strategies, then you will make it closer to be holy shit.



Solution 1: Straight Fight Strategy

This strategy needs you to focus on quick move and attack speed. So, the items for you to equip with include Phase Boots, Drum of Endurance and Yasha. It is the strategy that yyf of IG has chosen in the game at first. There are some advantages for you. For example, it will provide you with strong fight ability, high attack speed and move speed. It is useful for you to chase the enemy down by use of Drum of Endurance, even encountered with Luna who has high move speed. At the same time, the items also prominently increase the damage when Blade Fury is used to those green hands that are equipped with Phase Boots and can’t escape its damage from Blade Fury. All you need to do is to chase those green hands down and kill them easily.



Solution 2: Farm Strategy

It is hard to make a decision in this situation. The first problem is that whether your own team considers you as the leading role or not. If you’re considered as the leading role and allowed to farm in the free bottom line, then you can choose this strategy. In this case, the items you will equip with include Power Treads and Battle Fury. But you should understand that this kind of item makes you have no ability to chase the enemy down, and the strong burst ability will provide a good choice to connect it with Omnislash and Blade Fury, or cooperate with your team mate by use of Omnislash. You should never have such an idea of chasing the enemies down. The core for this strategy is to farm steadily.



Solution 3: Fight Alone With Pushing Tower Strategy

The core for this strategy is to push tower. All the items you should have include Phase Boots, Bottle, Shadow Blade, as well as Bracer or Braith Band, and it will slow down the pace for pushing tower. When your team can’t do well in team fight, this will be a better solution with Nature's Prophet and Magina as team mates. So you can continue to push tower forward and force the enemies to come back for defense, and also gradually turn the table by controlling the enemies for more team mates to fight.



It is believed that these three common strategies are suitable for all tactics, and you need more practice to play this champion well. By the way, Juggernaut seems to lose his sword without any reason, and you can only see that he fights with others by his own hands.

South Korea MVP Officially Enters DOTA2 with A New Division

After a statement made by the operator of DOTA2 Nexon that it would hold the local DOTA2 tournament with a total prize pool up to 1.77 million USD, South Korea team MVP announced today that they will officially enter DOTA2 with a new division being under way.









As a well-known DOTA2 club, MVP is consisted of many divisions such as StarCraft II team and League of Legend team with a track record on previous South Korea E-sports games. Let’s remain to see how well they will do after entering DOTA2.







Nexon has got licensed by DOTA2 for holding important tournaments, which of course will catch more attention from South Korea players, competitors and teams. At present, StarCraft II from South Korea E-sports dominates the world of and its LOL becomes the strongest competitor of China. It is believed that there will be more DOTA2 teams emerged after MVP.

Fan art:skilled heroes for iG members

Recently a painter fan of iG paints a set of original cartoon for the team, and the content is every member of iG and their skilled heroes. The painting style is very cute. Let’s have a look together.

Many DOTA2 players list among top 100 highest earnings

Nowadays, with the eSport becoming increasingly popular, the eSport players’ personal incomes have been increased in different degrees. DOTA2 is an emerging eSport event. Most of DOTA2 players are good-looking and have a high income. Among them, Dendi from Na’Vi is the highest paid. Let’s take a look at the list of the top 100 highest overall earnings.

Dota 2 may be formally released prior to TI3!!!

In July, the well-known American video game magazine PCGAMER will publish an article about DOTA 2. We have gotten part of the content in advance and found a piece of exciting news. According to the article, after two years of testing, Dota 2 will be formally released later this summer, prior to the International 3 in August.







Below are some related screenshots. Look at the highlighted part. It says that DOTA 2 will be formally released later this summer, prior to the International tournament in August. In addition, a prediction is also made that the last two heroes to be added before release will be Abaddon and Legion Commander.







Earlier, it was rumored that DOTA 2 would be released after all of the DOTA 1 heroes had been added to it. Now the rumor is squashed. To be honest, two years of testing is a bit long, but DOTA 2 deserves it. Now DOTA2 is of high quality. It’s time to release formally.

Q-version DOTA 2 Beauty Picture Show

Lately, a player drew a series of Q-version DOTA 2 beauty pictures. We were attracted at the first sight. How lovely these beauties’ big eyes are! Let’s take a look.