An interview with Team Dignitas DotA 2 player: Aui_2000

In this interview we talk with the carry player of the Team Dignitas Dota 2 team, Kurtis 'Aui_2000' Ling. Aui is a 20 year old Canadian Dota 2 player who is studying Sociology in his 3rd year in college, all while playing Dota on a professional level. Aui_2000 has certainly come a long way since his Potm Bottom days and in this interview we will get to talk Dota with him!

 

Thanks for joining me Aui. You often face EU teams in competitions: do you guys practice different strats when preparing for these cross region matchups as opposed to if you would play against a NA team? What differences do you generally see in the different regions and the way they play Dota?

Aui: I don't really think we prepare any differently for NA and EU teams. For teams from both regions we're really just going to play our own game--we're pretty confident that if we're on our game then we have a very good chance at beating anymore. We usually also prepare at least 1-2 pocket strategies for every important match.

So as someone who actually participates directly in the Dota scene, I think it’d be very interesting to hear you talk about the other teams a bit. What team or teams do you particularly hate playing against and what about the matchup makes you uncomfortable?

Aui: I don't like playing against any team that has enough ping disparity with us that we have to split servers. The games become sort of annoying as a west coast player. I don't think we'd really be uncomfortable against any team right now.

 

Let’s go back to 2012 for just a second, you guys are still Potm Bottom and still trying to get your name out there, what motivated you guys to keep practicing and become the deadly team that you guys are today? Were there a lot of ups and downs that you guys had to go through as Potm Bottom?

Aui: We were motivated to keep practicing because we knew we were good and could win. Actually more than anything, we were motivated to keep practicing because we were having fun--I think that's a point that's lost on a lot of people trying to form teams. Playing DotA--or anything really--at a competitive level is a really big life/time commitment and if you aren't having fun then I highly doubt that things will work out.

Of course there were a ton of ups and downs. Every team goes through cycles of dominance and slumps. It's really the fact that we were able to ride out the downs and not get arrogant from the ups that we were able to be successful.

 

You are currently playing in a lot of competitions. What does the training schedule for Team Dignitas looks like and how many days a week do you generally practice? Does this change toward the end of a tournament?

Aui: We try to be consistant with our practice. We dedicate 5 days a week to practicing or playing tournies. We do not really practice extra before the ends of the tournaments because we need some rest and don't want to burn out. Our practice does become more specified and we do create specific strategies for the teams we play though.

Wisp Chaos Knight is a combo that has been getting picked a lot. Whether its pubs, IXDL, or competitive play. Do you have any quick tips or tricks that you can tell the fans out there on how to face against that chaotic combination? What makes it such a top tier pick?

Aui: When you play those two heroes together you have to just be ready to dive and not be afraid of anything.

Instantaneous 4-6 second stun and huge burst on a single target (with some aoe) from pretty good range, with global presence on a moments notice, and very high movement for map movement is pretty ridiculously strong. The combination is very strong in lane and playing against a wisp is really hard mid-late game.

 

While we’re on the subject of metagame picks, what is up with Warlock picks? Is it a viable hero to play competitively and why has he primarily been mid as opposed to support like commonly seen in pubs?

Aui: I didn't really know that's he's primarily a support in pubs. He's a strong laner who's level dependant so I guess that's why he's put in a solo role. He also can't really make stuff happen around the map as a support because he has no reliable lockdown other than his ridiculously long cd ulty. There are probably a lot of heroes like Warlock with undiscovered niche roles just waiting to be used.

Since the departure of Sneyking has it been difficult adjusting to a new team roster? Do you feel the overall team play of Team Dignitas has improved since the addition of Universe?

Aui: Well we have definitely missed the king but I think we're almost completely used to Universe joining. I wouldn't really be able to say whether Universe is better or worse than Sneyking--they're just two completely different players--but I think we have all come together to improve our overall team play.

 

Ok thanks for joining me today Aui, any shoutouts to finish off the interview?

Aui: Shoutout to my team, Team Dignitas and its sponsors, Alienware, Intel, Antec, QPAD, Kingston, Western Digitial, Scan, Killer, Creative, Multiplay , Twitch and iiyama.

 

For those interested in following Aui, you can find him on Twitch and Twitter.