Kuku Talks About 23Savage's Addition and T1's Situation at the Singapore Major

Rakshak Kathuria
Published On: 25 Apr 2021, 07:00 AM

Kuku mentioned that it was somewhat hard to scrim with 23savage at the start because he had been away from competitive Dota 2 for a considerable amount of time and had only been playing pubs during that period.
Kuku also talked about T1’s performance at the Singapore Major, jokingly stating that the team was unable to play Dota 2 in his absence.
T1 is currently competing in the SEA 2021 DPC Season 2: Upper Division and their next matchup against BOOM Esports is scheduled for April 29, 2021.

Kuku, who is currently captaining T1’s Dota 2 squad, talked about how current carry player, Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon had fit into the team when he was initially added to the roster. Carlo "Kuku" Palad mentioned that it was somewhat hard to scrim with 23savage when he newly recruited in March 2021. This was because the Thai carry had been away from competitive Dota 2 for a considerable amount of time and had only been playing pubs during that period. In addition, Kuku also talked about T1’s performance at the Singapore Major, jokingly stating that the team was unable to play Dota 2 in his absence.

Kuku talks about 23savage’s addition to T1 and the team’s result at the Singapore Major

After having a rough start in the SEA 2021 DPC Season 2: Upper Division against Omega Esports, T1 registered a 2-0 win over Lilgun on April 24, 2021. Captain for the team, Kuku, appeared in the post-match winners’ interview where he had short conversations with the panel on a number of topics.

One of the more interesting ones involved Kuku talking about 23savage’s addition to T1. 23savage had been included in T1’s roster post the first DPC season as he replaced Lao carry, JaCkky. While Kuku mentioned that it was hard originally, the Thai carry player was now “slowly jelling” with the team.

“The first time we scrim is kinda hard because he was like on a vacation for like around 6 to 12 months even if he is playing pubs. His shape around that time was so hard. It was not like the number one MMR player on the Southeast Asian leaderboard, I guess at that that time. (laughs) But right now, he is slowly jelling with the team.”

23savage had been added to T1's roster on March 4, 2021, a day after becoming the first player to reach 12K MMR.
Image Via Mars Media

Kuku had missed the Singapore Major owing to health reasons which had forced T1 to play with a stand-in - Korean player, Forev. The team had a forgettable run in the tournament as they had finished in the 15th spot. While talking about it in the interview, Kuku hilariously said that T1 was unable to put up a decent performance because they did not have their “master.”

“Ah, yeah the bad thing happened to me, yeah, I got the virus. I could not join the team. I could not go to Singapore. So then, T1 don't have their captain. I think they cannot play Dota without the master. (laughs)"

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T1 is currently competing in the SEA 2021 DPC Season 2: Upper Division. They have one win and one loss after two series. Their next matchup against BOOM Esports is scheduled for April 29, 2021.

Quotes have been edited for Grammar and Clarity

Rakshak Kathuria

As a passionate Dota 2 fan for eight years, Rakshak has indulged himself completely in its esports circuit for the past two years as a professional. In addition to covering major news developments, he takes a keen interest in understanding team strengths and player personalities.

Kuku 23savage Interview Dota 2 T1 Southeast Asia Personality 2021 DPC Season 2