Cover-Credits:
Following Johan "N0tail" Sundstein’s surprising loss in the Redbull R1V1R Runes Showmatch, the OG captain had a short interview with the crew at Lupon WomboxCombo where he talked about OG’s strategies, which are his current Top 3 Dota 2 teams, how OG motivates themselves and also gives advice to aspiring players.
OG N0tail’s Current Top 3 Dota 2 Teams?
OG N0tail was asked to name his current top 3 Dota 2 teams excluding Team Secret in this interview. Some may be surprised by his answer. N0tail stated that Nigma, PSG.LGD and Team Liquid are his current picks for the Top 3 Dota 2 Teams.
"Besides Secret probably Nigma, LGD and maybe Team Liquid”.
This is quite surprising considering the fact that some of these teams haven’t really performed too well in recent tournaments.
Team Nigma
It is understandable that they’re considered as one of the top 3 teams since they’ve been performing really well in recent tournaments.
Recent Results:
PSG.LGD
This was the most surprising inclusion from N0tail. PSG.LGD isn’t even considered as a Top 3 Chinese team at the moment, by Chinese fans and analysts. That honor goes to teams like CDEC Gaming, ViCi Gaming, and Royal Never Giveup (RNG).
Even though they were showing some promise by winning the ESL One Birmingham 2020 - Online: China and China Dota2 Professional League Season 2, PSG.LGD has become solidly mid-tier lately.
Recent Results:
- 7th to 8th Place - OGA Dota PIT S2: China
- 4th Place - BEYOND EPIC: China
- 1st Place - ESL One Birmingham 2020 - Online: China
Team Liquid
Team Liquid’s pick is also quite contentious but understandable if you take the strength of European Dota 2 teams into account. They’ve been steadily improving and have been one of the top contenders in recent tournaments.
Recent Results:
- 3rd Place - BEYOND EPIC: Europe/CIS
- 4th Place - BLAST Bounty Hunt
- 5th to 6th Place - ESL One Birmingham 2020 - Online: Europe & CIS
One thing is clear, everyone believes that Team Secret is the best in the world at the moment.
How do N0tail and OG motivate Themselves When They Struggle?
N0tail also spoke about how OG’s team motivates themselves before the International tournaments.
“I think it is hard to generalize how people get motivated. It is very individualistic. Some people get easily demotivated by exterior forces or exterior things. Sometimes those same things can motivate other people.
For me, I really like the game and I give myself as much Dota as I want. Helping the team reach certain heights is also what I find very interesting. So I need help from other people as well, to motivate me.”
(Also Read: OG N0tail on How and When He Almost Quit Dota 2.)
N0tail’s Advice for Grinding MMR
N0tail also had some advice for players who wanted to make it to the professional level by grinding MMR in ranked matches.
“MMR is its own kind of game. It is not the same as competitive Dota. But of course, there are many things that are similar. For grinding MMR, a lot of it comes down to how your mental state is. Because you have to win a lot of games. You need to be winning more than you are losing and you need to be playing a lot of games if you wanna get a higher MMR.
What often happens is that people play a lot and then their mentality starts becoming bad. The people who get really high MMR, they’re good at the game but they’re also really good at handling their emotions, frustrations, and resetting. So if you are the type that plays 10 games a day and loses the last 4. Maybe you don’t want to play the last 4. Or maybe you can work on yourself on how to play better in those last four games or how to play good after you had a bad game.
It is a lot about not getting frustrated, not getting angry, figuring out what your state of mind is when you are winning, and how to get back there and stay there.”
N0tail and OG will return to action in the upcoming OGA Dota PIT Season 2: Europe CIS tournament.
