The North American (NA) team of Quincy Crew recently added three new players - two from Europe (EU) and one from Southeast Asia (SEA). The SEA player is Remus "ponlo" Goh Zhi Xian, a high ranking pub player, but has yet to prove himself at a professional level. As a mainstay of Quincy Crew, Quinn "Quinn" Callahan shared his reasons for bringing over ponlo from SEA, in an interview with Jared "Nomad" Bajina. Quinn mentioned several qualities about Ponlo, but he emphasized more on his desire to improve and pursue success, citing both qualities as important traits for a pro player in a scene centered around Dota 2's The International (TI).
Quinn mentions the strengths of Quincy Crew’s new hire, ponlo
TI10 brought a major roster overhaul to the team of Quincy Crew, which had remained largely unchanged for the past few years. Only Quinn and Yawar "YawaR" Hassan are left, but the team has welcomed three new players into the fold- Maurice "KheZu" Gutmann, Milan "MiLAN" Kozomara, and ponlo.
As the team had players from three different regions, it was a surprising roster change. Another interesting thing about this change was the addition of ponlo, a player who has recently gained a lot of attention through his tweets, his high MMR, and occasional casting but has yet to crack the top ranks of professional Dota 2.
In the interview with Nomad, Quinn had nothing but praise for ponlo on why they brought him over from SEA to NA.
“I think he’s a very hard worker, I think he’s a smart player and is easy to talk to. He is someone who is hungry to improve and has good ideas. He just wants to get the most out of his role and takes responsibility. I think he has a lot of good qualities. I talked to him and we were looking for a five and I think he seemed like a good option. I am looking forward to playing with him.”
In light of Ponlo's strengths, Quinn further emphasized the importance of remaining hungry for success in Dota 2's professional scene. Quinn claims, the run to TI is like a marathon in which players and teams need to be consistent throughout and maintain a tendency to improve in order to beat each other.
“I think that’s (ponlo’s hunger) really important. I think Dota is a marathon, not a sprint right. Like how you do it the next Major or the second or even the third Major, it’s nice to do well and stuff but it’s not particularly relevant, TI is the only thing that matters. So, in those seasons, you want people who can continue to improve and improve and improve and aren’t like sprinters. I mean you need to sprint at the end, but you need continued and constant improvement over a period of time. To be able to do that I think is really important. If you are behind the other teams, then you need to pass them somehow right and that takes working a lot and also working smartly.”
The upcoming season of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2021-22 will be a chance for Quincy Crew to showcase its new roster and display the players' individual talents. The previous team did exceptionally well in the regional leagues, so the new crew will need to work hard to surpass those standards.
