Cover-Credits:
For the fourth and final Bali Major 2023 slot, Azure Ray and Xtreme Gaming battled it out in a tiebreaker series during the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) China 2023 Tour 3: Division I. The series also saw two Chinese heavyweights, Lu "Somnus" Yao and Zhang "Paparazi" Chengjun, facing off against one another, but it was the former’s team Azure Ray that prevailed. In the aftermath of the victory, Somnus shared his thoughts on his counterpart Paparazi's psychology. As Somnus stated, Paparazi is a fantastic Dota 2 player, but he lacks confidence in himself and is easily swayed by the views of others.
Somnus talks about Paparazi’s mindset after the Bali Major tiebreaker series
Twitter user CN Dota In A Nutshell (@Tr1H4rd3rDota2), who quite often posts content from the Chinese region, quoted Somnus as having a very particular perspective on Paparazi following the all-important tiebreaker series.
“Paparazi is a really good player but also really lacks confidence. He thinks Paparazi is defeated by himself in some way cuz he cares too much about other’s opinion about him,” he wrote.
The tiebreaker series had seen both Xtreme and Azure put in their best foot forward, and after two long drawn games where each team won once, Azure pulled ahead by quite a bit in game three to seal the deal with a 2-1 scoreline.
Immediately after losing the game, Paparazi had disconnected, and Somnus noted that he feels Paparazi is mentally exhausted from the experience, and that he would have been in a similar situation if he was on the losing end.
Despite their successful track records in the competitive Dota 2 scene that have garnered loyal fanbases, both Somnus and Paparazi have yet to secure TI victories.
Even though losing out on the Major slot is a disappointment in its own right, direct qualification for The International 12 (TI12) is also no longer possible for Xtreme Gaming which will make the defeat only harder to accept.
Meanwhile, Somnus and his teammates at Azure Ray also do not have a straight chance at TI12 because the team was formed only before Tour 3. The team's goal for the Bali Major 2023 would be to better their teamwork and build cohesion by spending enough time together. Some valuable match experience will help them perform well during TI12 qualifiers.
The Bali Major 2023 begins on 29th June.
