Cover-Credits:
The Dota 2 community was taken by surprise at Team Aster's announcement of Sumail "SumaiL" Hassan, who doesn't speak Chinese, as its temporary midlaner for the ESL One Berlin Major 2023. Though the language barrier is evidently a challenge, SumaiL's return to a Major after a long absence has been appreciated by the fans. During an interview at the tournament venue on day one of the Major, SumaiL was asked about how he ended up joining the team and what communication looks like between him and the players. He made an intriguing statement that he only uses brief English or Chinese words to provide quick responses during games with his team and nothing more.
SumaiL talks about communication with Chinese teammates at Team Aster
Some teams have to play with stand-ins during Major events due to visa, health or other issues, but it's not every day that teams hire players as stand-ins who don't speak the same language as them. SumaiL just provided a brief explanation of how he ended up in Aster when asked by Jake "SirActionSlacks" Kanner during an interview at the ESL One Berlin Major 2023.
“I went home and I got a message from Mo (Nigma’s manager) that Aster might want to play with me at the Major. I said okay. I want to play the Major. It’s been two years, so yeah.”
With the first day of games and probably initial scrims behind them, Aster's stand-in midlaner humorously outlined the few responses he has handy for communicating during games. His teammates trust him with the way he plays, SumaiL mentioned.
“I say jiayou and we have to go in and then I say get back and spam the chat wheel ‘get back.’ If I make a mistake, I say sorry and Roshan and runes. Actually, that’s about it. When I f**k up, it’s wukao.”
As part of Group A, Team Aster faced BetBoom Team and Team Liquid on the first day of the Berlin Major 2023 and drew 1-1. In all four games, the winning teams dominated their opponents, so while Aster won comprehensively in its wins, it also lost two tough matches. SumaiL had 12-0-17 and 13-4-14 KDAs in the two games Aster won, showing off his signature Storm Spirit.
Team Aster will face Execration and 9 Pandas on 27th April in the next set of the group stage series.
