Malr1ne on Aui_2000: “He’s probably the smartest Dota player because he just sees Dota differently”
Team Falcons midlaner Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak spoke with OFFSTAGE about working with the team’s coach, Curtis Daniel “Aui_2000” Lin, their collaboration, and preparing for tournaments.
About Aui_2000
Well, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: to me, he’s the smartest Dota player—probably because this guy just sees Dota differently. I mean, there are different coaches—I haven’t worked with many—but even among the players I’ve interacted with, this guy sees Dota, you know, as numbers, so to speak. And if, for example, you ask him which charm [for a neutral item] I should pick, he’ll take a look, analyze it, and explain why—in terms of numbers—why it’s better.
And that first year, when we were winning tournaments, teams just couldn’t beat us because we simply played better at macro—literally, just macro. I mean, even if we weren’t able to play a fast-paced game for some reason, people would just disappear in the game because they didn’t know what to do—they simply couldn’t find us.
On interactions with the coach
I don’t argue with anyone at all. By temperament, as I said, I look up to Cr1t-, and overall, to be honest, I’m somewhat like him—even though when the team first started, I was still a bit of a wild child. But overall, I lean more toward his philosophy—I really like it—and I’m generally a non-confrontational, level-headed person myself, so there really weren’t any conflicts at all.
This isn’t about conflicts; it’s specifically about gameplay issues—meaning you can view the game from your own perspective. Most of the time, I just listen to him—based on trust. While at the beginning of my journey I was just soaking everything up like a sponge, now that I have some experience of my own, I can—not just argue with him, but I can discuss things—let’s put it that way—and explain different perspectives to him, because now I can actually offer him solid arguments. The fact that I used to say some silly things—yes, that happened.
On Preparing for Tournaments
Less than before—I just have personal commitments, like family. I think, roughly speaking, if I used to literally play Dota 24/7, now—well, okay, not 24/7 in the strictest sense, but I probably played about 16 hours a day—definitely 15 or 16. I mean, I literally just played nonstop. Now I’m probably leaning more toward 10–11 hours.
At boot camps, I probably still hit those 15 hours too, but at home I play less, and I just need to recharge—gradually playing less. Well, of course, I’m gradually getting back to real life too.
Earlier, Stanislav spoke to OFFSTAGE about his feelings toward the year’s biggest Dota 2 championship: “The International is what Dota players play for. So it’s the same for me. I love all tournaments, but the International will always be special.”
Photo — Valve.
