SumaiL: “Let’s say I win this TI. Then I’ll have to go for a third win—there’s no other choice.”
Nigma Galaxy carry player Sayed “SumaiL” Hassan discussed his desired changes for the mid lane and shared his thoughts on retiring during the ALL CHAT podcast.
On desired changes to mid lane
I mean, for example, changes to mid lane could be pretty simple. You could just remove the water runes. Yeah, just remove the water runes and add some other changes that I can’t think of right now. That alone would make the mid lane much more interesting to watch, because these days you’re just watching players push the minion wave. It’s been like that for about five years now. You just push the wave and refill your Bottle.
In a 50-50 matchup, you might, for example, end up with a 60-40 split, you know? And you have to work really hard to get there. But back in the day, in matchups like that, you could achieve a 70-30 split just based on skill difference. So, I think this can be changed. And removing the mechanic that causes archers to miss when attacking uphill—that’s the dumbest mechanic in the game. In fact, archers shouldn’t miss at all when attacking uphill. That’s one of the differences I like about the top lane: my creeps don’t miss their attacks, and I can precisely time my last-hits.
On the difference between mid lane and the top lane
No, to be honest, it’s very easy to play a carry in mid lane because, first of all, the difference during the laning phase is too great. I can go a whole week without playing at all or testing a single hero and still win my lane against offlaners, for example. But the same can’t be said for mid laners.
Then all you have to do is farm four camps during a single wave of creeps coming at you, and then just play based on your own timing. I think it’s the most mindless role in the game. It’s definitely the easiest role. I’d say supports—both support positions, to be honest—are the most difficult roles alongside mid, followed by the side lanes. I mean, you could give two monkeys a keyboard and mouse—after enough practice, they’d be able to do the job.
On leaving the discipline
What I mean is, for me, it looks something like this. Let’s say I have the same team, and things aren’t going badly. Actually, the main issue is that they don’t like the fact that I, for example, don’t play public matches. So I could play for their sake, but I’m not sure how many players are willing to go through that just so I’ll play with them. Do you see what I mean?
Another reason, I’d say, is this: let’s say I win this TI. Then I’ll have to go for a third win—there’s no other choice; that’s 100 percent certain. But if next year I have the same atmosphere and team environment as I do now, I’ll definitely play. But if not, I don’t want to put six people in an awkward position.
Earlier, Sayed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan spoke about his motivation to continue playing Dota 2 professionally, and former esports player Quinn “Quinn” Callahan recalled the mid-laner’s incredible creep-farming skills and shared his impressions of Alan “Satanic” Gallamov’s gameplay.
