SUNSfan on lorenof: “The fact that it took him so long to make the team seems crazy to me.”

syndereN: Eastern Europe had four slots, which went to Two Move, Poor Rangers, L1GA Team, and Inner Circle x Insanity. And you’ll recognize some of these teams by name in the TI qualifiers. So congratulations to them. My buddy TA2000 plays carry for Poor Rangers—I’m happy for him. He seems like a great guy. I’m still hoping he’ll have a major breakthrough at some point. At least, he used to be considered a very promising player.

SUNSfan: I think the gameplay patch will be relatively… I’d say, moderate in scale. But what I’m hoping for… I hope it’ll be an “Aghanim’s Labyrinth”-style event. I hope a new hero will be introduced. And I hope the gameplay patch will implement the Aghanim’s Scepter Invoker concept, but for all heroes.

syndereN: Okay, those are crazy hopes.

SUNSfan: I know. I think the chance is 0%. I’m just saying that’s what I’d most like to see in the game. Because these are essentially aspects, but hidden ones, and then you choose them as the game progresses, which I think is damn cool. I think this would fix the aspect mechanics. But there’s obviously a lot of work to be done there.

syndereN: Nigma Galaxy has announced two roster changes: they have lorenof in mid and SumaiL as the carry. So SumaiL is back, but in my opinion, he’s not playing in what’s clearly his best role. I just think he’s at his best in mid. I think he always has been. And then they have lorenof, who’s been a beast as a stand-in over the past year, playing mid—which is by far his best role.

SUNSfan: The fact that it took him so long to make the team seems crazy to me.

syndereN: Yeah, so the thing is, I think the reason I’m not too excited about this is that they have, it seems to me, two mid laners, and one of them is playing carry. And I think this roster is potentially stronger than the last one, but it’s a total lottery whether this will work out. I don’t think they’ll perform well. I think they’ll either qualify for The International or not even come close to it. And it all comes down to whether their honeymoon period goes well or not, because if everything clicks and they play well, I think that if this team plays well around lorenof, this guy can win games. He’s very, very strong individually, but I need to see SumaiL’s hero pool as a carry. I need to see him in action and be impressed, because he played as a stand-in for Team Falcons in the mid lane, and I think he did okay, but clearly some heroes from the meta just weren’t his style at all. He looked out of place, for example, on heroes like Slardar and Death Prophet, but then he looked good when playing various versions of Spirit, his old go-to hero. What’s his carry pool like overall? Who would you pick for SumaiL, aside from maybe Nature’s Prophet, to say, “Yeah, damn it, SumaiL is going to win this game on Luna right now”?