gxn1us on Masha: “A very strong hero, a very strong character—I really like her.”

We have her in our roster; I’ve played her a lot and gotten the hang of her. She’s a very strong hero, a very strong pick—I really like her. She deals a lot of damage and has a lot of healing, especially with that passive. She’s very tanky. I don’t know—she’s a super-strong pick.

I’ve tested a lot of builds: I tried one with Storm Belt, one with Scythe, but so far I’ve liked the build with Scythe, Oracle, and Protective Helm the best—and we’ll see how it goes from there. You can either get the “shoulder pads” or buy another Protective Helmet—it depends on the game. I usually go with the Scythe, these speed boots—the Speed Boots—the Oracle, the Protective Helmet, the “shoulder pads,” and then I either go for another Protective Helmet or, I don’t know, Immortality. No, I’ve never bought Immortality. Oh yeah, I also had a Protective Helmet. I don’t know—I really don’t like the Cursed Helmet at all.

Emblems... I changed emblems very often, too. I usually go with the tank build: on the first slot I take “Survivability,” on the second either “Single Target” or “Tenacity,” and on the third... What’s the name of the third emblem for the Marksman? Either that one or... I forgot the name too—the one that gives you a speed boost when you tap. Well, I usually go with the one for the Marksman.

To be honest—and I mean really honest—the old one... The old meta was much more comfortable for me personally; last season’s MCC was more comfortable because, again, I loved playing as Chong, I loved playing as Arlotte, and all sorts of Sora, Pakito, and Freya. Now, of course, they’re still being picked, but only Freya and Pakito are likely to be, and Arlott too. There’s no Chong, and it’s also very rare for a Sora to get picked—just the occasional one.

But I wouldn’t exactly say that it’s hard for me to play in the current meta, because it’s the same thing. New tank-type heroes have appeared, like those added to EXP, and Bartz, who also came to EXP; Esma and Uranus are picked much more often than before. That’s why I feel comfortable playing in the current meta and continuing to improve in it, because “minotaurs” like that are popping up.

You log into MPL to hang out, and there’s FlapTzy picking Minotaur; you pick Minotaur too and realize he’s overpowered. But not exactly overpowered—just a strong hero on EXP. So a ton of options pop up for what to pick, and you go with it, because it’s impossible to ban absolutely every hero in the experience pool—there are just a million of them—since, again, there are both tanks and fighters. A huge number of heroes.

I don’t know about motivation—we just play, chat constantly, and suggest things to each other. For example, he’ll watch an MPL match and say something like, “Look, this guy played it like this; Sunford played like that in Baratse—play the same way, give it a try,” or something like that. He suggests ideas to me, and that’s it— I suggest the same things to him, tell him stuff. And otherwise, we’re just hanging out when we play, when we chat, and just because of that, we have a more—I don’t know—more, how should I put it… I forgot the word—in short, a connection; to put it simply, our connection is just really good because of all that. Like, when I call him on kills in lane—I mean, I see the moment, say, if he’s on full health, but I see the opportunity for us to get the kill, so I call him—and he pulls it off. Or, for example, he calls a play for me when I don’t see it, and that’s it. I have a really great connection with him in particular, and I have a good connection with the rest of the guys, too.