We’re DeMoN and ChuaN, professional Dota 2 eSports athletes. Ask us anything.

Hey ChuaN, I am an American and you high fived me at TI4 when the rest of your team ignored me. This gesture amazed me and I will remember it for as long as I am a dota fan. I was wondering what your favorite american team to watch is, not including EG? Thanks

i only watch EG.

LOL.

Demon: Who actually coined the phase "Classic Jimmy? Are there any plans to come back to the scene on a team?

ChuaN: What did you do with your international winnings? Can we hope to see IG back in the finals this year?

Trying to remember what here I was playing....uh...definitely Merlini. There's been plans, hopefully they'll come through in 2015.

Jimmy, do you have plans to join a large Dota team again soon? I really love watching you play and just have fun doing it.

Hope you can find a team that really lets your talent shine!

Most definitely. I'm looking to rebuild a team and continue rebuilding myself for 2015. I really appreciate the support though.

Hey Jimmy,

Any plans for a "stable" NA team from you soon? If so, could you go into detail of the roster, and what tournaments you might be thinking of joining.

Also, what are your thoughts on NA dota currently, and with the instability of it?

Question for Chuan in the same vein, what can be done to improve the SEA scene, and are there any people actively trying to help it grow that should be mentioned?

Yes there are plans on some stability. It's currently in the works so I couldn't leak anything even if I wanted too. NA Dota seems unstable mainly because of poor performances and constant roster changes because of it. I believe Nyx / SNA has potential if they kick Ixmike as I feel he's holding them back.

Jimmy are you strong enough to bench ChuaN?

Most likely ;)

Who's your favourite dota 2 player? Least favourite? Why?

Favorite: Fear, because he's always been my mentor and father figure who helped me develop into the player I am today. Least: ixmike88, because he sucks...

Demon: Since you've been in and out of the scene quite a bit, which team have you enjoyed playing with the most?

Most definitely C9. Mainly because of EE.

On that note, what is it about EE that every player that plays with him ends up respecting him a lot?

It's his dedication, he really pours his heart and soul into Dota which is motivational for his team. I built much more respect playing with him because of it. I also love the way he thinks about the game with his creativity. There's a reason why they're called Clown 9

DeMon and ChuaN, what are your favorite ice cream flavors?

Blueberry pie and chocolate chip brownie.

Jimmy - Kelly or Anginana? Chuan - McDonalds or Subway?

LOL Angela because she's the homie

To DeMoN

1) As a pro you've pretty much played every role, which role are you most comfortable atm?

2) Without revealing numbers, what kind of support Redbull exactly provide? Beside hats and drinks :P

To ChuaN:

1) Any plans to go back to Malaysia and form a SEA team?

2) In your experience, what's the difference between Chinese fans and Western fans?

1. I'm most comfortable playing the 3 role, occasional 4 and 2. (Hero dependent on the other 2 roles)

2. Practically anything I need to be a successful athlete as noted prior to TI4 the Red Bull High Performance camp. I joined the team when it wasn't the best atmosphere and mentioned that to Red Bull. They supplied us with extracurricular such as yoga, paddle boarding, EEG, and team bonding exercises which if we didn't get to experience I don't think our TI4 run wouldn't have been the same. That's just a small example of what they offer :)

What really separates high level MMR players and streamers (say 5.7k+) from professional players. At that point does it come down to mechanical skill, awareness, or something else?

Inexperience to competitive play. Pubs are very different if you don't get expose to an actual professional play where teams are much more coordinated instead of a pub solo mentality.

Demon / Chuan - what are your man crushes in esport and female crushes in esports? What about outside esports?

Man eSports Crush: Rotterdam Female eSports Crush: no comment Man Crush: David Beckham Female: Jessica Alba

DeMoN have you forgiven me yet?

You still owe me $1000 bro

whY do YoU guYs SprEAd raNdOm CapitalS tHrOuGhOuT YOuR naMes?

i waS a YOunG BoY and thIs seEmeD likE the CoOl thiNg to Do at the TiMe

Hey Demon, just wanted to say thanks for being so nice to fans and taking a picture with me at the SXSW Lan back in March. My question is, do you have any funny/weird fan encounters you wanna share?

Anytime my dude! My most awkward fan encounters was with MYM going to Wuhan, China for WDC 2010. When I was walking towards the toilet to go pee I had a small group that wanted some autographs and pictures so they followed me and 2 guys was right behind me as I was peeing. After finishing up and washing up I of course gave them what they wanted. :)

Have you guys ever played naked ?

Yes.

To both of you, who is your favourite dota 2 EU player? PLs reply.. ty

I admire Qojqva but my favorite has to be Puppey at the moment.

Hi Chuan was it hard to get into the dota professional scene and how did you do it?

oh and jimmy which game did u regret throwing ? :D

DreamHack Winter 2012 Grand Finals with EG playing Nature's Prophet as we were one game away from winning the championship. #BibleThump

Hi Chuan Hi Jimmy ??

hey matrix

How did you start playing Dota 2? Not professionally, but for fun? And when during that time did you decide you wanted to take it to the next level and go pro?

My brother introduced me to the game Warcraft 3 Reign of Chaos when I was about 13 years old. Eventually he discovered DotA in the customs games and from there it started become an addiction.

As small leagues developed like DXD and I heard about the competitive or "pro scene" I continuously heard names like VP / MYM specifically Merlini and Vigoss. I instantly became a huge fan of the teams and these players but followed Merlini much more because he was American. I idolized him in hopes to play with / against him someday eventually making that dream a reality.

DeMoN: Why did you change your name to "Pegasus" at TI?
ChuaN: What is the one play you are particularly proud of?
All the best, hope you guys do well at TI5!!

I changed my name purely because of Liquid being a horse and my personal sponsorship with Red Bull. That horse got wings bro :D

@Jimmy what's it like being sponsored by redbull? The trips you got to take look awesome

Definitely an opportunity of a lifetime. The experiences I get to endure are amazing and life changing

Jimmy, can I marry u?

A/S/L ? Potentially may be down :)

Demon do you still skip games to go to gym?

I would never intentionally skip games for the gym. That one time was all miscommunication

Favorite workout Jimmy?

Just about everything aside from back. I have a hate/love relationship with legs.

DeMoN - any plans to rejoin a team or create your own in the future? With RedBull backing you it seems like you would have a pretty good sponsor to get off the ground and there is plenty of talent in the NA scene.

ChuaN - do you think that your team has under-performed lately? What would you attribute that to, and do you have any plans to fix it?

Thanks to both of you for doing this AMA, I'm a big fan.

I appreciate the support! I'm staying focused to get back to the scene in 2015.

DeMoN, do you think with #Hardwork and #Dedication anyone can reach pro levels of play?

I'm currently at 4.4k mmr. I had climbed to 5.1k in April and then dropped all the way to 3.6k after getting out of the ICU. I'm now 37-8 on my climb up. I'm getting old, 24, and I'm worried I'll never git gud. ;_;

Being a pro isn't for everyone despite how hard you may aspire for it. Lots of the current pros I would say got lucky, others was discipline, others would be natural talent. Sometimes it's a mix of it all and sometimes it's all about who you know once you get your skill at a certain level. Hard work and dedication is a big attribute so continue focusing on that. best of luck

Demon whats up with you, playing on any teams or any plans to? You always make games so much more interesting.

It's in the works of rebuilding one for 2015.

ChuaN- have you ever encountered problems like TI4 DK where teams wouldn't practice with them due to some non-chinese players?

Demon- are we gonna see you return to the pro scene anytime soon?

Hopefully soon bro, I need to be back out there. I really miss competing

Sup Jimmy, Hi chuan, How can i improve my play in order to gain MMR? I'm stuck at 3.5k and i can't really see why i can't move, i often play carry and win but then when i play support, i lose. it's not that i don't like support, just for some reason no matter what i do as support, i seem to lose

Why not continue doing something that works which seems like is the carry role? Otherwise watch from player perspective of successful pros such as PPD / Zai and learn from them. In pubs I would say watching a player like Zai will be much more successful as a hard support role is generally much more difficult to raise MMR.