Hyhy Exposed

Hyhy Exposed

20108 times Written by: RGN on 2010-04-02

Birthday: 6th March
Equipment: RAZER! Forever! Razer Tarantula (2 years), Razer Copperhead (3 years)
Competitive experience: DotA (5 years), Counterstrike (2 years)
Major competitions won: SMM 09 8th WCG Singapore 09 3rd ESTC Winter 09 top 4 CAPL Winter 09 3rd CAPL Spring 09 2nd SMM 08 5th WCG Singapore 08 top 16 WGT 08 top 8 ESWC 08 CHAMPION CAPL Winter 08 CHAMPION MMU 2009 CHAMPION ADC 2009 CHAMPION WCG Singapore 2007 1st GXL 2006 2nd Benedict Lim Han Yong, “HYHY” of AEON, is a name that I seem to come across a lot. Every interview so far, his name has been amongst those mentioned when listing the top few competitive DotA players in Singapore.

The man himself, hyhy

HY, as he shall be known through this article, was the first person I interviewed on this site here. While a brief introduction of him was provided in that interview, I feel that it does no justice to HY. Behind the current player now is a rich history filled with ups and downs.

So here is the rest of HY in DotA, the complete history, as I know it. HY is now the face of the very top of Singapore DotA. He has been for a while, but he was not always on top. In fact, looking through history, HY seems to have had a steady but slow climb towards the top of the DotA scene, starting from nowhere at all. Not really nowhere. The first two much more unknown years of HY’s DotA career, 2006 and 2007, begins with a story of HY, his schoolmate QueeN, and his team Micronology. HY’s first competitive experience, that I know of, was in a local inter-school competition, where he joined a team led by his schoolmate QueeN. The aforementioned QueeN led Micronology for as long as it lasted, then joined Zenith when HY was in it, and was last seen in team [L]ittle. He is rarely mentioned ever, but has been a huge, uncredited person in the Singaporean DotA competitive scene, and at least deserves a short mention. Plus, he plays a big part in the tale of HY. From a team with a bunch of schoolmates, QueeN created team Micronology, and HY was included. In an era where the local scene was dominated by teams like dN*, Zenith, and XqR, Micronology started out as just another team in the Singaporean DotA scene in 2006, joining many competitions, but not obtaining a top spot in a single one. It would be nice to say that HY’s talent in DotA already stood out, but it didn’t. HY was just another player, with nothing good to speak of. Through many defeats though, QueeN and HY persisted. Micronology stayed intact. They improved together, and perhaps the first turning point for HY was at the end of 2006, when Micronology made one single decision that propelled them towards the top of the Singapore DotA scene. Before 2007, Singaporean DotA teams were isolated from the rest of the world. There was no interaction with the rest of the DotA players in America and Europe. In the end of 2006 though, team Zenith entered IHCS, an in-house community that comprised of the top DotA players in the European and American scene. An invitation was extended to the rest of Singaporean DotA teams to brave lag and late nights to play against people halfway across the world, and team Micronology was the only team that made the decision which forever changed their DotA standing in Singapore. They started playing IHCS. No one knows exactly what HY learnt from playing IHCS, but it is evident that much of his rise from a nobody in the DotA scene into a somebody, was due to what he learned from Americans and Europeans. In the beginning of 2007, Micronology and HY suddenly rose to what Zenith considered to be the only local threat, and Zenith took notice of HY. Early on in 2007, HY became “un-jukable”. His Queen of Pain and Shadow Fiend were seemingly playing without fog of war. Where local teams were still disorganized, HY moved around the map with precision. Zenith noticed something – HY and Micronology actually knew how to play DotA. They were not playing randomly, they knew perfectly what they were doing. Micronology versus Zenith is another topic, where HY is merely but another player. This article, being about HY, won’t go into too much detail about those two teams. We shall now talk about the end of 2007, where HY disbanded Micronology and proceeded to join Zenith. Oh, and for the record, Micronology disbanding was totally HY’s fault, although won’t admit it. The tale is probably lost in time, so I shall provide a brief recap. In chronological order, HY ignored QueeN (in terms of opinion in game, in a totally not gay way), QueeN got angry. HY insulted QueeN, QueeN got angrier. They quarreled (in a totally not gay way again) and HY left the team. Micronology disbanded. Zenith was finding players, Zenith took in HY. In 2008, HY was just another good late gamer. Admittedly, a very good one, but still nothing set him apart from the rest of the players in Asia. At this point, it is time to talk about HY as a player, in terms of the skills he has as a late gamer which he still has till this day. Most of what I have gathered about HY’s late gamer skills, are from a two week trip with him to play DotA in Russia and Sweden. HY emphasizes the basics of lane control more so then most others, and thus is able to excel in the minute details of lane control, things which most people think are too trivial to discuss. HY actually strives towards what he calls “perfect last hitting”. To last hit a creep at the perfect moment it dies to your hit. Where last hitting seems to be simply just a part of DotA that isn’t worth discussing, HY actually cares quite a lot about it. Positioning in lane is another basic that HY is particular about. HY takes positioning in lane to a whole new level. This is one reason why his Shadow Fiend is held in high regard by many. In ESWC 2007, when HY’s Shadow Fiend was soloing middle lane, he positioned himself when he was being back-stabbed such that he was not just able to survive (which is simply accomplished by running far far away) but kill the back-stabbing hero (which is not so simple). HY’s Shadow Fiend is particularly difficult to fight against because while he remains out of his opponent’s striking range, he draws his opponent into situations where they can take a lot of damage. HY is actually a pretty safe player when he’s a late gamer. He goes to places where he knows he’s not going to die. He stays in positions where he cannot be killed. He does not take blind risks, such as rushing a hero that looks alone, unless he knows that he either cannot die or that the rest of the backup heroes will be too slow to the scene. In fact, this is one of his weaknesses, but nevertheless HY has such great perception of what is happening that he makes very few mistakes. It was his teammate in Zenith around the middle of 2008 that noticed another milestone in HY’s DotA skill level. ToFuboi has been HY’s teammate for the longest time, and it is from him that we can gather most about HY from. As ToFuboi put it, “all of a sudden, HY stopped playing late gamers and started playing all sorts of different roles, like Puck and Tiny and Earthshaker, and he started commanding engagements and being damn good.” And that player, after the middle of 2008, became the HY of today that we have lots to talk about. HY rose from just a nobody, to a player that was worth watching, to a reliable late gamer, but still not one of the best, into a commander and engager and back-stabber (in other words, a player that totally controlled the game) that was at a level people could only dream of achieving. To quote ToFuboi about HY, “He can’t play farmers that well (except SF), but give him a Tidehunter, Earthshaker, Sandking, or Lina, and you will know what is one level higher than an average top level player”. Much more good can now be said about HY as a DotA player, but HY could seem like a character in a Greek tragedy, blessed with unique gifts, but brought down by fatal flaws. HY has more then once been brought down by his pride, not that he has no reason to not be proud. HY’s complete refusal to listen to his teammate’s opinions irked ToFuboi enough that he was determined to leave Zenith (ironically to join HY once again a few months later), and cause the disbanding of his team. HY’s underestimating of his opponents has cost him defeat at the hands of many teams in major competitions, which is possibly why Zenith and HY in 2008 won next to nothing for the first 7 months. HY has been too proud to bother preparing strategies for competitions, which is why he is the highlight of my article “Skill is overrated” (found here (http://www.rapturegaming.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=229%3Askill-is-overrated-part-1&catid=49%3Aaction&Itemid=79⟨=en)). Singaporean player MyWishIsToDie says “I think the only reason why HY keeps losing competitions with AEON is because of insufficient planning.” On the other hand, it is this pride that has made HY such a confident player, and it is his lack of fear in insulting his opponents that makes him so famous. Also, as ToFu says about his teammate HY, “he’s a person that doesn’t give a flying fuck about what you think about him. He can feed all he wants in a showmatch and tell his teammates that he’s not playing serious, and we all know he isn’t, but doesn’t bother explaining it to the world that he doesn’t give a fuck or his mouse isn’t working properly. He’s not someone who plays for fame, maybe last time, but definitely not now.” Then there is the part about HY’s weaknesses when playing DotA. Sometimes, as ToFu puts it, “HY thinks too much” and strives too much for “perfect timing”. Teams that have trained against HY have witnessed his Sand King missing 6 stuns in a row. HY’s Sand King has been known to miss crucial stuns in competitions as well. There even is a video of it in a LAN competition against XtC. ToFu also recalls an incident where HY was using Lina to fight a Lycanthrope. As the Lycanthrope attacked HY in a team fight, HY started Town Portalling back to base, expecting the Lycanthrope to shift target, as he would be able to safely Town Portal back home. With this expectation in mind, HY cancelled Town Portal. Unfortunately, the Lycanthrope never bothered shifting his target, and HY died looking very very stupid. As a late gamer, HY’s lack of taking risks is both a strength and a weakness. He has admitted in his interview that he is constantly in search of a good late gamer for his team, and his teammates say that he knows that he isn’t as high level a late gamer as some other players. HY’s strength, as we shall now discuss, is in heroes that do not need to rely too much on farming creeps, and can control catching and engagements. Now comes the part that HY will probably love to hear about. All the stories about why, as ToFu says, he is “one level higher than an average top level player”. Firstly, HY has impeccable timing when moving around the map. As player MyWishIsToDie recounts, “his lion can have a very high level despite constantly warding, and still can up dagger in 20 minutes.” ToFuboi, who is a vast resource of DotA stories, provides another example. ToFu: Well, basically outsiders will never respect HY’s skill as much as our own teammates because they don’t know what he does within the game and it can’t be seen from replays. ToFu: Cause it’s like… basically, he can play a roamer Sand King. I give you an example. ToFu: We are at sentinel top. He plays it totally different from other people. He pulls creeps, first wave, stops the NC spawn. ToFu: Runs away, takes rune. ToFu: He just makes it the easiest for you to play. And he somehow gets levels. ToFu: We all don’t understand how. No one I have seen can do that. Except ice and his darkseer. ToFu: Ice and HY are the two best neutrallers, and they play the same in a way such that their movement is so… convenient. ToFu: Take runes, block spawns, farming, killing, they balance it 100%. Perhaps the most unique thing about HY is that he seems to be great to team with. While many other players can show off their individual flair, it takes something special to have unique flair in roles other then late gamers. As player MyWishIsToDie puts it, “I think he trusts his teammates a lot as well, like SF going Manta straight without BKB, trusting that his teammates will help him survive and fight back. I think playing with HY also helps you to improve. He’s a very direct person. Any mistake you do, he’ll just mention it, and you can learn from it.” Another player recently interviewed, DrakaN, says about HY “he himself as a player is decent, but he may fail without his own teammates.” ToFuboi, our resident storyteller, provides yet another story, one that speaks volumes about HY. Really, we should give have one section just for his stories. The following is one of them about Hy. ToFu: There was this game against XtC that I’ll never forget. It was in gamehaven, against Xtc. Very memorable game for a lot of people as HY scolded the whole of XtC’s supporting crew after he won that game. ToFu: What happened during the game was, we were like 0-7 down at the start, they played POTM Weaver Veno and did a mass ganging strat. We had Enigma Morph Sandking Lion Zeus, and basically we had 0 vision. Oh, and they had Tinker as well. ToFu: Then, at one point in the mid-game, we were clueless as to what to do. Then he told us to stick bottom, Morph’s replica follow us, push another lane. Okay. So that was what we did. That was normal. ToFu: But what he did was basically, opponent had Tinker, and we pushed the lane one wave at a time. He asked all of us to spam our spells to clear it as fast as possible so we can stay in fog, and Tinker can’t spam Missiles on us. ToFu: And since the other lanes were pushing in, the moment Tinker BOT’ed to another lane, we will all suddenly show up and push the lane faster and faster. ToFu: He also bought 5 flasks instead of dagger, just so we could take the damage from Tinker’s missile until we reached their tower, and basically, the tides were turned because of this command. ToFu: 2 people behind us, 3 people in front of us, we were basically getting pincered and we were going like “oh shit!”. He just ask us to 5 people stick together, don’t go anywhere, just keep staying and go on. And it seemed like they couldn’t fight us in engagements at all, picking so many catchers. ToFu: Saying it like that is not very impressive, but if you were there you would know. Plus the whole crowd was jeering at us. They had supporting crew from friends and supporters, their whole Blackshot and CS teams, their managers, it was like 5 versus 50. ToFu: That was one game I thought we would lose that we actually managed to win. I was very impressed with the flask idea. And that is HY, the DotA player. I believe that should give you an idea, more or less, of how HY is unique in the DotA scene. While there are many good DotA players with many different abilities, HY is one of a kind in what he does best. Now, time for some things about HY that have nothing to do with how he plays DotA. Well, the first one kind of does. HY is known to be caustic in his comments, and he has been rumored to have said that from past experiences teaming with KingSurf people, he has learned that Malaysians simply don’t understand what he terms as “gameplay and command”. They just “see where the creeps are and head for them”. And, that “Yamateh is a typical example.” HY’s girlfriend, also with initials HY, when approached for any comments, offered this. “HY is not perfect, but he’s perfect for me. Be jealous girls =D”. Next up are comments from the other teammate that has possibly been with HY for as long as ToFuboi, and while still serving NS, has recently joined HY in team AEON. Aeon.MikeD (formerly Dk-Mag3), when asked about HY, provided the following quote. “He’s handsome. He just got a new set of 6 pacs. He’s diligent.” While Aeon.Roy (another long time teammate of HY, though not as long as MikeD or ToFuboi) was not available for comment, we do have these photos of the him, along with Mike and HY.

In both pictures (left to right), Roy, Mike and HY

comments