Meet WaN

 

Name: Liu Wanquan
Birthday: 14th March 1989
Played DotA for 5-6 years
Favourite gaming hardware: Steelseries SP (mousepad), Microsoft Habu (mouse), Logitech keyboard
Achievements:
CAPL elite winter 07/08 1st (ipod)
HQ Chinatown Competition 2nd (ipod)
WCG SAFRA qualifier 2008 1st (xtc)
WGT 2008 2nd (xtc)
CAPL 2008 best farmer + mvp award 07/08
CAPL 2009 1st (ICE PRO)
EVO Lan Competition 2nd (WAN PRO)
DOTASG Qualifiers Summerfury 1st (ALAN PRO)
DOTASG Summerfury 1st (XtC 4G)
ESTC 1st (XtC 4G)
2nd Alienware Arena tournament 2010 - 1st

No one knows WaN.

Actually that's a lie. Many people know WaN. After all, he has been in the DotA community for a good 5 to 6 years, and has his numerous prestigious accomplishments as well. Perhaps it would be more apt to say that for all his accomplishments and that he is perhaps one of the most sought after players in the competitive community, WaN is not well known enough to the rest of the world.

WaN is quiet. Meeting him in a DotA competition, he is unlike many other DotA players in sharing about DotA knowledge. He never offers any of his opinions about DotA willingly, and even when asked, gives short and simple answers. I approach him for an interview between games, and he agrees, but only manages to answer a few simple questions before his next game, and I am forced to continue the rest of the interview online.

WaN has been part of many different teams with many different names. Asking for a team history, he willingly gives me his entire story about his first DotA clan, clan ipod.

Tell me about your first team, ipod.

WaN: Well, Ipod started from bnet days... I just randomly met a guy called “oldbie” (later known as jie.) and we somehow became friends and we played together a bit, with another guy called WwWlovesdota. I joined his clan LdtG (Loves DotA too Gosu) and... tada! WaNlovesdota was born.

WaN: Then somehow I stopped DotA'ing for a few months and came back to Bnet to see a lot more people in the clan. Then there was this sort of “separation” where the Singaporeans left the mixed SG-MSia clan and we formed an all SG clan called “ipod” and joined our first competition at DsD.Lanlab in Bukit Timah for fun but lost on our 2nd round.

Team ipod later became known as Taxis.ipod and was a dominant force in the Singaporean DotA community until early 2008. Early in 2008, WaN joined the Singaporean team jujuju along with iceiceice and xy. Though the team was short-lived, WaN's reunion with some of his jujuju teammates in the future would be the start of his many successful endeavours.

So how do you usually end up as part of a DotA team?

WaN: Either I play with friends... or I'm asked to join by someone

WaN: I can proudly say that if I'm playing with ice it's always he who asked me to join :x
After jujuju, WaN joined the first generation of team XtC's DotA team, along with some old ipod teammates and Alan and Ray from xqR.DotA. After obtaining 3rd place for the ESWC 2008 qualifier, XtC.DotA was unheard of for a while and WaN proceeded to join a new team, again joining ice, accompanied by LuX and his old XtC teammate Alan.

WaN: But Michael still wants to keep a XtC.DotA division and somehow I joined with ice and all and persuaded them to play under XtC... well of cause with some objections from ice.

WaN: Then I played and won 1st for WCG SAFRA qualifiers and sadly I couldn't play WCG finals... then there was WGT in September where I got 2nd...

Due to unforeseen circumstances, WaN was unable to join XtC.DotA in the 2008 WCG open as he had been unexpectedly registered in another team and was not allowed to pull out of it.

WaN: Then I got kicked from XtC before SMM :(... I think XtC became famous partially because of me! Recruiting people... and getting kicked... bah...

While XtC formed a new team after the shuffling of its players after SMM 2008, WaN joined team [L]ittle, a newly formed Singaporean team that would rise to be one of the top few teams in Singapore.

WaN: I got into team [L]ittle through Lei, since we were old ipod teammates AND since I had no team... thanks to... so I just played with them for fun. All the way till CAPL 2009 open when ice asked me to play with him.

WaN: I think the first Compy I joined with [L]ittle (leiaisher, blahx3, maki-, alanter) was Gamehaven, where we won KS in the group stages... then after that we safely proceeded into finals I think and faced KS again... but lost this time :(

WaN left team [L]ittle to join ICE PRO, and pulled off a series of startling performances against the top Singaporean and Malaysian teams to win CAPL Open 2009. While iceiceice went on to join team Aeon.SG, WaN continued with the rest of the team to win competitions for a short few months, before being absorbed into XtC's DotA team once again.

WaN carried XtC to victory in ESTC Thailand 2009, beating Malaysian teams Kingsurf and Cybertime to earn one of the largest prize pots of that year's DotA tournaments in the world. An interesting point to note is that WaN and his team have triumphed over Malaysian champions Kingsurf in every meeting at a major competition – first with XtC in 2008 at WGT, then with ICE PRO at CAPL Open, then with a different XtC again at ESTC in 2009.

However, after victory in ESTC, SMM 2009 loomed overhead, and once XtC took part in SMM without WaN. However, this time, he was given ample time to find a team, and took solace in team [L]ittle, who made it to the elimination rounds, beating team Cybertime, before losing to the teams from China. WaN was last seen back in team [L]ittle, winning the Alienware Arena competition.

For a player with many successes, WaN seems to have been pushed around teams quite a lot. Meeting him face to face, I ask him a very direct question.

So, why are you so silent?

WaN: HMMM... because I'm more of a passive listener and don't really like to talk much... nothing much to talk about also.

So you admit that you are a bit too silent?

WaN: Yeah... I'm always listening to others chat and laugh... and somehow depends on who I'm talking to also.

I follow on with more direct questions.

So what do you feel about team politics?

WaN: I never liked politics in anything, even before I got silently kicked by my own team before SMM...

WaN: Although I kind of knew that it's normal for the weakest link(s) to get kicked out of a team since I'm usually the one watching people get kicked from other teams... but I guess when it happens to you the feeling just sucks.

WaN: Especially when they don't say anything about you not going to SMM with them till you bump into 5 of them at LAN training and you have realized on your own that “Oh. I'm kicked”.

I didn't actually add the brackets in link(s). WaN added them himself on MSN.

Perhaps due to WaN being so silent, he ends up the victim of team politics and it rarely does benefit him. I probe further.

Don't you want to... do anything about it?

WaN: Well I didn't really know what to do. Of course I could voice out and tell them that I didn't like what happened but I'll always feel awkward when I actually like... argue/quarrel with people about stuff.

WaN: So I choose to whine to others or in interviews such as this!

So you've been interviewed before?

WaN: Well, not as an individual. My team has been interviewed a few times but I don't bother about them much, just let another representative do the talking.

So why do you think I'm interviewing you?

WaN: Because I think you're interested in me.

That sounds gay.

WaN: Well it's meant to be funny :P

Sensing a change of topic to be in order, I ask a question that I ask every interview.

So what other talents do you have other then gaming?

WaN: I have no other talents. Typical gamer.

Typical gamer? So are gamers no-life nerds?

WaN: Well, not all gamers are no-life nerds... just some I guess.

WaN: Damn I'd say I'm kind of no life since all I do is play games... but I won't mind going out with any close friends if they asked :P

WaN: I kinda admire those who can balance their life as well... good at gaming and other stuffs.

How about gamer girls?

I ask this in the context of seeing what he feels about gaming couples, being that he is friends with many guys/girls with partners in the competitive DotA scene. He provides me a personal response that he prefers me to not air, and then follows with another comment.

WaN: Well I think for a gamer girl and gamer guy who are together in a relationship, they should have something in common other than just gaming alone.

Before I ask anything more, is there anything at all you would like to comment about?

WaN: Not really, but I'll try to answer anything you ask.

WaN: You see, I don't really talk much cause I don't know what to say. HAHA!

WaN: So if the person talks to me I'll respond.

You've occasionally been part of teams that disbanded, you've been kicked out of teams, and you've left teams on your own accord. Is there any reason why you change teams out of your own accord?

WaN: Well I guess it's to try and find a team that I like and am comfortable with, preferably a strong team made up of friends.

So do you think that it's good to have a stable team, and is it possible to have one?

WaN: It's kind of hard to find a stable team nowadays since people want to win and will change for better players, or individuals have their own commitments like studies or army.

WaN: So I guess the only way to get a stable team is to have it made up of talented kids who either don't care about their studies or are exceptionally smart and still have a long way before enlistment.

WaN: Well, IMO, I think it's a good team if it's made up of close friends and playing for fun... and a stable team can train team synergy.

WaN: There are teams who can win stronger teams with better teamwork based on drafts and engages... but I'll still prefer a team with great individual skill.

WaN, from the beginning of his DotA career, has played nothing but late gamers, or “carries” as some term it.

So why are you always playing carries?

WaN: Cause my mentality is just to farm... and I care a lot about winning my lane so usually I'd leave the supporting and ganking to my teammates.

In an earlier interview with Hyhy, hyhy stated that he didn't like playing carry, which explains my next question.

So, you like to play carry?

WaN: Yea, since a farmed up carry can have lots of impact on the game.

WaN: When I don't farm up I'll feel emo :(

So who do you think plays carry better than you?

WaN: Actually there are tons of better players than me.

WaN: But just to name 3... ice, mushi, and hyhy.

So you play carry with top teams and win top teams in high level competitions... why aren't you as famous as those players you've named?

WaN: Probably because all I do is farm and many people can cover my role... and there wil always be people in my team who outshine me.

WaN: In the different generations of XtC, there's ice... then xy-... and in my most recent Alienware competition there's mushi.

WaN: And I'd say my performance is quite random. I can play REAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLL bad in competitions sometimes.

So, tell me about your best and worst competition performances.

WaN: Hmm... I think I played well in my most recent win at Alienware... somehow I felt very confident in winning with our lineup probably we've got good supporters/gankers as well as carries!

WaN: Worst was probably any competitions where I played SF... somehow my SF can't carry well.

So, what makes players famous?

WaN: Well... skills and consistent performance I guess.

WaN: Like my idol ice... always able to carry unless he's emoing over...yea...

WaN: I guess the main carries in a team will usually be the more famous ones. No matter how good your support is, unless your team wins, probably nobody would recognize your talents.

Usual question. 3 sexiest guys in SG DotA.

WaN: Hy...

And he can't provide any more. For now.

Okay. Girls?

WaN: Damn I feel very pro-asterisks now.

WaN: 3 girls will be... ELIZA, CYN, KIMCHI.

WaN: Guys will be... HY, BLAHX3 and...

WaN: OKAY. ALANTER. GO.

How good do you think you are at DotA?

WaN: Above average, but not GODLIKE... will never reach there.

As for the next question, you would probably have to refer back to my interview with Kimchi to understand where it comes from.

So, when will you get a girlfriend?

WaN: When I spend time going out and socialize more and spend more effort on a girl...

As for the future, WaN is enlisting in less then a month. While NS has hindered the stability of teams, and we will be expecting WaN to be missing from the DotA scene for a while, it remains to be seen whether he will still be a force to be reckoned with in the months to come.