Team Eclipse

Birthday: May 12 1989
Gaming Equipment used: Razer tarantula, Deathadder
Played: Since 5.84c (5 years)

Team name: Ec|ipsE
Year of creation: 2009
Game played: DotA
Country: Singapore
Competition achievements:
CGL - 3rd
Autumnflux Qualifier - Champion
Autumnflux Grand Final - 3rd
Alienware Arena Funan Prelims - 2nd

Team Eclipse with leader nightwIsh (second from left) at the Alienware Arena Tournament

Team Ec|ipsE` is a new team in the Singaporean DotA scene, relative to the other long standing teams such as XtC, or those with rich history but ever-changing names, such as Aeon. Nevertheless, their performance has been exceptional. Just recently, they achieved 2nd place in the Alienware Arena Funan preliminaries in Singapore, trouncing XtC and eventually losing to Aeon in the finals. However, the team still seems to be very underrated. I find the time to catch up with their leader, Ec|ipsE`nightw|sh after the competition.

So, how did you guys come to form a team together?

NW: I was playing against some of them at the Cyber Gaming Festival, and after the competition, my previous team, SoA, disbanded.
NW: Shortly after, I was playing in SG Clan War Room against Fragniity...
NW: He wasn't that good at that point in time, but I decided to pick him up as a teammate.
NW: I still lacked 2 players to form a team though.
NW: My teammate RapeZ-, introduced his friends iicy and bd-jun, and we started playing together as a team.
NW: Then we trained about 2 to 3 matches till Autumnflux, and have been playing together ever since.

What do you think are your teams' strengths?

NW: Well our main advantage is in our engagements. We know how to engage well and take down the other team. I guess their teamwork is usually not as good as ours.
NW: We don't have any specific strategy going into a game, but we will discuss when picking our heroes.
NW: In training we try a lot of different heroes.

Team Ec|ipsE` has been known to try many different heroes and use them to great effect in competitions. They do however, seem to have a core set of heroes which varies with every competition. In the recent Alienware Arena Tournament, Ec|ipsE` picked Obsidian Destroyer and Necrolyte very frequently, often opting for a supporting cast of VS, Lion, ES, or Sandking, with a few other occasional standard picks. Against XtC, it was their last pick of Omniknight that led them to completely steamroll local favorites XtC.

What are your team's weaknesses then?

NW: We need to buck up on lane control and using heroes with better lane control.
NW: We lost to Aeon mainly because of no lane control early on, and then map control.

Ever since they formed about one year ago, Ec|ipsE` has had exactly the same roster, not changing any members, through thick and thin, a remarkable feat in the competitive DotA scene where teams run through fickle-minded members like ToFuBoi and iceiceice.

So you've had the same roster ever since you formed the team?

NW: Yes!

What makes you guys stick together?

NW: What really lets us stick together through thick and thin is having a joker in our team, iicy.
NW: We all trust each other as a team and we let the team grow.
NW: And I respect all of them.

Why do teams disband so fast then?

NW: I think SG teams disband quickly because their players keep complaining about each others' individual skills and having conflicts.

What team in this competition did you have the most problems facing?

NW: The team we have the most problems fighting is Aeon. They have all the skilled players in their team and have much more experience then us since we are quite new.
NW: We didn't really expect much, but we did our best against them.
NW: Their lane control, their map control, and their movement around the map, all are quite good, whereas we are lacking in those aspects...

How about team XtC (previously team [L]ittle)?

NW: We won them twice with good teamwork.
NW: But that's about it.

Tell me about all the players in your team.

NW: iicy- is our ganker but sometimes he plays the carry. His favorite hero was SF. He likes to joke around and give some stupid face and he thinks he's damn handsome.
NW: Fragniity is our support and ganker and his favorite player is POTM. He loves to give stupid comments and has a whole bag of excuses when he's late for training etc. etc. and always complains that he is very tired.
NW: bd-Jun, or talktowalls, is our support or ganker. His favorite hero is QOP. He fools around most of the time and jokes with iicy- a lot.
NW: Rapez-, or i|ucky- is our ganker and full time farmer. His favorite hero is Necrolyte. He likes to flirt a lot, and also talks a lot of crap, so he can fit in with the rest of us!
NW: I'm the semi-carry and ganker, and my favourite hero is Terrorblade. I have a hot temper but love to joke around with my mates and I'm pretty easy going.

Tell me about the origin of your team name.

NW: We were registering for the Autumnflux qualifiers and couldn't think of a team name.
NW: So we just suggested a few, and somehow thought of the name Eclipse.
NW: I don't really know how to answer this question!
NW: We just think it's a nice name.

Anything else to add?

NW: We will train up, improve fast, and do it as a team!


Image courtesy of DotaSG