Dota 2: Interview with ROOT|KoReYa-

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NEWS

By Robert 'Mungiee' Lee

Aug 6, 2012 00:09

Hello everyone Mungiee here bringing you an interview with ROOT|KoReYa- who was formerly with team ItsGosu, is now apart of ROOT Gaming's Dota 2 division.

He has been a player on the rise after his team beat the Chinese team World Elite in the ECAL show match earlier this year. Although without a stable fifth player they have not been able to compete in recent tournaments, but that hasn't slow down KoReYa's progress on trying to become a top player. Below is the exclusive interview given to SK enjoy!

What is your Name, what team do you play for, and how long have you been playing DotA?

"My name is David "KoReYa-" Kim, I play for ROOT Gaming, and I've played dota roughly 5-6 years now"

What is your previous experience in eSports if any, I.E. other eSports teams, any other game you may have played competitively?

"My experience is very small to nothing. Since I didn't join any big team's and all that but I did play with many of the top player's by playing constant inhouse leagues which were very popular back in the Dota1 day's. I have no other game's that I went pro."

Can you give us a small introduction into ROOT Gaming's Dota 2 Roster line up as well as their roles on the team.

"First off is ROOT|Blitz clearly everyone know's him since he's a very huge and successful streamer and my dearly hyung ♥. He usuallys plays our mid-role or hard carry if needed. 2nd would be ROOT|-ddx a great friendly argentina guy, who love's to troll the living hell out of me, but in my own opinion and many other's would agree with me is that he will go far in the comp. scene. ddx plays the secondary support/long lane/invoker. 3rd we have ROOT|Ephraim who I can consider one of my best friend's since DotA, he's an amazing and a very analysis kind of player that does his research and study dota 24/7. He play's hard support/initiator."

You guys currently do not have a fifth?

"nope, but we do have a potential 5th player were trying out but we have a couple of issues with Blitz and ben since they are currently occupied with in real life issues so we have to put it on hold"

What is your primary role in the team?

"My primary role in the team would be hard carry/mid/long
just depends on our lineup and what our 5th player is most comfortable with though."

How has not having that 5th player in your line up affected your team's practice time?

"It affects us really greatly because we can't learn all that we can without a stable 5th, but in replace for that were all just working on our individual skill so we don't get rusty."

Who are you favorite 3 heroes to play when you play in public games?

"My 3 favorite heroes when I play Pub's,would be Invoker #1 for now till Meepo comes out #2 Templar Assassin #3 Gyro."

Do you feel that the transition from team ItsGosu to ROOT Gaming has been smooth? and do you feel you have learned a lot from ItsGosu before moving onto ROOT Gaming?

"For sure it has prepared me, I learned a lot from all my teamates and my insight for Dota 2 and judgement calls has improved greatly thanks to them."

What are your predictions for the International this year?

"Not a damn clue anymore LOL."

Can you tell us a little bit about the path you took to become a Dota 2 Pro?

"I was always a part of eSports but I wasn't known, only in the NaDota community I was somewhat known, so one day 1437 approached me and wanted to make a new team which ended up as ItsGosu."

Do you feel that since Valve has been releasing heroes one patch at a time, that is has help get heroes that haven't been used in competitive scene see some action? and how do you think it has affected teams draft strategies?

"Yeah I think it is a great idea to release heroes one patch at a time so you can see heroes that was never seen before in DotA be played in competitive scene especially in the hands of skilled players. I don't think it affected too much on teams' drafts because eventually there will be those set of heroes that is just much superior, but in the end it's up to how the teams playstyle is and your captain."

Which Dota 2 team has impressed you the most so far this year?

"mTw has impressed me the most because they are people who I can say they didn't just get to where they are now just on luck. They trained very hard and dedicated themselves more then anyone else I know and im very happy that they are a top team ^_^"

Is there any story behind your Alias "KoReYa"?

"Mmm...long story short my first team in DotA I was known as Xero.s[t]arz or 0n1y0n3. After we disbanded I wanted a new name because a tag with either of those names didn't go well LOL so I asked my friend who was learning Japanese because I just love Japanese for a new name and she came up with Koreya which is actually from Japan and it fitted well since when you pronounce it, it's just like Korea LOL and I just happen to be Korean :)"

Now for some off topic questions, anyone that has been to your stream knows very well that you listen to Kpop pretty much all the time, can you name your 3 favorite kpop groups/artists

"FAVORITE CHICKS!~ GOO HARA OH YEEEAH, IU HELL YEAH, AND TAEYEON HOLY DONUTS."

Hahaha how about not based on looks and purely musical talent?

"Favorite artists for songs is. Big Bang, Kim Jong Kook, and McMong."

What do you like to do when you're not playing Dota 2?

"When im not playing Dota 2 I am either out to the gym or I play Diablo 3 or other various games."

What is your expectations for yourself as a player and what are your expecations for your team for the rest of this year?

"My expectations are just like everyone else's just to attend The International and win it same with my team."

Any final words you like to say before we conclude this interview?

"Really tired so sorry if I didn't get everyone. Shoutout to Jon (Nightmare) Ink, Rich, hotbid, heyoka, Megumixbear and ROOTGAMING."

Hoped you all enjoyed this little interview, and if you want to check out KoReYa and talk with him, join his stream chat when he streams live!
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