"Honestly, we thought Team Secret was a really good starting opponent": an interview with Na'Vi.US Sneyking

At ESL One New York, we saw both Na’Vi teams exit the tournament in the quarterfinal round, with Na’Vi.US falling to Team Secret on the back of some very unfortunate disconnects. We sat down with Sneyking to speak about the loss and what he thought about the event as a whole.

ESL: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Sneyking! First of all, give us some of your perspective on your match against Team Secret.
JingJun “Sneyking” Wu: I think losing our first game was pretty justified. They definitely had strong picks against us and punished our short lane Void. They just snowballed off having map control since our team was so ultimate dependent and built around the Void. The combos and teamwork from them were insane in the first game - they definitely deserved that win. But there was a point at the beginning where I could have got first blood instead of losing all my regen due to my disconnect.

I think we had a fighting chance in the second game. I thought we were pretty even throughout the whole game with our farmed [Brewmaster] and I were definitely catching up, and as soon as we baited them into the Roshan pit, the Death Prophet was completely out of position alone in the pit. And I was able to run up and get a four-man zone on the rest of the team, which was perfect positioning for us since DP had already used up the majority of her ultimate. But as soon as I started running in towards the four heroes I disconnected, and when I came back my hero was literally facetanking DP and her ulti wrecked me in less than three seconds. I was totally clueless as to why I was even there. When I had disconnected, my screen showed me fighting the other four heroes. After I died, the teamfight just went to hell as our [Brewmaster] couldn’t finish off anyone else and we all just got picked off.


Sneyking and the rest of Na’Vi.US posing for their ESL One team photo

ESL: That teamfight at Rosh was definitely the turning point in game two, and it was unfortunate that we were plagued with pauses throughout most of the first day. What goes on during those pauses as a team? How do you handle that kind of situation where a huge teamfight is interrupted?
Sneyking: You definitely do spend some time coordinating but it’s always a disadvantage for the team with the disconnect because most of the time your hero ends up out of position either walking back to base or walking into the other team. You’re trying to play catchup by planning what your next move is but your enemies have had the same amount of time to coordinate to punish the out-of-position player. So as long as they execute what they had planned, the team with a disconnected player is usually punished harder, in my opinion.


Sneyking, Fogged and Korok repping their Na’Vi jerseys

ESL: Do the multiple pauses affect your performance and comfort ingame?
Sneyking: I think it definitely affects the gameflow a lot. It made me question why this was even happening - this shouldn’t have happened in any case. I decided to keep playing on a clearly broken computer that disconnected me twice but I probably should have asked for a PC switch instead of just rebooting, which clearly did not help. It’s also really disruptive for the people watching.

ESL: What do you think of the ESL One setup?
Sneyking: I generally think that ESL One is a very well organized and run tournament, but I think the one downside to this event was that it was on a Thursday-Friday. It would have had a better turnout over a weekend.

ESL: How well does the Theater at Madison Square Garden work for Dota?
Sneyking: I think it’s definitely a venue for Dota. It’s certainly big enough to host a big audience but ESL really outdid themselves in Frankfurt so coming here wasn’t as hype as a large arena.


Contrary to this poster, Brax did not attend ESL One - Na’Vi.US used BuLba as a stand-in

ESL: How about the format?
Sneyking: I think the single elimination format is fine mostly because it honestly creates so much hype around each game - it emphasizes the importance of each matchup. Teams don’t get a second chance but when all teams are getting paid it’s not as harsh. It’s definitely a viable tournament format.

ESL: What about the seeding? Was there another team you would have liked to have faced other than Team Secret?
Sneyking: Honestly, we thought Team Secret was a really good starting opponent. The seedings were pretty good overall. There wasn’t really a weak team in this tournament so each match was pretty even. Despite that, some matches didn’t look [very even] - there were a lot of other variables in this tournament and it’s hard to judge whether a team is good or bad just from a single elimination tournament - especially when there are so many stand-ins this time.

ESL: Could you give us some clarification on what the situation with Na’Vi.US roster is at the moment?
Sneyking: Sorry, but I can’t comment on that right now!

ESL: What are your plans for after the tournament? Are you staying in New York for a while?
Sneyking: I actually lived in Brooklyn for two years so we’re going to be hanging out with a few friends. We actually had a lot of friends come and watch us. It’s certainly disappointing that we didn’t get to play more games in front of them.

ESL: Shoutouts?
Sneyking: Shoutouts to my fans and sponsors!

ESL: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Sneyking!

You can follow Sneyking on Twitter as @NaVi_Sneyking as well as on Twitch.

Don’t miss out on our previous interviews with the talent and players from ESL One New York as well as some of our other post-event coverage:

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