Rasmus “Misery” Filipsen is one of the most experienced Dota players still competing. He began playing Dota 1 competitively in 2008 and was invited to attend The International 2011 with MYM, where they finished fourth. Misery is one of the few players to have attended all four Internationals and has played with teams such as EG, CLG and LGD.int.

ESL: In your match against EG, you guys gave us one of the best series in Dota this past year. Obviously your run at ESL One ended much earlier than you wanted, but how prepared was Alliance?
Misery: Well, we basically had no preparation. We played four games with h4nn1 so we couldn't expect to win it all. But it was very close - I think we probably should have won the first game. But it was small things that made the difference.

ESL: Did you guys expect the games against EG to be this close considering the small amount of practice you guys had?
Misery: We didn’t really know what to expect from EG so we just had to play our own game and try our best to win.

ESL: Could you elaborate on your official position within the team?
Misery: Technically and officially I am still a stand-in. We’re still in the process of seeing if Chessie is going to recover from his back problem. Our focus has mainly been on playing the many games and tournaments we are attending, but generally none of us are interested in rushing into an arrangement - we wanna make sure the team will work out long term.

ESL: Can you say anything about h4nn1’s situation?
Misery: Well h4nn1 is still with Fnatic - he was just a stand-in for this event. We’re still hoping that Chessie gets better. And I think we’re trying to help him with his medical needs.

Alliance set up their practice room before their match against EG

ESL: In the post-TI4 roster shuffle, we saw you and Pajkatt, who played together on teams such as CLG, LGD.int and mousesports, finally part ways. What prompted the split?
Misery: Well, we had played together for so long and we had been at the top of the scene but never really won anything together. We talked about it a bit, I think. We both agreed that maybe it would be better if we tried going separate ways. After that, it just sort of happened as he started playing with Team Tinker and I was asked by Alliance.

But, it probably is good. If you stay together for a while, you might be affected by the past and it might interfere with how you work together.

ESL: Do you two still play pubs together?
Misery: Oh yeah, of course. There’s no bad blood at all. It just happened naturally.

ESL: How are you enjoying playing with Alliance? Is it very different from the other teams you’ve played on?
Misery: Well, I had always played with Pajkatt and we kind of have similar ideas on how to play - we really like to be aggressive. And we kind of influenced the other players we played with. But now, I’m in Alliance and they play the opposite. They would rather not take a fight sometimes or choose to farm instead of defending a tower. It was hard to get used to and it wasn’t so much fun to play at the very beginning but now it’s good.

More recently, I feel like we’ve gotten a lot better after going to China and playing at a LAN. It really proved the worth of LANs over just practicing online. So now things are very good and I feel like we can easily improve and, with some practice, we can take a tournament.

ESL: All of you guys have a lot of LAN experience but it seems this year there have been a lot more events to attend. In fact, you guys just competed in WCA 2014 before coming to New York for ESL One. Does the travel schedule affect your play at all?
Misery: I don’t think my personal performance was affected. I felt pretty rested when I arrived [in New York]. I heard, though, that Loda or Bulldog was quite jetlagged.

I mean, it is rough going to China for five days, then back home, then traveling to the United States. It’s like traveling the whole world in two weeks, and if your mind isn’t prepared for this kind of stuff it can be pretty rough. It would’ve been nice to have a few more days in between, but it’s okay - you gotta deal with it.

ESL: Did you ever think that you’d be travelling this much just to play?
Misery: No, of course not. It just kind of happened naturally. Obviously at one point when I went to China [to play for LGD.int] - that was where I realized there would be lots of tournaments everywhere now.

ESL: Let’s talk a bit about your time with LGD.int.  Do you feel your time in China was valuable as a Dota player?
Misery: Well, I think as a player, I learned a lot while in China. We didn’t really achieve much in terms of raw results but living and playing there every day against the Chinese while also coming from the west influenced my play and thinking about the game. It’s probably why I’ve kept evolving as a player.

Living in China was pretty rough at times and I was there for a long time, like over half a year. But in terms of the game, you just learn so much when you’re there.

ESL: Is it something you would recommend to other players?
Misery: I wouldn’t recommend living in China to almost anyone. At least in the circumstances we had, it was not a good choice. But going there and playing for a couple weeks for a LAN tournament or something is very useful.

ESL: Do you think club houses will start being more common in esports?
Misery: Well, I don’t think living together for a long time is so good for a team - everyone needs their privacy. I mean, playing in all these games and LANs gets really intense, so if you lose games it can be easy to get tired of each other. It’s also important to have time to see your own friends and family.

I don’t think there are many teams that can live together for more than a few months or longer than a typical bootcamp.

Misery waiting as Loda and AdmiralBulldog sign the team shirt

ESL: Do you have a long-term plan for Dota?
Misery: I’m still just going with the flow. I actually considered quitting a few times and going into casting or something. I think if Alliance didn’t ask me this year, I probably would have done something else. So it’s all about what opportunities I get and how it all goes. I mean, I still like the game - I like travelling and playing even though it can get pretty rough sometimes. I’m not so sure how it will all go in the future, but I can imagine myself staying with Alliance for a while.

ESL: What did you think about ESL One being held in New York City?
Misery: I thought it was very nice. The whole setup with New York was really interesting - I don’t think I’ve heard of any other tournaments held here so in that sense it’s pretty cool that we expanded esports to New York.

One thing, though, is coming all the way from Europe just to play single elimination was a bit iffy. But I think most people were just happy to attend and be able to go to New York. And they even asked us if we wanted to stay a few extra days as well so that was a cool adjustment they made. So now we’re going to stay and see the city a bit.

ESL: So what are your plans in New York?
Misery: I’m not sure what the plan is right now but I think me, Loda and Kelly are staying with Fogged, who lives in New York.

ESL: Any shoutouts?
Misery: Shoutout to Alliance and my team!

ESL: Thanks for speaking with us, Misery!

Follow Misery on Twitter at @MiSeRyDOTA as well as on Facebook.

As well as checking out our recent interviews with Sneyking and Sneaky Nyx Assassins, you can also find our other interviews with the talent and players from ESL One New York, as well as other post-event coverage, below:

• "Dota 2 is reaching a new level of visibility, tournament numbers and competitivity": we interview Na'Vi as ESL One approaches
• “Dota 2 is my special lady and I don’t front”: An interview with Jacob “SirActionSlacks” Kanner
• “Everything feels more epic at a live event”: An interview with Austin “Capitalist” Walsh
• From back row to backstage: impressions of the world of esports by Jacob “SirActionSlacks” Kanner
• The top 16 photos of ESL One New York
• The top six moments of ESL One New York