The Asia-Pacific Predator League 2022 Grand Finals is currently underway and we got the chance to speak with ChubbyBoiz, a Malaysia-based Dota 2 Team in an interview about Dota 2 and the competitive scene in general.

ChubbyBoiz players consists of: Pos 1 (Carry): Mks, Pos 2 (Mid): Xsilearn, Pos 3 (Offlane): x1a0yu (Who is currently sick and playing remotely, so he’s not in the interview), Pos 4 (Support): Xiaobonbon and Pos 5 (Support): Roger.

[Interview is edited for clarity]

How important is an organisation as a pro team considering how recently RSG let you guys go?

Roger: To me, it’s very important I would say. Because since we currently we’re not under any organisations, we’ll be going our separate ways after this tournament since we didn’t have a backup plan as a team.

During TI, I heard there’s a lot of talk about teams having coaches and some instances where teams have more than one. How important is their role in the team?

Roger: Coaches are also really important because we don’t have a coach in this tournament. It’s difficult when we all have different ideas and we’re not exactly playing as a team as a result of that. A coach’s role in a team would be to bring the team together as a team.

What keeps you playing Dota 2 professionally?

Roger: Obviously it’s for the biggest Dota 2 tournament – TI (The International). I haven’t got the chance to play in it so hopefully one day I’ll be able to.

Anything you wish would improve about the Dota 2 scene?

Roger: Maybe just TI where everything is too focused on that one tournament and its prizepool. I think it would be better if they would spread the prizepool across Majors and other tournaments. Otherwise, people would only try hard for TI and not care about the Majors, and only get DPC points.

What did you think of TI watching from the outside?

Xsilearn: The production value for TI isn’t as good as previous years. The vibe and overall feel for the whole tournament doesn’t compare to previous TIs.

TI11 took place across a pretty long period of time, what do you think about that format?

Xsilearn: I don’t think it’s that bad. I think the one thing that could be revised on was the one week break between the playoffs and the finals week.

Roger: Actually, I think I like the long format, there’s more matches to watch.

Xsilearn: But the rest is bad. If you and your team are in form and have to rest for one week, the momentum you gained will be completely lost.

Any particular region’s performances at TI11 surprise you?

Xsilearn: I would say Team Spirit. Since they were last year’s TI winners, you’d expect them to have a higher placing in TI, but they dropped out quite early. (Team Spirit placed 13th-16th place in TI11)

Mks: As for regions, I don’t think there’s any surprises there. Since the top 3 teams were all EU teams (Tundra Esports, Team Secret and Team Liquid) , I would say it’s quite expected.

How different is it to be playing tournaments in person again?

Xiaobonbon: I think playing on LAN is better since you can feel the energy and the pressure from the emotions of the crowd.

What do you see yourselves doing after retiring from being professional players?

Mks: I don’t have any current plans of what I would do after I retire from being a professional player. Maybe I can answer your question after a few years.

We would like to thank ChubbyBoiz for taking the time to answer our questions and we wish them the best of luck in their future endeavours.