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GR2O Winner's Interview

By 5*General - 30th November 2011 - 06:59 AM

Last week, team Dirktjuh (Edtjuh and Dirkradix) took top spot in the GameReplays 2v2 Open, seemingly without even breaking a sweat, going the entire tournament without dropping a single game. That included a slalom through tough opponents, including Shalesey and Toilailee, Choko Bambus and Neleron, and finally VindicareX and DadokisinX. This isn't the first 2v2 victory for Edtjuh and Dirkradix, and likely won't be their last. I sat down with Dirkradix (Edtjuh is on vacation) to discuss the victory and other matters.

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5*General: It's been more than a week, but can you describe how you felt on winning GR2O with Edtjuh?
Dirkradix: Relief, for a few reasons. First off, I made the mistake of thinking the tournament was on the 11th, 12th and 13th, it totally messed up my schedule (real-life) specially since the match times start at midnight onwards on my place, and secondly, it enabled Edtjuh to focus on his packing for his tour of Japan/Korea. But tournament-wise, it had its ups and downs, it was exciting in a few of the matches, and it became a challenge as we climbed up the ladder. But all in all, winning the tournament felt surprisingly awesome.

5*General: You and Edtjuh managed to off VindicareX and DadokisinX in convincing 3-0 fashion in the finals- certainly neither you nor Edtjuh are any slouch on Dawn of War 2 leaderboards, but VindicareX and DadokisinX both made strong showings in the 1v1 GROS, so how did you two manage that sweep?
Dirkradix: I don't really pay all that much attention in 1v1s, even in official tournaments, there's something about 1v1s that I personally find melancholic. A healthy part of my psyche was actually concerned about the "live-stream" and not the final matches itself, I am talking about the delay in streaming, since I have terrible experiences on people relaying live-up-to-date info to the other team. But on the final matches, there was a 90% probability that both VindicareX and DadokisinX would go ultra-super-heavy tier 1, Edtjuh and I only had to weather the assault until we got to Tier 2, then start consolidating our positions; what amazed us both was how we in some instances had map control in Tier 1 despite being outnumbered, like in game two on Ruins of Argus, Edtjuh had an Inquisitor, two Guardsmen, one Sentinel (died early), I had Hive Tyrant, one Hormagaunt, two Termagants, vs five Chaos Marine squads, three Heretic squads, one Noise Marine and three Havocs. I mean you'd expect to lose map control when one of the opponents gets three Havoc squads, even if Hive Tyrant has Charge, it cannot survive bulldozing at three Havocs.

5*General: VindicareX mentioned to me after the match that he was frustrated with what amazed you- your early retention of map control. He seemed to be uncertainly leaning towards that being an issue with balance/the game rather than his employed strategies. Do you feel similarly, or do you feel that VindicareX has many options to explore still?
Dirkradix: In my opinion, I'm 100% sure that it has nothing to do with an "issue of balance". Five squads versus their twelve squads, and they don't have map control on their chosen map, I think our opponents had an issue of balancing their forces. hahahahaha! true story.

5*General: Speaking of balance, there's been a lot of talk about the Tyranid changes lately. Yourself being a 2v2 Hive Tyrant player, what is your take on the changes that have already come, and what is your anticipation for upcoming changes?
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Dirkradix: Really? I'm quite curious as to where all these talks are originating from...hahahahaha! But to answer your question, I've been playing HT since I started playing this game, I have seen its ups and downs, the unit changes, the so called "nerfs" and "buffs", and I'm still managing a 95:5 win/loss ratio, even managed to win "all" tournamants with it (in all the patches). Of course half of the reason is Edtjuh. I however have a theory, a theory which i think 90% of the people playing Dawn of War 2 will disagree, but nonetheless needs voicing out. The theory is that the so called "balancing" thing is dictated by a selected few, who... upon losing repeatedly, think "something" is terribly OP/abuse and needs to be nerfed right away while discounting their disability to manage (micro/macro) things in-game. A good example of this is the two Hormagaunt, one Termagaunt that i usually start with (which works most of the time, not always, but most), people seem to have "trouble" handling this... however, every time I am playing non-Hive Tyrant and go against a Hive Tyrant [using] two Hormagaunt, one Termagaunt, I am already loll-ing inside since I know that Hive Tyrant player is screwed. What concerns me most at the moment though is the Apothecary [Sanguine Chainsword]... used to be two Hormagaunts, one Termagaunt attacking Apothecary ends up with the Apothecary dead, but this time around, the Apothecary can solo those units and win. I once brought down the Apothecary to less than 30 health, then it used Heal, one second after, it was full-health. It was a lol-moment.

5*General: Definitely, having experience with something helps with combating it. GR2O cemented GameReplays' renewed commitment to competitive 2v2 Dawn of War 2, and it would definitely be nice to see some more 2v2 Experts. Your win with Edtjuh in GR2O and many other 2v2 tournaments suggests you highly, but there is talk that all may not be enough because some feel you have not effectively demonstrated that you can play with more heroes than Hive Tyrant. What do you have to say about this?
Dirkradix: Oh, I do have to apologize about that, Edtjuh already warned me about the Expert thing. But curiosity overruled it. I won't and never will expect to be a Dawn of War 2 Expert on GameReplays. What made me laugh was seeing there was actually someone (apart from Edtjuh) who voted for me to be Expert, I was already envisioning a 1-10 ratio. But back on topic, I can say the same thing about the other Experts, for example... Chokobambus, he plays Warp Spider Exarch in 1v1 well... but that's it... every time he steps on 2v2 it's a free win.

5*General: Did you feel your match against "Team Longass Name" (Choko Bambus and Neleron) was a free win?
Dirkradix: Erm... I wouldn't exactly say it was a free win, although it was easier than most, Choko dropping on the last game certainly gave an aura of free win for Edtjuh and me. hahahahaha!

5*General: Besides the Finals, what match did you feel was hardest?
Dirkradix: I'd have to say, the games vs toilalee and shalesey. I have some difficulties fighting it out versus Imperial Guard but especially Inquisitor, once Sentinels come in, properly handled there is absolutely no way for Hive Tyrant, two Hormagaunt, one Termagaunt to counter early Imperial Guard.

5*General: Even with Edtjuh seeming to favor Inquisitor? How much time do you two spend practicing against each other compared to playing together against other foes?
Dirkradix: Hmmm... it seems this needs explaining, I have to disabuse everyone of the flawed notion that I dictate to Edtjuh what he plays, in all the games Edtjuh and I play at be it 2v2s or 3v3s, I do not tell Edtjuh what race/hero to play and vice versa. We don't really have a "practice" regimen... neither do we practice versus each other.

5*General: I hadn't realized that people thought you dictated what Edtjuh plays as. That said, do you have any insight on his hero choices this tournament? He stuck with Inquisitor for all three games against VindicareX and DadokisinX, which was a trend we almost never saw from Edtjuh in the 1v1 GROS tournaments.
Dirkradix: Come to think of it... Edtjuh did play Inquisitor in those finals matches. Huh, I've never really thought about it... Could be Edtjuh went for Inquisitor since that's what he's played the most during the GROS tournaments. You will have to ask Edtjuh when he comes back from his trip.

5*General: GameReplays recently announced that it will be starting-up new 1v1 and 2v2 leagues soon. How did you react when you heard the news?
Dirkradix: This is the first time I've heard of this. hehehe. Too much Skyrim. By leagues, you mean to say GameReplays is taking over ESL's role for Dawn of War 2? I think it'll be great, it will certainly breathe life back to the game.

5*General: We'll be offering at least a couple of matches a week along with regular tournaments. Points to earn, playoffs, and an invitational league for both 1v1 and 2v2 on top of the open leagues.
Dirkradix: I think this is great news, I do however think the hang-ups will be more on the organizations.

5*General: We are working to beef-up our backend to prevent such hang-ups, but hopefully any that crop-up we'll be able to iron out by the second or third season.
Dirkradix: Also, there needs to be an incentive for people to actually go back to Dawn of War 2, there's been a sharp drop in the number of people playing Dawn of War 2.

5*General: Well you just won one recent incentive. Any plans for your GR2O winnings?
Dirkradix: I'd give all the winnings for a Tyranid skin pack, but that's just lol... was terribly jealous of the Word Bearers and Death Korps of Krieg packs, they looked great.

5*General: And then I suppose the last thing I have to bug you about while I've got you here is that many community members don't believe that you're actually female. I cede the floor completely to you on this one.
Dirkradix: Yes, my first name is Janine, my parents hail from China, with some grand-grandparents from Russia, I was born here in Cebu City, Philippines (which accounts for the crappy internet), on May 17, 1986. I am a licensed, practicing medical doctor, and in my spare time I make a lot of people rage in Dawn of War 2. Yes, i do have a Facebook account and no I am not telling you what it is. And of course losing to a guy is a preferable alternative to losing to a girl... I hardly care what people do or don't believe.

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Gentlemen, you'll need to dash those fantasies as it seems this champ isn't taking any random internet suiters any time soon. That said, I want to thank Dirkradix for doing the interview, and I think we all look forward to seeing Dirktjuh take up arms again for the upcoming 2v2 league.

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