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　　'What we did in China had never been done before.'After a tumultuous exit from China, Sweden's Per 'Pajkatt' Olsson Lille has officially returned to the professional Dota realm with Rasmus 'MiSeRy' Filipsen in Team Dog. Team Dog itself hasn't been without controversy either, but the team is looking forward and are ready to take it far.

　　

It's been a while since we have seen you in the scene. After getting the message that you aren't able to prolong your visa for China, things became a bit quiet. All of a sudden we see you with a brand new team and only one of your former teammates from LGD.int. What happened in the meantime?

I felt like laying low for a while, not rushing into anything new. The new "team" is just the five of us playing together for now, figuring out if we work well together. We figured we could play some tournaments and see what happens since we are all teamless (except misery as a coach for MYM).

　　

What can you tell us about your current teammates, their roles on the team and their capabilities? It's a bit hard to understand that a team with players such as yourself, Demon and MiSeRy is "just a bunch of friends playing together". What do you expect from the future?

The atmosphere when we play is quite laid back, which suits me well at the moment. Misery is currently playing carry, Demon mid, Smul offlane, leaving me and Fogged on support, something I've been wanting to try for a long time. I have no idea what the future has in store, but my intentions are to keep playing with these guys for some time and see what that leads to. I wish to find a team, that can play well together as well as work outside the game, a team that can handle setbacks and maintain a healthy attitude towards the game.

　　

You have been playing as a part of both international as well as all-swedish teams. I am really interested to hear your thoughts on being a part of the international team and living in the gaming house together. It sounds like quite a challenge having five people from different sides of the world living in China. Do you feel like you made a mistake by committing to this?

Five people living very close together for a long period of time and under certain circumstances would be strenuous for anyone, whether you are of the same nationality or not. What we did in China had never been done before, at least not to my knowledge, and so, being the first ones to try something like this, we were bound to make mistakes. I do believe our trip would've been a whole lot easier had it not been for the break in between the G-league finals (first LGD.int team) as well as if there was some easier way of communicating with the Chinese, there were a lot of misunderstandings, but there is no knowing for sure. Nonetheless I don't feel like it was a mistake to go to China, we didn't achieve a whole lot of results, but instead, we all gained a lot of experience both Dota related and non-Dota related.

　　

You started off strong and reached the finals of G-League where you lost to iG. However, the following period didn't bring any significant results. There were no prestigious results at The International either. Do you feel like you lacked practice against the Western teams? Do you feel like this was the problem for you - Western scene growing and your team not having enough interaction with it's teams?

We started our trip to China in a very good way because we were all very eager to play and we really enjoyed our time in China during that period of time. Then, there was an unfortunate break for about 2 months where we all went home and barely played. We came back to China shortly before the finals which we lost, which can be considered as fine, but after G-league there were barely any tournaments for 3 months, which led to us losing motivation. People can rant all they want about how Dota was/is our job and that we should maintain motivation playing scrims all day long for 3 months while barely having a social life, but that's just not how it works. I would say lack of matches as well as an unfortunate timing of the Chinese spring festival made our results even worse than they could/should/would've been.

　　'You can always find new ways of playing the game, that is what makes dota such a good game.'

MiSeRy and you have been playing on the same team for quite a while now. What can you tell us about him developing as a person, player, drafter. In old MYM he was playing a completely different role from the one he played in LGD.int, but as you mentioned now he is back to carry role again. How much do you value him as a person and as a player?

Misery is a very talented player with a high understanding of the game, thus being able to switch between roles rather effortlessly. As a person I see him as a good friend, we played on many teams together and traveled a whole lot and we have always been able to have a lot of fun.

　　

Is it hard for you to play with your current team, considering you guys are from different continents? How hard is it to play with players from the US, and would you, in future, consider getting a sponsorship deal for this team and a potential gaming house? Do you feel something like gaming house can be highly beneficial to the team, or do you think it's rather not necessary?

Finding a server that works for all 10 players in a scrim can be difficult. As for the other questions it's too soon to even think about such things.

　　Having a gaming house shouldn't be mandatory, it's beneficial to have one at your team's disposal, however living there during a longer period of time I believe works against you rather than it helps.

　　

How do you feel about Dota 2 today and where the game is heading. It feels like that the overall quality of players and Dota itself have grown exponentially. Do you think having so much content via streams, guides has helped the players grow? How do you feel about the new heroes, and do you believe there IS a "metagame"?

I'm happy to see that not only Dota 2 but all of eSports are growing, when you invest as much time into something as pro players do, it's nice to be able to get something in return. As for this version, I feel like almost all of the heroes can be played, so the following months will be interesting. "Metagame" is just another word for trends as I see it, of course there have been versions where pushing strategies have been more beneficial, ganking, etc., but I think you can always find new ways of playing the game. In the end, that is what makes Dota such a good game.

　　

What do you think about the Chinese scene at the moment. By living there and competing on daily basis and practicing against Chinese teams you are probably one of the rare European players who can have a brief comment on that. Do you think that the Western scene is ahead of the Eastern scene at the moment?

'I have always found the West vs East debate to be very useless and would prefer it if people would just appreciate good Dota.'

　　I think things can shift very rapidly in Dota and so, even though I stayed there for a year my knowledge is slowly but surely becoming outdated, especially with the new patch.

　　With the chinese spring festival as well as roster changes it's very hard to tell, but I do believe DK is strong, as well as IG with Chuan playing mid. On top of that, I have always found the West vs East debate to be very useless and would prefer it if people would just appreciate good Dota.

　　

How do you feel about The International? You are one of the players who has been there for every event so far. How has it developed, and would you have any suggestions on how to develop it further? Do you feel like there should be only one event like this per year, or it should be split into say four events?

I think the TI tournaments are incredibly nice, the only bad thing about them is that they make all other tournaments seem less impressive and less significant. Anyone who has played at a TI tournament knows how good and awesome the Valve employees are. With that being said I think if any changes were needed Valve would have it under control.

　　

How do you feel about Alliance and some of your former teammates winning TI3? What do you think of their performance now? Do you think that their strength comes from an all-swedish lineup and a bond in between them as they are all good friends? How important is playing with great players and being even better friends with them in Dota?

I was very impressed by Alliance during TI3, their teamplay and momentum was extremely impressive, and I thought they deserved to win the tournament. Their performance as of late hasn't been what it was during 2013, but it's understandable, as they aren't practicing as much at the moment and after winning a title like TI, I suppose it can be hard to motivate yourself for smaller tournaments. I think one of their strengths was that they had the previous versions figured out and knew how to use the draft to their advantage, as well as to focus on their own play instead of the enemies, allowing them to play their own game in a calm and efficient manner. Whether that is because of them sharing the same nationality or not - I can't tell. However, I think it is easier to play with people you can have fun and be friends with.

　　

Thank you for your time, would you have any final shoutouts?

I want to thank all the people who support Dota 2 as well as me and the teams I have played for, you guys are awesome!

　　Image Source: 2p.com, G-League, Gosugamers.net, mmosite.vn