syndereN: we mainly need to work on ourselves

After Escape Gaming released their former lineup earlier this year, three players, including one of the more well-known personalities Troels ’syndereN‘ Nielsen, stuck together to form a new team. Shortly after it was officially announced that the new lineup would join the Ninjas in Pyjamas, we at escene.de had the opportunity to have a chat with syndereN in which we asked him a couple questions regarding his career as a player, shoutcaster and analyst, and future plans for the new lineup.

escene.de: First off, hello Troels. You have been part of the competitive Dota community for the better part of a decade now and I feel like everybody that is invested in Dota knows you in one way or another. What is it exactly, that is keeping you interested in the same game for that many years?
syndereN: Hi! I guess what interests me the most in the game is its incredible depth and possibilities, and the fact that it keeps changing. It keeps it fresh! I believe I played my first game of Dota in 2003, and since then it has always been the game I keep coming back to.

Just about a month ago, your team left Escape Gaming and you, qojqva and Era formed a new team together with Trixi and H4nn1, which ended up being the new lineup for Ninjas in Pyjamas. What are the differences in playing with them, in comparison to playing with KheZu and YapzOr in the past?
It’s a different dynamic. Every player is different and has different strengths. It opens up for new strategies because of players‘ preferences, but of course comes at a cost of some things we could run in the past. Overall, our team is also more mature now, with more experienced (and older) players.

Every single one of you has been part of the Dota community for years now and you all made different experiences with different teams or while working as a caster or analyst at several tournaments. Can you give us a tidbit of insight into your work as team captain for the new lineup?
I’m mainly, as always, trying to lead conversation and analysis of our games in order to learn how to improve and figure out together what approach we should take. I don’t believe the job of the captain is to necessarily be completely authoritarian, but mainly to mediate, get the team to look into things together, talk about them, and work toward a common conclusion.

Apart from working as a caster and analyst, you were working as a Coach for The Alliance at the time of the Manila Major. How do you think these experiences have impacted your ability to lead a team both inside and outside of a game?
It gave me some good perspective into how another team works, and of course into the coaching role itself. It was a learning by doing experience for me. The more different people you work with and the more different situations, the more you learn about yourself. It was, however, not for too long that I worked with them, so it mainly gave me some perspective.

It’s a fair assumption that the Kiev Major is the next big focus for the team. Watching the current situation in the European scene, how big of a chance do you think you have to qualify for the event and which teams do you expect to get Direct Invites?
It is indeed. I think we have a good chance. We’ll be bootcamping quite a bit in the coming time to prepare the best possible. We mainly need to work on ourselves for now to develop our own style rather than looking too much at other teams. The game right now seems to be in a state where the absolutely most important thing is your comfort in your own strategies.

One last thing; Dota 2 aside, what are the things you personally enjoy most in life? Tell us a little bit about yourself, if you don’t mind.
I love going out to eat. Going to a nice restaurant is one of my favorite things to do. I really like games, not just Dota 2. Computer games and board games are really entertaining for me both to play and watch. Apart from that, I enjoy watching sports, playing badminton, table tennis and pool, going to the movies from time to time, and hanging out with friends to do whatever, whether it’s my old friends, my girlfriend, or my team mates. It’s nice to do things together!

That’s pretty much it! I wish you the best of luck with your new team, and thank you very much for your time!
Thank you very much!