Interview with WePlay! Dota Underlords Open caster — ImpetuousPanda

David "ImpetuousPanda" Nolskog has commented three tournaments by WePlay! and he is well known to our viewers. We talked with David about his expectations of the first Dota Underlords Open and asked him, which player stood out the most.

How did you like your stay in Ukraine? What do you think about it this time?

Very good. This time it was different from the last year — it's summer now. It's not cold, no heat — just nice weather.

What was the thing that surprised you the most about the country?

Well, the hotel was different. It was "next level": the room and the service were amazing. I think it's really hard to be surprised if you know what to expect from WePlay! in general after two previous events. 

How do you feel about the event? Was it everything you were expected?

It was better than I expected. All about Underlords is obviously very new. We haven't seen many examples of the very competitive setting for a game that relies on RNG mechanics as much. For example, TFT Twitch Rivals was mostly for streamers and wasn't super competitive. WePlay! Dota Underlords Open was maybe the first biggest qualifier fest. I was surprised. The meta changed a lot, crazy games that we saw, all kinds of different comps that I've never seen before in Underlords. 

What was good in the disruption when the patch hit after the first day of the tournament? 

As a viewer and as a caster, it makes the event more exciting when the game is just something you're looking forward to. And something was really different on day two.

As a player you are maybe not as happy: it's a qualifier to Top-8, and some players didn't adapt as well. Something that you prepared before the patch became useless. I think, for the players who do adapt well, it's a better patch. Here you can play more different comps. Somethings may be over tuned like Demon Hunters are being splashed in too many different comps. Overall, global alliance items have been removed. It's much more flexible, and you can adapt: it's the important skill that you need to have as a professional autobattler player. We've seen Browny and Elusive coming up from nowhere, and they come very good as well. The patch allows players to use any build they want. Every Alliance has found the spot. But it's not just one comp for every single game.  

Which day was the hardest for you personally, and why?

Day one. I was a bit tired at the end of the day. I don't like the start of each day because I feel sleepy in the morning. I'm more of a night person. But the first day was a bit tiring. I was casting the last two series. But it was easier in the final two days: only 5 hours.  

Is there a player in the tournament that didn't make it to the Top-8 that left you intrigued, and you'd like to follow up on him? 

[F]umeche, the Indonesian player, he just barely didn't make it. He's from the NA group, which is very hard to make it out of. I like his plays: he used Warriors a lot. I was a bit sad that he didn't pass. But in the NA group especially it was super close. Overall, all the better players made it. There was no undeserving player. Everyone in the Top is very-very good. It really means a lot to be the Tops and going forward. If you made it through five thousand players in the qualifiers - that's an event. Even if you didn't make the Top-8. It's put you on a map for the players and organisations. 

Do you have any general advice to the players who didn't make it to Top-8? 

The main thing is adapting, being able to play a lot of different things, and not going into the "if you comfortable in a certain comp — only using that comp" trap. for example, Trumad — he loved Mages a lot, but I think that they aren't one of the strongest comps. Be versatile, try to play different comps. Maybe, watch VoDs of the best players and learn from them. 

Shaman is still underpowered, despite everything. Do you have an idea on how to fix Shadow Shaman and maybe the Shamans in general?

I'm not playing Dota 2 much and don't know much about the lore in it.  So, I don't know what Shamans tag wants to do. I think I like buffing and nerfing in terms of small adjustments. Maybe there are different abilities that they can add to Shamans instead of Hex. I'm not sure what abilities are in Dota 2. They can make him more competitive, add some DPS, health, etc., and see if he becomes more playable. I do think, Shaman tag needs a re-work, the way they re-worked Primordials.