Interview with MVP Black's Sake

Ever since their international debut at IEM Shenzhen and MSI MGA, MVP Black has become one of the most feared teams in the Heroes of the Storm competitive scene. In preparation for upcoming tournaments in 2016, MVP Black recently went through some roster changes to further strengthen their dominance.

We got a chance to contact MVP Black and exchange words with their captain and ranged Assassin player Lee "Sake" Jung Hyuk to hear what he felt about different regions, the state of the game, and what the team hopes to accomplish moving forward.

Can you give us a brief introduction to the team?

Hello, this is MVP Black.
We are a five-men team composed of: captain and ranged Assassin Lee "Sake" Jung Hyuk, primary Warrior Yoon "sign" Ji Hoon, flex player Jeong "KyoCha" Won Ho, Support player Lee "merryday" Tae Jun, and our newest member Lee "Rich" Jae Won filling the melee assassin position.

Who is your favorite Hero? Which Hero do you find the most "fun" outside of your role?

For me, I prefer picking mage-type Assassins like Jaina and Kael'thas in scrims and tournaments because it feels like they fit the damage dealer role the best.

For the most "fun", it's definitely Kharazim. I've been really impressed by how well foreign players use Divine Palm, so I am having a blast with it in SoloQ.

Which Hero do you think is the strongest in the current meta? How do you feel about the meta right now?

I think Zagara and Tyrande are strong right now. Zagara's strong waveclear, ability to freeze (Maw) enemies, provide vision, and contribute in team fights make her a great Hero. As for Tyrande, she is just strong.

I think the current meta has gotten a bit stale because it's been a while since we had a patch. The first day of WCA was quite an eye-opener, and I think the meta we absorbed then has been pretty good. There's actually been a lot of different metagames so I'm not too sure which one you are referring to.

What is MVP Black's biggest strength and team color (style)?

Our biggest strength is our quantity of practice, followed by our team dynamic.
Our team color is "black", and just like how the shade will change if you mix different colors into black, I think we keep shifting to different colors (styles) as we go on.

What has been the secret to maintaining a strong presence both domestically and internationally ever since your roster changes back in Summer?

I think the secret has been to understanding the meta quickly, experimenting with it, practicing, and adopting it while maintaining a strong core.

Who is your biggest competitor in Korea right now?

There aren't any.

Do you keep track of tournaments in other regions often? Which team or region are you keeping an eye on right now?

Some of our players watch other tournaments from time to time. The region we are paying the most attention right now is NA. We have played against China and EU before, but we didn't get to play NA's Cloud 9 yet, so I would like to play against them once.

You got a chance to play against teams from several different regions through MSI and WCA. How did you feel about each region?

Our loss against Team Liquid on the first day of WCA was a huge shock for us. We had tried playing Thrall before going to WCA, but we dismissed him a bit because we couldn't quite see the Hero the way Team Liquid did. He didn't have a good reputation in Korea too. But after seeing how Team Liquid used him, we were able to feel first hand that the "tier" of a Hero could shift dramatically based on how you utilize him in the game.

While I didn't see too much difference in other positions, I think the support players in other regions have been fantastic. Personally, I don't think there are any domestic players yet that are on par with the support players of NA/EU/CN.

European teams tend to play the game as if they have all the strategies and counters planned out from the start. They execute their strategies very well, and it's hard to find openings or mistakes.

China is really strong at pressuring the opponent. If you take a look at the WCA Finals, we were quite behind in our early-mid games to the point where it seemed like we would have lost. We were able to win because we were able to exploit their small mistakes and snowball the game, but I think we lost if you just look at the content of the game. China seems to have their own unique style of pressuring that I haven't quite felt in Korea.

Is there any message you want to send to foreign teams?

We didn't get a chance to meet Cloud 9, Fnatic, and Dignitas yet. I would love to play them if we get a chance.
I want to get close to foreign players as much as possible, but it's frustrating that I can't talk with them as much as I would like due to the language barrier. But I was really grateful for COG and Team Liquid players for spending time to talk with me despite my poor English.

In Blizzard's monthly leaderboards, Korea tends to have more professional players actively participating in Hero League than other regions. What are your opinions on Hero League? In other regions such as NA, there are players who feel the current Hero League is a "waste of time". Do you agree or do you find it helpful in developing as a competitive player?

I think it is a waste of time. After you have built your skills to a certain point, the amount of contribution it has on enhancing your mechanics or experimenting with the meta is less than 1%. Since it doesn't help pros get better, it's mostly for warming up your hands before scrims. Because the players are matched based on average MMR, the high-end players have to suffer, and majority of the games are about exploiting the worst player. I think they want new players to experience high-level game play by grouping them together with existing players, but it gets painful after a couple of matches.

Because you tend to see the same Heroes over again, it's mostly for fun or passing time. There are many players who do other things once the scrims are over. I've been playing Hero League less and less due to the matchmaking getting worse and worse.

MVP Black is known for their wide hero pool and a tendency to try unorthodox talent builds. Is this a conscious effort as a team, or more personal preference of the players?

We try new things in scrims, and we use them if they work out. Outside of scrims, we don't have any special time or meeting allocated for trying out new things. KyoCha is in charge of our drafts, and he tends to do all the thinking. We come up with new compositions when a teammate goes "How about we try this?" during practice, and we end up running into good compositions a lot more often than we expect.

As for talents, it's individual preference. We trust each other when it comes to talent selection, so we rarely interfere with each other about hero builds.

What are some things you wish Blizzard would do right now? (Support for competitive scenes, balance, state of the game, etc)

I'm really thankful that they are holding lots of tournaments in 2016.
I wish there was a VPN service specially-designed for Heroes. We really want to scrim with Chinese teams, but it's unfortunate that we can't. We have tried using third party VPN services, but it's still difficult due to high pings.

The domestic teams are in quite a tough spot right now. Other regions have several established MVP-like gaming organizations such as Fnatic, TS, TL, C9, eStar, EDG, that are open to investing in new games and funding teams. But because Korean eSports is organized around corporate teams, they don't have much interest in investing in new games. It's been difficult for teams and players, and it's been hard to find consistent practice partners due to teams constantly forming and disbanding every season. I wish there were some support for the domestic players and teams. I think I was lucky to have been picked up by MVP that is run like a European gaming house.

I think the current balance itself is in an okay spot, but there are a few OP Heroes. I think simply toning down Heroes like Tyrande, Kael'thas, Muradin, and Zagara a bit while helping some unfortunate Heroes like Tychus, Brightwing, Artanis, and Lunara will be enough to make the balance great.

In terms of the game, I want them to add bans to Hero League and have matchmaking be done within something like a ±300 MMR window so players at 3900-4200 MMR get matched together. I also want to see a Grandmaster League.

And lastly, I want to see better skins.
For example, there are plenty of Heroes that would look great wearing a bikini, such as Nova, Sylvanas, and Jaina. Why did it have to go to Stitches.
I only own one skin, and even though I really want to buy more, there aren't any I like.
I think the taste is too western. I want to see more "eastern" skins.
How about: Nurse Morales, Bunny Valla, Swimsuit Jaina.
My wallet is always ready, Blizzard.

Which player should we watch out for in MVP Black's future tournaments?

That will be our newest member, Rich.
Depending on how quickly he adapts to MVP Black, we will get to see his true potential, and how well he synergies with the team. I am looking forward to seeing how things turn out.

What was the most memorable moment of 2015? Your favorite meta or Hero composition?

The moment when we won WCA 2015 was the most memorable.
It was such an awesome moment.
Things were really hard for us on the first day, due to computer problems and transportation issues, but the computers got fixed and we were able to reach the grand finals without too much trouble. There was a moment in the first game of the finals where the mouse stopped working due to a malfunction, but thankfully it was all sorted out without taking up too much time. It was a really great moment for us since we were able to come out of all that hardship with a hard-earned victory.

I really liked ETC and Thrall. Their kits are so satisfying.

What are MVP Black's goals for 2016?

To win BlizzCon and all other tournaments without dropping a single game.
We weren't able to win BlizzCon 2015 due to various troubles, but we want to be able to win the various tournaments this year as an absolute victor.
We will show you a new, flawless MVP Black in the year 2016.

What are some ways for people to reach out to MVP Black?

Team MVP has Azubu Streams.

Rich does not have a streaming address yet because he is new.

Also, please checkout our sister team MVP Sky too:

MVP Black has been gaining lot of overseas fans through MSI, Super League and WCA. Any words to the fans?

First of all, thank you to all the organizers who worked hard to create great communities and tournaments. Also, I think these tournaments were only possible thanks to the support of the fans.
We were able to become who we are thanks to the passion of the fans that love Heroes of the Storm. We will always be grateful for your support.
It is awesome that there are lot more opportunities to meet you all in 2016. We were very fortunate enough to grasp the limited opportunities we had in interacting with the western audience. We have heard that that there are many people cheering for us even though we are a foreign team.
Although no amount of trophies will be able to match all the support you give us, we will do our best not to let you down. Please look forward to the new MVP Black, and expect even greater things from us in 2016.

Thank you.

Interview with MVP Black's Sake

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