ICYMI: AMA with 3-time Esports World Champion Hyhy — A Summary
On the 17th of February, LOA had the honour of hosting an intimate AMA session on Telegram with professional esports player Hyhy, where he revealed his secrets to winning games and answered popular questions from the audience.
Hyhy is a professional esports player who last played for both League of Legends and Dota professionally, with his previous team being Zenith, MeetYourMakers, Scythe.SG in Dota and Singapore Sentinels for LoL. Besides that, he is also one of the 3 players featured in the first episode of Valve-produced documentary “Free to Play”, along with Fear and Dendi. During his career as a Dota 2 player, he has conquered several championships including Electronic Sports World Cup (2008), Asian DotA Championship III (2009), Asian DotA Championship IV (2009), JoinDOTA Masters IV (2012), The Evolution Singapore Grand Final (2012) and also not to mention the prestigious Dota 2 The International (2011) coming in as the 2nd runner-up!
The AMA session received an overwhelming response from the community, with a plethora of questions being poured in regarding League of Ancients, NFT games, the play-to-earn concept, and tips on becoming a better player — ultimately winning games!
In case you missed the AMA session with Hyhy, here is a recap of the most popular questions that were asked during the live session that was held on Telegram on the 17th of February.
Could you name one thing that you find very special about LOA compared to games such as Dota and LoL?
I was drawn to LOA because of the team behind it — they are amazing and great to work with. Also, having played both Dota and LoL professionally, having a game that has elements and combination of both games really speaks to me. I’m curious to see how the game turns out and am definitely looking forward to its much-anticipated release this Q4 2022.
With so many NFT games in the market, why League of Ancients?
With so many NFT games in the market, it takes a keen eye to spot a potential and good game — such as LOA — that is worth to invest in. It takes a great team to take the project to the next level, and I’m very excited to see what the future holds for LOA.
What gameplay features or functions do you think LOA can do differently from other MOBA games, in order to be a better game?
The biggest issue with other MOBA games such as Dota and LoL is that the games tend to be very lengthy and hard to pick up. Also, they require a lot of background knowledge in order for players to master them. If LOA wishes to capture the general market, it would be wiser to be designed as a more user-friendly and easy-to-adopt game. All in all, LOA shouldn’t be too complex as compared to its MOBA counterparts.
What hero or champion do you look forward to playing the most?
Good question! I was just looking at the teaser video Leon Fist and I have to say, he looks like a very interesting hero to play! People may know me for playing carries in Dota, but actually I am more of a priest, or healer, player because I love to heal my teammates and bait my opponents to overextend and make mistakes that will cost them the game haha! So, Calantha is definitely the hero I’m looking forward to playing the most. Plus, she looks cute!
How do I be a better carry in game?
If you want to be a better carry, you need to master not only the carry role but also the support role. One needs to know the challenges of supporting their carry in order to fully understand and master the mechanics of a carry. All in all, it is important to play a defensive role in MOBA games and be exposed to different angles of the game when it comes to improving yourself.
Since you are a pro player who have played in some of the biggest tournaments, what do you think LOA should implement in order to reach that level?
I believe the first thing would be getting a huge player base as LOA is a play-to-earn game, especially when tokenomics are involved — you would want to have a huge market adoption. The next thing would be opening to receiving feedback and reviews from the general public on how they can improve the game. These are the things that LOA can do and it would be good to listen to the public’s voice.
What are your suggestions for someone to be a professional player?
First of all, you would have to be honest with yourself. If you believe that you have the talent for that particular game or role, by all means commit yourself to do it, spend your time and dedication on training and get your number 1 priority right. I believe this rule applies to not only games but also to everything in life, be it your own startup, business or career — you must first decide if this is what you really want to do.
How do you handle stress when it comes to gaming at the highest level?
No doubt that there is a lot of pressure when it comes to gaming at the highest level. I certainly felt the pressure especially when there is a lot at stake and a large crowd watching your performance live. While under pressure, I find that taking deep breaths definitely helped. Also, taking a break to exercise is equally important as it helps me to compose and relax myself.
What is the most important factor that leads you and your team to victory?
In the past, I would say the deciding factor would be hero drafting because a better lineup would increase your chances of winning the game. Let’s define victory as “winning a tournament” and in this context, how you win a tournament is by beating the other 15 participating teams. To achieve victory, we have to be very versatile and not just play the same heroes over and over again. For an example, if you are a carry player, you would have to master 10 different carries and the rest just comes down to your team play, synergy and execution.
As there will be many NFT games launching in 2022, what made you decide to become an ambassador of League of Ancients?
Naturally, I am drawn to League of Ancients because it has a mixture of both elements from LoL and Dota— given that I have played both games professionally. Secondly, League of Ancients is the first play-to-earn game on a mobile. I am very excited to take LOA to the level that everyone is looking forward to such as being able to earn while playing.
As a professional esports player, what can you contribute to the development and community of League of Ancients?
Given my experience in MOBA games, I can provide better insights on how the game can be improved and how the public would like the game to be. In addition, I can also provide the team with inputs on hero patches, meta patches, upcoming hero ideas, and bug fixes. This is where I can come in to contribute to the success of LOA.
Is it true that if you win the draft, you are most likely to win the game?
If all variables are constant, yes. When both teams are playing at the same skill level, then drafting will decide the winning team. But of course, the variables are not 100% fixed and it still comes down to the game execution, game plan, and game play. There will always be ways to come back from a losing game, just like how there are many ways to throw a winning game. All in all, drafting plays an important part when it comes to winning a game.
Top, mid, or bottom — which lane do you prefer?
I actually like playing mid lane the most. If you were to bump into me in a casual game in Dota or LoL, you will see me queuing for the mid lane role. That is because I prefer to focus on my own lane and not deal with team mates who are killing my game. The most annoying part of a team game is that when your team mates are not doing what they are supposed to do, eventually affecting your own game play. So for me, to eliminate this problem, I prefer to go mid and deal with just one opponent on the other end.
What is your long-term goal in LOA or the cryptocurrency market?
Actually I am very new to crypto as a good friend of mine, who was also a professional Dota player, brought me into this base 6 months ago. I am still dipping my feet in this base having only invested in a few coins, with LOA being one of them. In fact, I actually invested quite a lot into LOA because I do see the potential of LOA as a play-to-earn game.
What is your general opinion about LOA?
I think LOA is doing a very good job, given the short span of time I have been working with the team behind it. The LOA team is very huge as there are many members on board in departments such as marketing, game development, and the crypto side — there are just so many aspects to LOA. I believe that LOA has the right team to take the project to the next level.
If you would like to find out more about League of Ancients, visit our website at www.leagueofancients.com, and join our Discord at https://discord.gg/loa or Telegram at https://t.me/leagueofancients.
