Interview with Loda , by DemoniC

[kiddoQ]

Hello Jonathan 'LoDa' Berg! Thanks for accepting this interview; would you mind introduce yourself and your legendary history in DotA?
LoDa:hm yea allright, As you said my name is Jonathan Berg, im 22 years old and im studying/working atm. I live in Gothenburg in the southern part of sweden, I love long walks by the beach, cozy movienights and to hold hands!

You are currently in a stable HoN roster, what made you go from DotA to HoN? During ESWC you stated that DotA would be your #1 choice, and HoN being #2
LoDa: Stable hon roster? I was playing for kde for a while, but I didnt enjoy it so much so i quit mb two months ago. And I also don't get why people believe chosing a game is like marrying somebody... I played hon for a while caus it was something new for me, and a lot of my irl friends liked to play it I didnt quit dota caus of hon, i quit dota because I really havent had the time to play 100% for a long while. I didn't enjoy playing with my team so I felt it was time to venture into the great wide world out there.

How did it affect your HoN team that you & Kebap have played DotA at the highest level? You have previously stated that the skill level in HoN is low compared to DotA, do you still believe this? And how big an advantage did you really have, as an old dota player?
LoDa:I don't really know if it affected the team that much. I had a different view of the game than the others, kebap has been assimilated for ages now, so when we played together he had the same view as the rest. The skill-lvl is lower overall, though there are some players and teams that would prolly do well at dota aswell. I mean, people like to name all the differences between the games, I just don't see them... Well except that you can't counter tripple lanes or any other strats since there are just some vital heroes missing ^^ I didnt really have any advantage tbh. At that time I combined two of my favourite hobbies, and without naming one of them let's just say it didnt improve my map awareness

Your previous DotA team, LOST, has brought in two of your old time rivals; namely Vigoss & Fear, how do you feel about this team now?
LoDa: Well from the rumours I heard, Misery joined MYM and kebap soon to be LOST, so I dunno what to think about them. Vigoss is good im my eyes, but dota isnt like long ago, and you can not rape a team 1on5 as easy ^^ Fear is probably one of the strongest players in euro/america atm, that's the impression I got from playing some games vs him and also watching some reps. Overall I feel that the team lacks a strong leader (Imho) and feels random as a playermix, even more so than TLT was when we made it

I think I can speak on the behalf of the entire DotA community; Is there any chance that you will return to competitive DotA?
LoDa: By now Dota is more or less in my blood ^^ It would be hard not to make a comeback at some time, but at the moment I just focus on other things. I hang around some in EEDL and LDCL, but nothing more than that right now. For me DotA has always been about winning, but after playing for several different teams I've come to the conclusion that for me it's not worth playing in a team where I don't enjoy myself while playing the game. If I join a team it will most likely be some random swe team where I Can just have some fun ^^ And ofc raping everyone at the same time!!!!!!!!

We have recently recieved some nice pictures from DotA 2 and they promised us it in 2011, what are your thoughts on it so far?
LoDa: Wow, I just can not wait for this game to be released. Before I used to chat with icefrog on a regular basis and I have 100% faith in him. The only thing that scares me is the source-engine, but I don't think we will be dissapointed

Recently, a HoN team pulled off an "EHOME" and suprised everyone with trilanes, how are they countered in HoN; and how do you believe they should be countered in DotA?
LoDa: Everyone knows that the only way to counter a tripple lane is with a stronger tripplelane. Nah but to be serious I dunno, there are always ways to counter lanes, it all depends on how good your team is at pulling it off. But tbh its just the lack of heroes that makes it so hard in hon.

If you should place top3 for the upcoming WDC; which three teams would it be, and why?
LoDa: Im not really the guy that watch a lot of pro replays, but I guess it will be something like EHOME, DTS (hopefully) and mb Nirvana.my, but since mushi is leaving I really dunno ^^. Even if a lot of teams improved their game I cant imagine they r strong enough to beat the unending forces of china.

If you had the chance; what would you bring over from HoN to DotA(looking aside from engine problems with Wc3, which should disappear in dota2)
LoDa: Hmm, nothing except reconnect button imho ^^.

How does HoN/DotA affect your real life? There's a lot of top teams from Sweden in HoN, have you met any of the players offline?
LoDa: Yea I have, a lot of them! There are a lot of people in hon, though the only person I miss is akke and mb Pew (random hon chick that flames everyone) It doesn't really affect my real life in any way, well that is if you don't count the fact that i'm a social outcast...

You have also been playing & promoting a game called Avalon Of Heroes, would you mind shredding some light on this game?
LoDa: Lol, I Do not want to comment on this game really. It would be hard for me praise it, so i'd rather say nothing The promoting deal was more or less a favour to the sk-management. That and some cash


Thanks for your time Jonathan 'LoDa' Berg! It was a pleasure interviewing you; any final shoutout?
LoDa: Shoutout to all the people that i've played with or against. Shoutout to all my loyal fans, to all the haters and to all the people that just can't decide if they like me or not. To make it all more interesting I'll throw in some of the retarded music I record every now and then! Just visit www.myspace.com/myugroup and enjoy!

I would like to tribute Loda for all his time in the DotA scene and his work, and I hope that he will return so I give him my sinerce wishes with this song:

[Swain`]

That's rare to read such good interviews in DotA, congratz and keep up the good work DemoniC.