GG__
March 3rd, 2016 was the grimmest day in the history of Chinese Dota. None of the Chinese teams which attended the Shanghai Major made it to the top 8. For the Chinese Dota fans that attended this event, this defeat was both humiliating and soul crushing to say the least. The question that demands an answer is why has the level of Chinese Dota deteriorated so much at this Major?
2016年3月3日，是西恩 doto 史上最灰暗的一天。所有参加上海特锦赛的中国战队都没有进入前8。对于观看这一赛事的西恩 doto 粉来说，这次失败往最轻里说也是耻辱，以及让人心碎的。急需回答的问题就是，为什么西恩 doto 水平会在这次特锦赛上下滑如此之多？
Fans cheering for EHOME at the Shanghai Major
上海特锦赛上为EHOME加油的粉丝
Tactical defeat at Shanghai
上海赛上的战术失败
Looking at the failure of the Chinese teams at the Shanghai Major from a tactical standpoint, it was evident that they had a much smaller hero pool and a lack of understanding of the current patch. As a result they had to expend their bans on respect bans such as Puppey’s Enigma and Chen or Jerax’s Earth Spirit. CDEC Gaming faced the same problem during the TI5 Grand Finals when they had to ban out Team Evil Geniuses’s Techies because they’ve had no experience playing against it. In the past few years, China has been lacking innovation in their drafts. Even after Alliance almost single handedly won TI3 with Io, Chinese teams did not acknowledge the strength of Io until long after TI3 ended, which resulted in a similar conundrum where their drafts were extremely limited. From TI5 onwards Chinese teams have mostly been replicating meta picks which western teams have created. Such as favoring Outworld Devourer after 6.86. EHOME was an exception as they were able to develop their own style of play revolving around Old Eleven’s limited but powerful hero pool. As a result the Chinese meta heroes have always been one tournament behind the western teams. Moreover, the hero pool of Chinese teams is also incredibly limited. Chinese teams were extremely insistent on heroes such as Morphling which didn’t work out most of the time due to its passive nature in the early game. Similarly at the Shanghai Major, none of the Chinese teams had a decent grasp on Enchantress ( Chuan being the exception) and Beastmaster, which were two of the most dominant heroes at the major. Western teams were able to impose a huge threat with these heroes because Chinese teams did not how to deal with them and at the same time they didn’t know how to play it themselves.
本次上海特锦赛上中国队伍的失败，从战术角度来看很明显的是，他们的英雄池更小，对于当前版本也缺乏理解。结果就是他们必须把 ban 人名额用在类似于 Puppey 的谜团和陈，或是 Jerax 的大地之灵上。CDEC 面临着与 TI5 总决赛相同的问题，当时他们必须要 ban 掉 EG 的炸 *人，因为他们没有面对这个英雄的经验。在过去的几年中，中国都在阵容上缺乏进取精神。即使在 Alliance 几乎不费吹灰之力用艾欧赢下了 TI3 之后，中国战队在 TI3 结束后的很长一段时间里都没有承认艾欧的强大。这造成了与现在类似的困难，使得当时他们的阵容十分受限。TI5 之后中国战队几乎都是在复制西方战队创造的版本战术。比如说6.86之后的殁境神蚀者的热门。EHOME 是一个例外，他们能够在 Old Eleven 有限而强大的英雄池周围构建他们自己的战术风格。结果就是对于版本热门英雄的应用上，中国战队落后于西方战队一届联赛。更要命的是，中国战队的英雄池都十分有限。中国战队对于变体精灵这样的英雄十分热衷，而大多数时间它都不是很有效，因为它在游戏的前期十分被动。类似的在上海特锦赛上，没有一只中国战队能够有效应用魅惑魔女（Chuan 是个例外）和兽王，而这两个英雄统治了本届特锦赛。西方战队能够用这些英雄造成巨大的威胁，因为中国战队既不知道怎么应对它们，也不知道如何自己使用它们。
Streaming
直播
In recent years streaming has taken off all over the world. Twitch has become one of the most visited sites on the internet in the matter of merely a few years. In China however Twitch is inaccessible because of the internet filtering of the Chinese government. Consequently platforms like DouyuTV, ZhanqiTV, and HuomaoTV began to emerge as alternatives for Chinese audiences that craved top tier gameplay of their beloved games such as Dota 2, Hearthstone, and League of Legends. However, the operating system of Douyu and Twitch are distinctively different. In Twitch, broadcasters are encouraged to stream and their income depends on their dedication and consistency.In games such as Hearthstone, professional players often make a living off donations and subscribers on Twitch. On the other hand, profesional Dota 2 players on Twitch treat their streaming income as an additional portion of their career winnings since donations and subscribers are uncommon in Dota streams. However, the situation is distinctively different in the Chinese streaming culture. Douyu and other platforms offer popular or retired players yearly contracts with astronomical figures. Just to list some examples, last year in one of his long Weibos, YaphetS who was once known as the best Shadowfiend Player in the world talked about his contract with Douyu in 2014, and the contract fee was seven figures . Also, in the recent confrontation between Sylar and Ruru, Ruru said that Zhanqi offered Sylar 800,000RMB (~122,896USD) as a yearly streaming contract. Keep in mind that on top of these contract earnings, donations are also offered generously by Chinese viewers. For foreign readers that do not have a concept on the living standards in China, 800,000RMB as a yearly salary is enough for a single man to live fruitfully in a decent-sized apartment in an average city in China. In other words, with the turbulent introduction of streaming platforms, top tier Chinese professional Dota players are now given the option to earn the big bucks in the ever-growing streaming industry. Compared with the unstable earnings in the competitive scene, where a player has to be top tier in order to win international tournaments in order to secure a sizable income, streaming on platforms such as Douyu becomes a financial safe haven.
近些年来，直播在全世界都流行起来了。Twitch 在短短几年间就成为了因特网上被访问人数最多的站点之一。然而在中国 Twitch 是无法访问的，原因你懂的。因而类似斗鱼 TV，战棋 TV 以及火猫 TV 这样的平台作为替代品而出现，让中国观众也可以观看渴求已久的，他们最心爱的游戏，诸如 Dota 2、炉石传说、英雄联盟的顶级表演。然而，斗鱼和 Twitch 的操作系统大相径庭。在 Twitch，主播们的直播是受到鼓励的，他们的收入取决于他们的投入和持续*。在类似于炉石传说这样的游戏中，职业选手可以通过捐赠和 Twitch 上的订阅谋生。另一方面， Twitch 上的职业 Dota 2选手只把直播收入看作是他们职业奖励的一个补充，因为 Dota 直播的捐赠和订阅都是比较少见的。然而在中国的直播文化中一切都大不相同。斗鱼和其他的直播平台给明星或是退役选手提供天文数字级别的年约。举个例子，去年 Yaphets，这个曾以世界上最好的影魔著称的选手，在其微博中谈到了2014年他和斗鱼签下的合同，签约费是7位数。同样的，在最近 Sylar 和 Ruru 的对峙中，Ruru 说战棋给 Sylar 提供了每年80万人民币的签约直播费。国外读者可能对于中国的生活标准不太了解，80万人民币的年薪已经可以让一个人在中国的一个普通城市里，住在一个不错的公寓里非常滋润的生活了。换句话说，在直播平台的汹涌介入下，顶尖中国职业选手现在有了另一种选择，那就是在日益增长的直播产业中赚得盆满钵满。比起在职业圈成为最顶尖，然后赢得国际邀请赛才能获得的可观收入相比，对于选手来说，在平台上直播成为了一个财政上比较稳妥的选择。
YYF’s stream page; the 313.45t stands for the Douyu currency in donations YYF has received since he started streaming, which is 313,450RMB (~48,112 USD)
YYF 的直播页面。313.45t 代表了YYF 在开播以来已经获得的斗鱼捐助额，313450 人民币（大约48112美元）
Now that we’ve established the financial motive for professional players to stream, it's also necessary to examine the issue from the organization’s standpoint. As mentioned in Ruru’s response to Sylar’s Weibo, streaming platforms also sponsor the organization because they need the public exposure of popular players on their website. As a business exchange organizations often do not hinder the player’s focus on their streaming career because they value the partnership between themselves and the streaming platforms. While organizations do value tournament victories to have a broader exposure for their brand, streaming essentially achieves a similar result because of the large amount of viewer base.
在确定了职业选手直播的经济动机之后，我们也有必要从俱乐部的角度来看这个问题。就像Ruru 在对 Sylar 微博的回应中指出的那样，直播平台也是俱乐部的赞助商，因为他们需要热门选手在他们的网站上亮相。作为一种商业上的交换，俱乐部通常不会阻止选手在直播事业上的专注，因为它们很在意和直播平台的合作关系。尽管俱乐部确实很重视联赛的胜利，因为这样会增加其品牌的曝光率，由于观众数目众多，直播也能做到这一点。
Some readers may think, streaming is just a way for players to play pubs and practice their mechanical skills, why would this affect the dedication of players to the game? This is because the most important aspect of streaming is to attract viewers. Although there are many streamers such as Maybe, Kaka, and Cty that focus on perfecting their individual plays, there are also streamers that party queue with girl streamers in order to have an entertaining stream. Moreover, the focus on streaming means that players have less time to scrim, watch replays of tournaments, and develop new strategies. Quoting Sylar in his recent Weibo post confronting Ruru about his contract signing fee, “take a look at my professional attitude compared with MMY’s. Ask anyone who has been a teammate with me, would I really start all of this because of money? When I played for LGD I watched replays and studied games while MMY streams and hangs out with girls. Sure, we’re worth the same price.”
有些读者可能会想，直播只是选手们打路人提高自己的操作水平的一种方式，为什么这回影响选手们对于比赛的投入呢？这是因为在直播中，最重要的是吸引观众。确实很多主播类似于 Maybe，Kaka，Cty 会注重完善个人水平，某些主播却会和妹子组排，营造娱乐效果。更重要的是，专注直播意味着选手打训练赛和看录像，开发新战术的时间都会变少。引用Sylar 和 Ruru 对峙签字费的微博：
Sylar's Weibo explaining his discontent towards his contract fee
Sylar的微博解释了他对于签字费的不满
Lastly, streaming is a viable option for players to continue their gaming career after they retire. Many players from the oldest era of Dota have now retired. Most of them have found a successful continuation of their career in areas such as casting and coaching. But the most lucrative option is still streaming. If the current popular professional players can secure a solid viewership, streaming can always be a backup plan for these players after retirement. As a matter of fact, the most popular Dota 2 streamers in China are all retired players such as YYF, Zhou, LongDD, and even Xiao8.
最后对于选手来说，直播是一个在退役后继续他们的事业的可行选择。很多西恩 doto 圈上古时代的选手都已经退役了。他们中的大多数都在解说和教练这样的领域里成功的延续了自己的事业。如果现在大受欢迎的职业选手可以获得一个稳定的观众基础的话，那么对于这些选手来说，直播将总是一个退役后的后备方案。事实上，最受欢迎的中国 ***主播都是退役的选手，像是 YYF，Zhou，LongDD，甚至是 Xiao 8。
All the aforementioned motives of streaming are all contributing reasons to the lack of practice and dedication in the professional scene of China. Because of a different culture and operating system, achieving top results in tournaments is not the only option to make a living in eSports anymore. Rather building a high and dedicated viewer count becomes the priority for most players and streamers.
所有之前提到的直播动机，都是导致中国职业圈缺乏练*和奉献精神的元凶。由于文化和操作系统的不同，在联赛中获得最好的成绩不再是以电子竞技中谋生的唯一手段。与之相比，对于大多数选手和主播来说，建立一个人数众多又愿意付出的观众群体成为了当务之急。
Unhealthy Player Distribution
不健康的选手分布
Chinese gaming organizations have the tendency to be extremely conservative when shaping their roster. Before TI5, we’ve seen at most three breakout players in the eastern scene. Even though players such as Cty, Maybe and Zyf (Yang) began to display their potential in tournaments, they’ve actually been playing in the professional scene for almost three years already. Being one of the most competitive regions in ranked matchmaking, China does not lack new talents. Rather, they lack the opportunity to break into the top tier teams because the veteran players are more trustworthy to organizations. As a result, top tier Chinese ranked players are stuck between a rock and a hard place eagerly wanting to prove their skills but lack means to do so.
中国的游戏俱乐部在构建阵容的时候，显得极端的保守。在TI5之前，我们只在西恩 doto 圈看到了三个脱颖而出的新选手。即使是这样，像Cty，Maybe，妖精这样的选手在比赛中展示他们的潜力之前，他们实际上已经在职业圈打了将近3年了。作为世界上最富有竞争*（脏）的天梯之一，国服从来不缺乏有天赋的新选手。然而他们缺乏机会进入顶尖战队，因为对于俱乐部来说老选手们更加可信。结果就是，国服天梯的顶尖选手陷入了一个两难境地，他们需要证明自己，又没有办法做到这一点。
However, the success of CDEC Gaming at TI5 introduced a new perspective to organizations. Quoting one of LaNm’s Weibos after CDEC’s placement at TI5, “TI5 is a milestone for Chinese Dota. The success of CDEC will bust the myth of young blood failing to succeed without the guidance of veterans. The professional scene led by new players will bring forth the new era of dominance of Chinese Dota in the near future, let's go CDEC!” After TI5, Chinese teams began to form youth squads such as Newbee Young, Vici Gaming Potential, iG Vitality, and many more in attempt to replicate the success of CDEC. While all these promises sounded satisfying on paper, the effort of the organizations towards these teams are limited. Most of these teams remained unnoticed by viewers and were not invited to many tournaments. The last recorded match for Newbee Young was two months ago at the MDL qualifiers. As a result these players have to resort to scrims and pubs to practice.
然而，CDEC 在 TI5 的成功让俱乐部有了一些新的看法。在 TI5 CDEC 获得亚军之后，国士无双的一条微博说：“这届ti应该会成为中国dota的里程碑，cdec式成功应该会突破以往新人没老人带就打不出来的怪圈。脱离老年人束缚的china dota应该会迎来新的巅峰. cdec加油！”在 TI5 之后，中国战队开始组建青年队，类似 NB.Y，VG.P，iG.V，以及其他很多，意图复刻CDEC的成功。尽管纸面上来看起来这些有前途的战队都让人满意，俱乐部的投入却是很有限的。大多数战队仍然无法得到关注，也未被很多联赛所邀请。NB.Y 的最近一场比赛是两个月前的 MDL 资格赛。结果就是这些选手只能通过训练赛和路人来练*。
rOtK took the blame from Chinese Dota fans for LGD’s crushing elimination
在 LGD 被碾压出局后，rOtK 受到了西恩 doto 粉丝的抨击
Other than the hardship of new players, another fundamental problem is the oversaturation of veterans. As mentioned earlier, Chinese organizations are often stubborn and insistent on using older players rather than giving new players an opportunity in the top tier competition. As a result some veterans lose incentives to compete because they recognize their invaluable position in the roster and their past achievements provided them with a reason for their laziness. Around the time of TI5, players like Mu and Hao often played custom maps with other streamers for over 12 hours in one sitting, which eventually became a meme in on Reddit. What Reddit probably didn’t know was that the owner of Newbee offered to pay custom map workshops or developers money to develop fresh and engaging RPG maps for the players.
比起新队员的困难，另一个问题是老将们的过度饱和。如同之前提过的，中国俱乐部通常很顽固，而且坚持使用老将，而不是在顶尖赛事中给新选手一些机会。结果就是一些老将失去了竞争意识，因为他们意识到了自己在阵容中不可替代的作用，过去的成就也给了他们懒惰的理由。在临近 TI5 的时候，像是 Mu 和 Hao 这样的选手和直播选手玩起自定义地图，曾经一次就玩了12个小时；这在 Reddit 上甚至成为了一时的节奏。然而 Reddit 不知道的是Newbee 的老板曾经重金悬赏自定义地图工作室和制作者来给选手们制作新的有趣的 RPG 地图。
Weibo from Newbee’s owner
Newbee 老板的微博
Facing the problem of an uneven age distribution in the population of professional Dota players in China additional to the questionable decisions of organizations and team owners, the sharp decline in the level of Chinese Dota seemed imminent.
面对职业 dota 选手不均衡的年龄分布，再加上俱乐部和老板们值得质疑的决策，西恩 doto 的飞速衰落似乎就在眼前。
What’s the future of Chinese Dota?
西恩doto未来会怎样？
With the enormous reshuffle before the Spring Major roster lock, it is evident that Chinese teams have begun to embrace new players in their rosters. Rumors are that Newbee will go through a complete restructuring blending new players and veterans in the main team and Newbee Young. It is crucial that new players are given the opportunity to compete at a higher level in order to polish their decision making and build up their experience at LAN events. Vici Gaming is also rumored to include two new players in their primary roster - a relatively unknown player called Snake and _Victoria from CDEC.A. If the above rumors are true then Chinese organizations have begun to recognize the importance of fresh blood in the scene and have taken a step in the right direction.
在春季赛前阵容确定之前的翻天覆地般的重组中，很明显中国的战队开始在他们的阵容中重视年轻选手了。有消息称 Newbee 将会彻底重组，把主队和 Newbee.Young 的新老队员搭配在一起。对于年轻队员来说，能得到机会在更高一级的舞台上比赛是很重要的，这样他们才能改善他们的决策能力并积累线下赛经验。传言中 VG 也将在他们的主队中加入两个新队员——大家相对陌生的选手 Snake 以及 CDEC.A 的 _Victoria。如果以上传言都成立的话，就说明中国的俱乐部已经开始认识到新鲜血液的重要*，向着正确的方向前进了。
If Chinese teams can take the time to craft new strategies and expand their hero pool through practice, the gap between them and the western teams will shrink inevitably. Most importantly however is the continuous ignition of passion and competitiveness within the players. If the players cannot put a significant emphasis on self-improvement, the level of Chinese Dota will sink indefinitely.
如果中国的俱乐部花时间构建新战术，通过练*扩展英雄池，那他们与西方战队之间的差距将不可避免的缩小。然而更重要的是选手心中持续燃烧的激情和求胜心。如果选手不能在自我提高方面大下苦功，西恩 doto 的沉沦将永无止境。
通透：西恩doto能否在春季赛翻盘？
文章来源：SG论坛
