INQuired: An Interview with Treephob “Xyclopz” Tiangtrong

Last Dec. 28, 2014, eSports Inquirer had the honor of interviewing Treephob “Xyclopz” Tiangtrong, who is one of the most entertaining personalities in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Dota 2 scene. Known for his jokes and passionate casting, he has gained a lot of fans over the years due to his style as well as his love for the game.

We talk about the casting life, his insights on the competitive scene and some other tidbits!

eSports Inquirer (EI): First of all, thank you very much for the interview.

Xyclopz: Yeah!

EI: How’s everything?

Xyclopz: Good, everything is good!

EI: Please tell us a bit more about yourself. How did you get into eSports and Dota 2 shoutcasting? Also, what do you like to do in your spare time?

Xyclopz: My name is Treephob Tiangtrong, I started playing Dota since the early days of 2009 and then I got into casting in late 2012. I hosted a tournament called SEA eSport and a lot of big teams in the region joined. I wanted to stream it and I tried to find a caster who can do it in English. Unfortunately, I could not find anyone (My offers were rejected) and I was forced to cast in English. I read books and I go out with my friends to coffee shops. I don’t play any other games than Dota 2 due to my day job as an engineer, then I cast at night and yeah, I guess I play a lot of Dota 2.

On casting

EI: You’re one of the up-and-coming Dota 2 shoutcasters/personalities, with thousands of viewers tuning in to listen to you cast games from Synergy League. People either love or hate your casts because of your accent, but with the funny jokes and interesting in-game content, it’s sure to keep them glued to the monitor. It’s like a different cup of tea from some of the usual casting. How have you dealt with all this positive and negative attention from the fans?

Xyclopz: I am very lucky from day one because people keep on cheering me up despite everything. Without them, I would never have reached this far.

I know that I have to improve especially on vocabulary and pronunciation. For the positive things, I really appreciate them and would like to thank them all for the support and as for the negative ones, I try to welcome and accept them, adjust according to my needs and fix accordingly.

I read everything in the Net and I know a good deal about what’s going on. I would make sure that I’ll improve myself when the next cast comes!

EI: Aside from the Synergy League, have you been recruited by Beyond the Summit or any other casting studio? What other tournaments or studios have you recently been involved with? What is the nature of your relationship with Gigabyte?

Xyclopz: Actually, Beyond the Summit contacted me long before the Synergy League and I started casting for them since MSI-Beat It!. They gave me a chance to become a main caster along with my good friend, TriumphOfMan and at the same time, they also gave me a chance to cast a lot of games during the latest edition of StarLadder. I would like to thank them for the chances!

As for Gigabyte, they were very good friends and we know each other very well in real life. We have been working together for three years. As you can remember, I’ve casted in the GMPGL Grand Finals this year and I can say that they are very good organizers. It was such a pleasure working with them.

EI: There are lots of people clamoring for your appearance to be part of the casters for TI5. If given the opportunity and go signal from Valve, would you go for it?

Xyclopz: Oh, you don’t need to ask that question! Of course, I would love to!

But in reality, it is kinda hard. Many people want me to cast but I feel that the International is the most prestigious tournament in the world and it requires people who are world-class to cast it like GodZ, LD, etc. KoTLGuy has also improved a lot this year… and of course, I’d like to see Tobi too!

I have learned a lot from these casters.

EI: What advice can you give to people who want to try out eSports shoutcasting?

Xyclopz: Well, everyone can cast, but whether they will break out is a completely different matter.

In Thailand, we’ve got a huge English problem. We have a good command of grammar but we can’t communicate in the language! This is because we don’t have the chance to practice English!

Casting is the fastest way to learn English. Well, you see, this is basically the reason that I know English right now! As I’ve told you, the first time around, it was very hard because I need to think first in Thai and then speak it out in English — it was slow and in Dota 2, everything happens so fast that you need to think as fast as possible!

If you can’t speak then you miss that event! So this is why I say that casting is the best way to learn English. It is not important to become famous in casting, no! What is important is that you get something out of it for yourself! You get speaking skills and that’s the most important thing for the SEA region as well as any region who wants to learn English!

Anyone can do it; just keep trying and respect the viewers by giving 100% no matter how many viewers you have! This is how you respect them!

Insights on Dota 2

EI: Where do you think Dota 2 is at right now as a sport? Do you think there is still lots of room for growth and improvement for the scene? What kind of things would you like to see from the eSports scene 2 to 3 years from now?

Xyclopz: I strongly believe that there is still a lot of room for improvement. After all, 4-5 years ago, we’ve all been saying that in 1-2 years, this game will go down!

However, the game is getting bigger and bigger and as for what I expect from the scene, I want that the scene can get more support from the government so that we can live off this dream!

Only 4-5 percent of people live on this dream. I believe that we all need support so that we can live off this dream! I mean hey, it is not just a game!

EI: What are your thoughts on the SEA competitive scene? How is it compared to the powerhouses of China, NA & EU?

Xyclopz: I’m gonna start by talking as a player. The SEA MMR is just getting worse and worse by the day. The way that we communicate between players in MMR is toxic. Why can’t we just relax and speak nicely? This is the problem that we have in SEA as players. After all, we have very good skills and mechanics — it’s just the mentality.

SEA is the most exciting region that I have casted as a caster: It is very aggressive, teamfights are very good and as a caster, it is a dream!

Europe is more focused on strategies and tactics while China is a bit of everything; they used to have boring Dota but they have improved a lot.

Not to say that each scene is boring or anything, but I believe that each scene has its different style and taste.

EI: What are your favorite teams in South East Asia?

Xyclopz: MVP.Phoenix, then Arcanys, then iDeal.GIGABYTE and finally, GIGABYTE.Mineski.

EI: EternalEnvy recently made a blog post lamenting the lack of preparation and professionalism among casters in Dota 2, saying that casters sometimes insult losing teams and take their jokes way too far. Other times, casters take less preparation when researching a team or a match-up and it results in misinformation during broadcasts. What’s your take on this issue?

Xyclopz: I believe that it is quite true. Personally, I have been trying to improve this particular aspect of my casting lately.

Yeah, about making jokes, I’m not sure about other casters, but personally, I’d like to make it clear that although I have joked sometimes, I have never disrespected other players.

I know how it feels, training twelve hours a day, and it is not funny at all! This is why I tell the viewers on my stream to inform me whenever it goes overboard because I respect the players a lot.

I respect EE as a player. I consider him to be one of the best players in the world.

EI: Dota 2 shoutcasters have been compared to LoL casters. A popular comparison would be that LoL casts feel more professional and well-researched while Dota 2 casts are more laid back. What’s your take on this? Is this true and if so, should Dota 2 shoutcasters strive to sound more “professional”?

Xyclopz: I never watched LoL and I do not know how to play it, but I still believe that everyone that I know is doing their best in their casting. This is why I feel very bad whenever I see the other people on Twitch chat flaming the other casters. When it comes to them flaming me, I accept everyone’s flames and try to see the good ones among them because I know that I am not that good yet.

Still, I believe that everyone is doing their best. I mean that each caster gives 100% and it just depends on the style.

Personally, I don’t believe that we can compare Dota 2 to LoL casters.

EI: Who is your favorite Dota 2 professional team? Who is your favorite Dota 2 shoutcaster?

Xyclopz: (He did not choose to answer the team question) I learned a lot from the top shoutcasters like Godz, LD, Tobi Wan etc. Generally, I love everyone at BTS!

Some other things…

EI: Tell us about GamerFunder. How did it start and what is its goal? Do you see this as the next big Dota 2 peripheral site akin to something like Dota2Lounge in popularity?

Xyclopz: I can see big potential in it, but still there are many things to be improved especially in coding and design. Well, we are putting it on maintenance right now and it was pretty good — We’ve got more than 10,000 registrations the past month and I am really happy about it!

We will be back next year with better coding and design, I guess!

EI: I know it’s a bit early, but give us a guess, who do you think will be the grand champions for TI5?

Xyclopz: If you are asking me, yeah, it’s really hard to guess, but one thing’s gonna be sure: If you’re asking me for whom I’ll root for, I’ll root for the SEA teams!

EI: Lastly, before we end, is there anything you would like to say to your fans and friends out there?

Xyclopz: To all my friends (I never call them as fans), thank you very much for all the support for the past two years that I’ve been casting. You’ve been awesome all the time and I hope that you continue supporting!

Also I would like to shout-out to my parents for supporting me all this time! Then, I’d like to give a shout-out to all the organizers who gave me a chance to cast their games and to the good guys at BTS for giving me a big opportunity to work with them!

I hope that 2015 will be my good year!

EI: Thank you very much! It has been a great pleasure!

Xyclopz: No, no, no — It has been my pleasure!

Thus concludes the interview with Xyclopz and as we can see, he believes that there is still a lot of room for Dota 2 to grow and that there is room for everyone in the casting community. As he says, the important thing is not the fame and glory that comes with it, it is the skills and discoveries that one gains from it!

Until next time!

Images: Xyclopz’ Facebook page

Editing courtesy of Exs Dee

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