An Interview with ZeDisBuGG from Dota team Beyond Infinity

We had the opportunity to speak with Bari “ZeDisBuGG” Anwar from Team Beyond Infinity. ZeDisBuGG is one of the Dota 2 players who has been playing the game since the Dota 1 days. We had an amazing conversation, so let’s get into it right away.

Himamshu: Let’s talk about your recent encounters? How was your match against fnatic? What was going through your mind? What did you think about the gesture from them after the match?

ZeDisBuGG: We prepared a lot for them but I think everyone expected the same result. They had a lot of experience and our team was considerably new. We had formed 3-4 months back. We tried to remain calm during the match and didn’t want to pressure ourselves. We felt kind of outplayed, not skill wise but team coordination. But we learned a lot and hope we’ll get to play against them in future.
It was really sweet of them because we are comparatively new to the scene and seeing that a big team like theirs motivate us really felt good.

Himamshu: Talk us through the dawn of your gaming career, the beginning of your dota 2 journey.

ZeDisBuGG: I have been playing dota for 10 years now. I feel old now. I started my career with a team of new players but when dota 2 came out it took some time because I didn’t really liked the game at first but when saw everyone migrating I got into the game myself. I joined Neckbreak. 2 years back I met No_chanc3 and we’ve been together since then. People came and go but me, NO_chanc3 and battosai stuck together, recently Balaji and Swifty joined and we now have a pretty strong roster.

Himamshu: Why professional gaming? Do you think at some point in the future you will feel like it’s not worth it and try to get an ordinary job like most of the Indian gamers? Who was your inspiration?

ZeDisBuGG: If I’d have to do that I would have done it a long time ago. The thing is that our parents are pretty happy about our choice and motivate us. Even my dad started playing dota and my brother keeps track of all of my games. His entertainment is watching us play. Everyone around us motivates us and that’s what keeps us going. And you asked why gaming, I’d say why not. Why should I become something I am not good at. I have been gaming since a long time and earning while playing video games feels really good.
When I started there wasn’t any player to get inspired from but recently we feel motivated when we see MVP.Pheonix. We used to scrim against them and look where they are now. They got first at Dotapit by defeating TI champions EG. If they can do it why can’t we.

Himamshu: How was the team formed? Did you guys already know each other? How did you guys meet?

ZeDisBuGG: Like I said before me, Battosai and No_chanc3 have been sticking together for quite some time now. Previously we used to have a Mongolian player called Gaana but he left after completing his studies. That time we were a looking for talent and we Swifty playing in RageQuit and we all thought that he might be a good edition to the team. But still we had some problems with the 5^th player so we kicked him and brought in Blizzard and our team has been strong ever since then. We are always on the same page and that is what makes us stronger.

Himamshu: Can we expect any Roster changes in near future?

ZeDisBuGG: Maybe in 3-4 years *chuckles*. We don’t feel the need of it so why do it. We are pretty good right now.

Himamshu: How important is Roster stability? We are seeing all these tier 1 teams change roster very frequently upon failing to win tournaments….so how important is it to know people and stick with the same guys?

ZeDisBuGG: When your team is expected to perform at such level, they are supposed to take certain action. Even a slightest change in attitude of a player can be troublesome for the team. I won’t comment about how tier 1 players form teams but changing roster is always a step back. Even if you have to change a player you it affects the team a lot. You have to change all your strategies. It is a big thing to do but if you are having a problem in tier 1 team I think the teammates won’t mind kicking a player. But I think roster changes help teams that much as long as there isn’t a big attitude problem among the players. Skill wise, players can improve with dedication but attitude isn’t something that can be changed by practice.

Himamshu: To you how important is MMR?

ZeDisBuGG: Yes it is really important. IF you have to show your profile to someone you have to show your MMR. High MMR tells that the person is a real tryhard or is very skilled at the game. A 2k can never beat a 6k. It is not possible if the MMR gap is that high. MMR won’t matter that much in a team game but only if the gap is low.

Himamshu: So lets talk about the dynamic of BI, im sure there is always a funny guy and a serious person in the team? So who is the funny guy and who is the serious guy in BI?

ZeDisBuGG: Funny guy, I would like to nominate myself for that. Like No_chanc3, he doesn’t talk so much, but when he talks, he doesn’t stop at all and he should start streaming on twitch, people will go crazy because he is the most funniest creature ever and lame jokes….I think im the king of lame jokes. I think Crowley also knows that.

Himamshu: What about the serious guy?

ZeDisBuGG: Serious guy, Battosai. Hes not actually serious hes blank. He doesn’t show any emotion. He is so blank.

Himamshu: Like a dota playing machine?

ZeDisBuGG: Yeah you can say that…dota and wow playing. I don’t know what he does, he sits next to me and plays wow all day. All I see is numbers popping up left right and center.

Himamshu: How is Bari Anwer outside of Dota? Because we can find match histories and statistics, but how are you outside of dota?

ZeDisBuGG: Im a funny guy. And I like to insult people. I eat a lot so im quite chubby. Apart from that sometimes I play music..sometimes guitar. Im not good at it though. You will probably bleed from your ear…*chuckles*

Himamshu: Do you watch any other sports? Like cricket is big in India..

ZeDisBuGG: Cricket…im least interested in it, but I do watch it when its India Pakistan because of the rage involved in it. But I watch football a lot.

Himamshu: Oh football which team?

ZeDisBuGG: I support barca

Himamshu: Which other teams do you follow?

ZeDisBuGG: Arsenal and barca. Arsenal is a good team but they are having a bad season.

Himamshu: So lets talk about the Indian scene, How long do you think it will take for the Indian pro scene to catch up to the rest of the world?

ZeDisBuGG: Depends on how much support we get from community, and how much everyone starts to improve themselves and play. We don’t want to be the only competing. There is another team, swaha also known as invisible wings, they are getting a boot camp set in Mumbai now. These guys are also good. So we need more teams from India competing in sea level, then we will have something good happening in India. That the big problem in India. That what is happening in Philippines right? They have good teams like mineski and all and they are performing at majors and all. Apart from that we also need sponsors to putting in money into gamers. We cant expect gamers to put in all their time and money. Sponsors play a huge part, if they invest money in Indian gaming, which is actually a big market with the population we have. We see in china, I kept telling this point many times, in china the population is so high, and gaming scene is so high just because of the people following a scene, they even have a tv channel for gamers. Rakhi ka swayamvar jaise  ddc ka swayamvar.

Himamshu: What sort of help do sponsors do in Indian scene? Like for top tier teams, the provide houses and salaries and stuff.

ZeDisBuGG: Right now we are being sponsored by asus,they keep us upgraded with all the equipment like mechanical keyboards, mouse, mouse pads and headsets. And they are sending custom made pcs, high end pcs upgraded like the best for gamers. Like top end which wont have any issues whatsoever. So that is a commitment asus is giving to us. Apart from that they are also sponsoring us merchendises and stuff.

Himamshu: Do we need a custom made BI mouses by asus like fnatic has? Steel series  BI, signed by zeDisbugg

ZeDisBuGG: Haha… that’s a good idea, I will buy 2 of those.

Himamshu: It will sell out really fast in , India though, if you give us mouses signed by BI players.

ZeDisBuGG: Yeah, that is something which should be done like some way or the other. Even in csgo scene, brutality has quite a lot of followers, something like that would encourage gamers.

Himamshu: So do you scrim with any other sea teams?

ZeDisBuGG: Yeah we usually scrim only against sea teams. We don’t practice against any other teams like any Indian team or any other country teams.

Himamshu: Like what teams?

ZeDisBuGG: Um… the teletubbies, musky, power gaming, and all these teams. I cant remember the names but we practice against almost each and every sea team except fnatic and mvp, because they have busy schedules and they have private practice sessions because they are top tier team now. They have organised practice sessions. They don’t play with other teams.

Himamshu: So what do you want to say about people who want to take up professional gaming in India?

ZeDisBuGG: Don’t do it half-heartedly. If you want to do it, then don’t bother if you are 1k or 2k mmr. Like mmr is just a number on a computer. You can increase it anyday.

Himamshu: Haha really? Im pretty motivated right now, like eternal envy once said on reddit that don’t get into professional gaming if you are not 4k in 300 hours.

ZeDisBuGG: Haha that’s completely bullshit, you can always be a professional gamer. First of all keep your attitude straight. Even If you are 8k or 9k, that is the attitude you have you have to keep. Aisa nahi hai ki main apne café mein acha khelta hoon so I am the best.

Himamshu: So always keep an open mind for learning?

ZeDisBuGG: Yes. And never go half-hearted if you want to make it as a profession and you want to earn from it. You have to bear the pain that comes with it and criticism also. Like tu kya khelta hai?  Uska mmr dekh 15 mins mein khatam kar dega and stuff all this type of demotivation you have to go through. Live even we’ve been through all that. Like you go to relatives house and they ask kya karta hai beta? Then aadha ghante baithke samjhao what is dota at the end theyre like haa candy crush? Main bhi khelti hoon candy crush aisa hota hai. Yeah it sounds kiddish but they don’t know, jaise ti ke barein mein baat shuru kare…20 million dollars..matlab kitne kaun banega crorepathi jeethna padega aise sochte hai. That is the Indian mindset. Thakgod we don’t have such thing.

Himamshu: So what future plans for BI? Where is it heading?

ZeDisBuGG: Um. Beyond infinity, right now we had a 10 day break. We have been boot-camping quite a lot, so we took a 10 day break. Now we are back for the practice and we already started practice sessions, we are aiming for manila majors and we are also playing ti6 qualifiers which is soon after majors and other sea events like sea kappa and all. These are the events which we have planned right now and there are also few events happening in India. Im not sure yet. I guess its gonna happen in june or may, lets see. That’s our plan.

Himamshu: Anything you wanna share with us?

ZeDisBuGG: Um no, im talking too much, haha I don’t want people to get bored.

Himamshu: Any shout out and call outs?

ZeDisBuGG: Shoutouts? Yeah I have many. Firstly shout-out to my parents. They have been supporting me in my ups and downs every time, even if its my worst game, they say ki next time acha khelega and they keep motivating me so that’s a very good thing.  And shoutout to my friends everyone, shoutout to asus for sponsoring us…am I forgetting someone?

Himamshu: Teammates?

ZeDisBuGG: I did mention teammates?

Himamshu: No you said friends..

ZeDisBuGG: Omg ill say it again, shoutout to my teammates, they are giving me death stares

Himamshu: Any call outs? You have to call out someone!

ZeDisBuGG: Call out? Just in a funny way..call out to Crowley.

Himamshu: Anything else you want to say to us?

ZeDisBuGG: Um. No that’s it.. oh wait shoutout to Ankit Jayant. He’s supported us very much.

Himamshu: Okay so I guess that’s it. Thank you so much and all the best for the future.

Thank you for reading. This article was made in collaboration with XAIPHRON.