An interview with Adam “343” Shah — Captain of compLexity Gaming — Dota2

Adam “343” Shah is the Team Captain for compLexity Gaming. He’s been a professional Dota 2 player and coach since 2013, having played for Fnatic in the past. We interviewed him at ESL One Mumbai 2019, where his team placed 7th-8th after being eliminated by The Pango. Our COO, Rahul ‘Emi’ Hinduja had a chance to sit down and get his insights!

Rahul: We have a lot of Dota 2 fans and some fans who aren’t that much into esports. Let’s start with an introduction to yourself, your gamer tag, your career and how things went at ESL One Mumbai!

Adam: My name’s Adam, and my in-game username is “343”. I’m a professional Dota 2 Player for compLexity Gaming. We practice from Monday to Sunday, so we don’t really have weekends off or anything. Coming here, it did not go as expected. We didn’t really perform well in this tournament. Our travel here was slightly interrupted, but I don’t think that’s the real reason why we got shut down so bad. This was a pretty disappointing tournament for us. Although Mumbai has been really nice, and the fans have been great too! We interacted with them during the signing sessions.

R: What are your thoughts on how ESL One Mumbai 2019 was executed, and how the setup was put together?

A: Everything was fine, I didn’t really have any problems while being on the stage during the matches. There were some annoying production delays where I had to wait for about two hours, but I think that’s just something that’s bound to happen sometimes. Apart from that everything has been really great!

R: When did you realize you wanted to transition from a casual small-time gamer to a professional esports athlete?

A: When I was studying in college I used to balance it. My mum allowed me to compete in tournaments as long as I was doing okay with school, I had a CGPA above 3.3 or so. After we won this big tournament in Malaysia, I had an opportunity to play with Fnatic. At that point, I talked to my family about how I really wanted to do this, and that I did not think it was a good idea to continue with studies as I could always come back to it if I needed to. They were really understanding about it and my family supported my career.

R: What was the dynamic like before you came to the bootcamp? Were you playing as many hours at home and manage your schedule around that?

A: I did play a lot. I value scrims much more as personally for me at least I would pick up a lot of bad habits from pubs because back then, or even right now, it’s hard to depend on your teammates to win in pubs just because of lack of communication and not really being on the same page as other team members. In scrims it’s different. It’s about pressing your idea and playing together as a team, so I tried a lot to focus on that.

R: What’s the team synergy within a 5-man team environment? Why is that different from pubs so much?

A: I think in a 5-man team, and in competitive gaming in general, it’s a lot about strategy and playing around things, where we empower each other. I think that’s really important both in-game and out of game. It’s building on one team together and when that one thing becomes really strong, it becomes our identity as a team.

R: What are some of your most fondest memories in your career as an esports athlete?

A: That would be The International 2016. I feel I played pretty well at that tournament, even though I had underwhelming performance before. There’s also ESL One Manila 2016, one of my first tournaments with Fnatic. It was really fun and I learnt a lot from it. And then there was also Starladder Season 2, which was a big downer for me. Overall The International 2016 would be my fondest memory.

R: What would you say is the biggest lesson you learnt from your esports journey till date?

A: I think it’s about believing in something and realizing that just because you believe in something, doesn’t mean that other people around you would be on the same page as you. It’s all about convincing and building on something together, and that’s very hard to find in people, especially a team of 5 or more who believe in this one idea and sticks to it through losses and victories.

R: Tell us about the Team compLexity Gaming Bootcamp. How does your daily routine and practise session look like?

A: Most of us are in single rooms, we wake up around 10 AM and go to the cafeteria which opens at 11 AM. That’s Monday to Friday, after that we head to the office for scrims. We try to play multiple scrims, but in America it’s not that easy to get good scrims. It’s not that great, but we still make do. We do have nutritionists at the cafeteria that are under the football team, and we consult with them when we need to.

R: Every player has their ups and downs in their career. Can you tell us about your struggles as a player?

A: I believe i was just too naive in thinking of a multiman team. After TI 2016 I just wanted a break and when I came back, we had a good run in Paris but it was tough playing in Europe, especially when the team didn’t work out. After that, I was very confident and played in SEA again. It went downhill and felt like my team wasn’t good enough, I tried to help my teammates focus on team play more than my own game play, and that was really bad stage for me. At the end of the day what’s important is as a player you have to build your own confidence.

R: According to you, what is more important — the fundamentals or a proper strategy?

A: I think fundamentals are important but if you have a strategy and you can’t execute it that’s a fundamental issue. Being mechanically skilled definitely makes the game easier, especially when it comes to mid play because that actually impacts the game a lot.

R: As captain of the team, what are some things that you’ve decided need to be done, things that you’ve set your foot on? What’s the plan for the team moving forward?

A: For me, mostly I try not to overdo my teammates. Right now, we have the bootcamp and two majors to attend in Paris, and then we also have practice within ourselves. I want to bring everyone together on the same page and become more united.

R: Outside of the boot camp, what are the few compensations an aspiring esports athlete can expect?

A: Sponsorship usually go through the company itself. There’s streaming contracts through Twitch as well, and these are different from our team contracts. Everything does go through the organisation though.

R: Thank you so much for your time and on behalf of Global eSports, we would like to wish you guys all the best for the events to come this year!

Talking with Adam “343” Shah was an incredible experience as we got to know more about his life, career, struggles, and in-game insights. ESL One Mumbai 2019 has been a sensational experience and meeting esports athletes like him makes it all even more memorable. Thanks for reading, subscribe/follow here for more stories like this on the esports industry!