Interview with tOfu from Gaimin Gladiators over his career, how the current iteration of GG began, his 2023 DPC season
Prior to the Bali Major, professional Dota 2 player Erik “tOfu” Engel, who represents Gaimin Gladiators, took part in an interview with TelecomAsia.net about his professional career, how his 2023 DPC season has been transpiring, GG’s ongoing dominance, and much more.
The entire transcript is provided below.
On career
You’ve been a competitive player since CS:Source and then played in League of Legends as a professional player until 2013. Then you entered the Dota 2 pro scene in 2020. Why did you take a break during that time and make such a drastic change of discipline?
Erik “tOfu” Engel: I’ve been playing all sorts of games on various consoles since I was very young. Through my older brother and his friends I first got in touch with Dota and CS when i was around eight or nine years old maybe, so gaming has been a part of my life since as far as I can remember.
I started League of Legends with school friends when it was first released in beta and CS:Source in another friend group I was playing with. We could have actually made it in CS:S back in the days, but the release of CS:GO replaced the existing scene and we stopped playing. I think it was around that year as well where I closely missed the World Championship in LoL and eventually shifted my priorities out of gaming and stopped playing professionally.
Back then, esports in general and prize pools were way smaller and at my young age I didn’t realize the potential future it had. My competitive drive has not ever diminished though. I’ve been playing football in a club since I was three.
I focused more on that again and mainly spent time with my friends. I finished school and started backpacking for over a year and worked various jobs. I then studied until COVID forced people into this state of “slumber.” I did still play occasionally, but it was during this period that I made the decision for myself to give it another go and I’ve steadily worked my way up until now.
Where does the “tOfu” come from?
tOfu: The One Fluffy Unicorn.
What would you have become if you hadn’t decided to play Dota 2 professionally?
tOfu: That, my friend, is something only the stars can tell. I’ve worked in various fields and have expanded my horizon through travels, yet I’m an opportunist that enjoys going with the flow. Who knows what life would have thrown at me.
Throughout your career, you’ve been playing alongside Ace [Marcus Hoelgaard]. How did you two meet? Why have you been playing alongside him for two years?
tOfu: I’ve grinded the leaderboards for a while looking for a team when the DPC regional leagues were announced in 2020 and I ended up in Hellbear Smashers, my first professional team. It was scraped together on short notice back then so they gave me a try.
Even though beeing a Pos. 4 player back then, I didn’t mind the change just so that I can compete so I played Pos. 5 in that team and Ace was the Pos. 1 in the roster. I was in high spirits to compete but I didn’t have any experience back then. I asked Ace after the first day of scrims if he wants to duo queue with me to improve and since then we’ve clicked together. We’ve been playing almost every day together since then.
I didn’t really follow his career or much in Dota overall before that, to be honest, but I’ve learned by far the most through his experience and play and I believe to this day that he is one of the best Dota players ever to touch this game.
On Liquipedia, you have two flags: German and Korean. Can you tell us more about this?
tOfu: Ye that’s simple. My dad is German and my mother is Korean but I’ve been born and raised in Germany.
On Gaimin Gladiators
The history of Gaimin Gladiators started with Team Tickles. How was Team Tickles formed. What was the atmosphere of the team like when it started?
tOfu: Another patchwork project I would say. The DPC signup was coming to a close and both Ace and me didn’t find a team yet because our team-building attempt failed and other offers weren’t pleasing enough. It was then when my fellow German friend Leon ‘Nine’ Kirilin suggested me to talk to Seleri [Melchior Hillenkamp]. Tickles was made up of Seleri, dyrachyo [Anton Shkredov] and BOOM [Miroslav Bičan] with ImmortalFaith [Daniel Moza] in the coaching position.
They needed an offlane duo but we didn’t have any other options available so Ace and me transitioned from safe to offlane. We didn’t have much expectations back then knowing that we were competing in the hardest region in western Europe. The talent of our players in combination with a positively strong mindset and a bit of luck seemed to work in our favour though.
There has long been a dilemma about how the relationship between players in a team should be built. How do you structure you work in GG? Do you see playing with your team as a job or a simple pastime?
tOfu: Well, the origin of play is out of fun and passion, I believe, but the amount of time and dedication a professional player has to put into it makes it more than a job. It’s in each person’s own interest in wether it’s just another day in the office or that we make a living out of a dream. I wouldn’t say it’s all fun amd games, but whatever you do in life, it’s always about the people that you surround yourself with and I’m more than happy with what we’ve created together now. We are family.
How do you prepare your team for matches? What aspects do you focus on when preparing for your opponents?
tOfu: When at events, we usually go to the gym together in the morning, have breakfast together, talk some Dota, go for a walk or pub/scrim before we have an official, and spent most of our day together. When at home, everyone has different routines, but everyone has to make sure for themselves that they’re in the best possible shape to compete. Wether that is playing two pubs to get warmed up or having a chill morning, doing sports or whatever.
We all trust in each other. Playwise, we usually check the enemy’s drafts together and prepare for it and theorycraft against some of their heroes or watch the replays if there is anything out of the ordinary that we might have to adjust to. Most of the time we don’t spend too much time on the enemy though. Rather, we make sure that we are able to play our best game and force our strategies upon the enemy.
Gaimin Gladiators have been dominant in 2023. Have there been instances where the team underestimated their opponent? Do you now feel that you are out of reach compared to the other teams?
tOfu: I don’t think we ever underestimate our opponents. If anything, it’s Quinn [Quinn Callahan] most of the time reminding people to take it serious if we are playing against ‘weaker’ teams. Subconsciously, it might still happen though and surprises/upsets can definitely happen.
Being champion doesn’t mean that we are untouchable nor does it secure us a win. Teams are catching up quick and it’s usually when you lose that you learn the most. Every day and every match we still have to play to our best abilities to earn a victory.
Some teams (like Team Liquid or BetBoom Team) have ignored competing in Tier-2 tournaments over the winter. Gaimin Gladiators, on the other hand, often played official matches during that time span. How does participating in those tournaments affect the team? Do you feel tired from such a busy schedule or are you always in great shape?
tOfu: Nowadays, after the back-to-back championship that we achieved, things have fallen into place a bit more for us. Especially after a season this packed, we value our offdays way more and use the time inbetween tournaments to take proper breaks.
At the start of the season, especially with the newest addition of Quinn, we just wanted to play and compete way more. We needed time to get used to each other and warm up within our team. I’d say we are in a pretty good spot right now.
Dyrachyo has been heavily media-driven these days, appearing in all sorts of media coverage. What do you think of Anton’s active life? How do you try to develop your own personal and team media?
tOfu: It depends heavily on each individual whether they want this level of exposure, but I’m happy that he is getting this amount of attention. He is a champion after all and has a playful and fun attitude. I think he’s well cut out to be in social media’s spotlight. Even though gaming is our first priority we have to accept that competing at this level does make us entertainers and public figures aswell. For future reference building up our own brand is a substantial part of the business. I myself also started to work on my social media presence. I do welcome everyone sharing this journey with me.
On winning tournaments
Before the start of 2023, could you believe that your team would be a two-time Major champion and DreamLeague Season 19 winner? What goals did you set for yourself at the beginning of the year?
tOfu: The one and foremost goal is and will always be to compete and win TI, but that is what every player is trying to achieve. We didn’t expect to have immediate success after changing roster especially after we parted ways with our coach who displayed most of his impact on draft and strategy. We restructured our roles within the team and naturally over time everything will fall into place. Even just winning one Major was a surreal experience to begin win.
Traveling with my friends and getting to compete in front of a crowd will always be the most memorable goal, but actually lifting the trophy is something I’ve always dreamt about. I always had goosebumps watching a tournament at home seeing the finalists on stage in their victorious moments.
The trophy streak started with the BetBoom Xmas Show online tournament. How did winning against Team Spirit in the grand finals affect your further achievements? Was it the starting point on your way to big trophies?
tOfu: We didn’t really have expectations going into that tournament because we came back after the TI break with a new roster. Nonetheless, it definitely gave us a lot of confidence not just with our skill and play but most importantly to the ideas that we had started with. Believing in what you do and it actually paying dividends leads to an invaluable state of mind.
Moving on to the Lima Major, GG went first place in their group, had a perfect run in the playoffs, and thoroughly deserved the title. What were your feelings when lifting the big trophy?
Overwhelming joy. The influence to compete and play just instantly wears off and transforms into happiness that gets multiplied throughout every participant in the arena. That’s an insane feeling which can’t be satisfied any other way. I was so happy and everyone also expects you to be happy. There’s no way around it.
The tournament favorite Team Liquid lost Boxi [Samel Svahn] just before the decisive games. Did it after the taste of victory following the finals?
tOfu: I do remember being upset about it. Me personally, I was looking forward the most to play Liquid. We felt unstoppable back then and beside me beeing friends with Liquid, they were the only team that got me excited to face off against. We knew that we would have won wether they had Boxi or not, but it definitely made the championship feel a bit less rewarding. We did get our rematch a week later though in the DPC which we then won.
Between the Majors, you took part in DreamLeague Season 19. Gaimin Gladiators made playoffs in the new Patch 7.33. How did you manage to learn working heroes and strategies so quickly in this environment? Did you expect such drastic changes in the game?
tOfu: This probably was the biggest ever change in Dota and it being right before the final stage of a tournament has been weird. With only a few pubs and no competitive games played, we did lose our first series 0–2 in the upper bracket.
Everything felt off. Timings, heroes and just our view of before perfect Dota was ruined. We were too much in our heads though and this loss shook us into an important teamtalk. We tried sticking to our guns even though the map has changed and a few heroes changed as well because of the patch and it ended up working in our favour. I wouldn’t say that we played particularly well on the patch back then.
At every tournament, you faced Team Liquid in the finals and always beat them. You only lost at DreamLeague with a score of 0–2 and fell to the lower bracket, but you took revenge in the grand finals and beat them 3–2. Why do you think it’s hard for them to play against you? How do you and the team feel about facing them?
tOfu: Liquid deserves the spotlight and is without doubt one of the best teams out there. Personally, I enjoy playing them. In this final era, we’ve learned the most in our matchups and it has been continous growth beside them. They work really well as a team and play fast, coordinated, honest Dota.
That means that although they rarely play dirty and cheesy, they still win through skill and refined tactics. It could have been any of us, but with how things are right now, our mindset in this specific one-to-one matchup just favours GG. We won and kept playing with confidence. They still got the pressure to defeat us and have to overcome their own doubts about us at the same time.
What do you think of the format of DreamLeague tournaments in general? Are you happy with the number of matches? How do you feel about the online format? Does DreamLeague look more interesting than the Majors?
tOfu: After the first DL, my opinion on it has changed. Flying international competition into Europe to essentially just play a qualifier? I’m not sure how most of the teams feel about that since my team is just playing from home since we are located within Europe.
Anyway, what I had overlooked is that even though its format feels very long with back-to-back group stages, and that it’s very benificial for the international competition, different regions show their unique playstyles and metas will clash and refine the best Dota of the patch.
Even after losing a few matches, which is only natural with cross-regional play, it will lead into the second group stage and we can start over. The tournament leads to a continuing learning curve with higher rewards than a Major. It’s definitely a blessing in the community.
Moving on to the Berlin Major, what’s it like to play in front of your own fans in your own country?
tOfu: To be honest, with a lot of online friends, family and close friends attending, I got distracted more than in other events while keeping up contact and doing things like checking if they’re doing well and if they like the atmossphere. First of all, I have to be doing Dota and focus on each day and series, but everyone has been really understanding towards me and granted me all the space and peace of mind that has been needed.
When on stage, I started looking to the crowd to spot all of the lovely people that I know and it has really been encouraging seeing those smiles and cheers spreading good vibes. It has been overwhelming by the support that I was given and I’m sure by now that the hometown buff is actually real.
Has the team been under any pressure due to recent successes?
tOfu: Pressure? What is pressure and who is putting that onto you? Do we make it hard ourselves because we think that we need and are expected to win? I don’t think so. Our org? They are supportive in every step of this journey and would never make us doubt ourselves.
Bettors will flame if we lose? [laughs] No honestly, I’m not even sure if people acknowledge me as a player and I still play as underdog in my mind. Of course I know that the spotlight is aimed towards us, but I don’t think it affects anyone negatively in our team.
Against which team was it most difficult for you to prepare and play at ESL One Berlin Major 2023? Why?
tOfu: The most annoying to play against was 9 Pandas. Other than most teams, they heavily prioritze strong lanes and counter picks. It just forced us to adapt to their playstyle and adjust our early game to their aggression. I don’t think it’s a sustainable way for a team to develop sustainable growth, but it’s bothersome to deal with.
About the future
It’s a surprising situation — you won two Majors but you still haven’t guaranteed a spot in TI. Do you agree with the current DPC point system? Is there anything you’d like to change?
tOfu: It’s hard to say. I think everyone would agree that EUW is the most competitive region, but do they therefore deserve more slots? Other regions might get a freebie while top teams in Europe are struggling to make it to TI. On the other hand, we want more international competitiveness and need to invest into a broader spectrum. I don’t know what to make of this, but what’s certain is that two Major wins should 100% secure you a TI slot.
It’s ridiculous to still be fighting for a spot when proven twice to be the arguably best team in the world. Maybe the DPC should grant less points and have the major be distibuting more, or even have the Major champion directly qualifiy to TI, but who am I to say that? Something should be adjusted though.
There was an announcement that the next TI will be held in Seattle. How did you react about the news when you first heard it?
tOfu: Personally, I don’t have any attachment to Seattle as many others have had in the scene longer might have. I actually had a past conflict in the U.S. and am currently in a complicated process to obtain my visa. I don’t wanna go into details though.
Besides, in Singapore for last year’s TI, it was my first appearance there and it’s been the most memorable tournament overall simply because it has most meaning for everyone and is the reason that we all are competing. It simply is the hotspot for everyone involved in the community and the setup, time, money, and ambition put into it presents on a whole different level.
Gaimin Gladiators will definitely play in the Riyadh Masters 2023 event in the summer and prepare for The International in the fall. Aren’t you afraid of getting tired with such a busy schedule?
tOfu: It is a lot to play and grind for and we did have talks about burnout within the team already. Looking ahead, the schedule seems ridiculously packed, but moreso it’s up to ourselves on how much time and preparation we actually put into it and how everyone individually sets themselves at ease outside of the game.
I feel like we’ve been overdoing it on the last Major-DreamLeague-Major run and, in combination with being champions, we didn’t want to back down, but we’ve learned a lot during this period and are way more aware and understanding of each other’s needs now.
About his personality
Right now a lot of people know you as a Major winner. How do you characterize yourself outside of gameplay?
tOfu: Usually calm and collected but I can be very outgoing when I’m around friends. Sometimes, I’m lazy but I’ll get the job done. Cheerful, good vibes. Come around and say hi if you meet me at an event. I’m nice. I promise. I enjoy making new experiences and travel.
What hobbies do you have besides Dota 2?
tOfu: Spending time with my friends. Listen to music a lot, usually house, techno or something electronic. I love a good rave but I can vibe to any sort of music. Cycling or doing some sports. I love football & volleybal, but I play rarely lately. I’m also an anime enjoyer. I love food and ifferent cuisines intrgue me and I like cooking myself as well.
You got into esports at a rather late age. How do you manage to stay focused in the game?
tOfu: Don’t wanna exaggerate but I most likely got into video games and esports at a much earlier age than most other pros. I made a conscious decision about making Dota the first priority in my life and I know for a fact that this path that I’ve forged is beyond comprehension for most people.
I am privileged to be living this dream and I know that it’s not going to last forever. I am willing to wake up every day and dedicate myself to this purpose. Sometimes, I need to be around my friends though to realize once again what position I’m in. I can’t always keep motivation as high, but I’m not alone on this journey.
How long do you plan to stay in the professional Dota scene?
tOfu: That’s pretty hard to say honestly. I have vague thoughts but I don’t want to overthink a uncertain future. If Dota stays relevant and I don’t get washed up, I’ll be here. Nobody has achieved three TI wins yet, to say the least.
