Meet Fnatic’s Dota2 Player Ohaiyo
Ohaiyo – Fnatic’s Dota2 offlaner – is widely known as one of the best Dota2 players in the world. The 22 year old Malaysian had stints with big name teams including EHOME, Orange, Team Malaysia and Titan before joining Fnatic. He consistently delivers high plays, has outstanding map awareness and plays aggressively to the detriment of his opponents. It’s easy to see why his skills are the envy of opponents and fans love him.
We caught up with Ohaiyo to find out how he got into competitive gaming, what it’s like playing for Fnatic and what his aspirations for the future are.
Q: WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE COMPETITIVE GAMING?
A: I was just an ordinary, naughty kid skipping school to play Dota in the local cyber cafe. I enjoy the game a lot because it is team based and I find the elements of teamwork very fascinating. I would often play Dota all day with my good friend Kyxy and I started playing competitively after I joined and won a local tournament. That was when I realized I could make a living off computer games.
Q: WHAT IS IT LIKE BEING PART OF FNATIC?
A: It feels good to be a part of Fnatic because when we did not have a sponsor, we have a lot of external things we have to think about like our finances, food, training schedule etc. This affected our performance to a certain degree but with the proper financial and emotional support from Fnatic, we are able to fully focus on the game to bring our game to the next level. The real life stuff like visas, finances and more are also handled by our manager. Fnatic also rented us a house in Kuala Lumpur so that we can live, eat, and play together to improve bonding and communication.
Q: WHO OR WHAT ARE YOUR INSPIRATIONS?
A: If you are talking about in Esports, then it is Iceiceice from Vici Gaming. He was willing to give up everything to become a professional player and he has been in China for a long time now. Outside of gaming, it is the band MAYDAY from Taiwan.
Q: WHO DO YOU ADMIRE MOST AS A DOTA2 PLAYER?
A: I really admire Mushi because despite all the bad rep and hardship from his early years, he never gave up on the game and he is always focused to improve himself and the training regiment.
Q: HOW ARE YOU FINDING LIVING TOGETHER IN THE FNATIC GAMING HOUSE?
A: As I mentioned before, it is really helping with team bonding and our communication. It is really fun to be around these bunch of people and I am also learning a lot about their culture since we have one Filipino and one German player with us. I also get to do a lot more sports now because Black will be upset if we don’t go for badminton, haha.
Q: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO GAIN FROM A CAREER AS A PROFESSIONAL ESPORTS PLAYER?
A: At the moment, I still do not have any long term plans but I dream of travelling the world. I suppose I will just take one step at a time. However, what is clear to me is that, I want to be the best Dota 2 player in the world.
