"We did great in the Indian scene but our aim was always to do better in the international scene": Moin "NO_Chanc3" Ejaz, Dota 2 esports veteran

Dota 2 was thought to be one of the most popular esports games in India, only second to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. However, with the meteoric rise of mobile esports in India, all PC esports titles took a backseat. Dota 2 was no exception amid the fall of the PC esports titles in India.

Throughout all this, Moin “NO_Chanc3” Ejaz has always been regarded as one of the finest Dota 2 players in the country. NO_Chanc3 is a veteran of the scene, having been on top of the Indian Dota 2 teams like Beyond Infinity, ENTiTy eSports, Signify and Whoops!.

In a conversation with Sportskeeda Esports’ Manodeep Mukherjee, he shared his thoughts on the current Dota 2 scene in India, his view on the current Dota 2 patch, his favorite team at TI10 and much more.

Here is an excerpt of that conversation.

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Moin “NO_Chanc3” Ejaz's opinion on the current Dota 2 scene

Q. To start things off, tell us a bit about your journey as a Dota player, from the indomitable force in Kolkata LAN events to being one of the finest Dota 2 players of the country that it has ever seen.

It has been a long journey since I started playing competitive dota. We did well in our first event but then some players left and joined another team. After that it took a long time to form a team with 5 players who want to give their everything to become top dota players in the country. We had to start from the bottom. We invested money from our own pocket with some help from our friend in AFK Gaming to do a bootcamp for a month. And from there it went through a lot of changes, some worked in our favor and some didn't.

We did great in the Indian scene but our aim was always to do better in the international scene.

Q. As the Dota 2 competitive scene has dried out almost completely in the country in especially the last two years, how do you see yourself going forward as a Dota 2 player? Are you eyeing to become part of one of the Southeast Asian Dota 2 teams, unless, of course, the Indian scene goes through a miraculous revival of some sort?

Well, the scene is completely dead in India but there are some community tournaments happening now and then who are trying to keep alive the dota scene like TNDL leagues discord group.

As for me, I am just playing casually now. But if I get the opportunity to play for a team again, I'll definitely give it a try.

Q. With a few of the former Dota 2 pros of the country switching to mobile games as their career, what’s your take on the wildly emerging mobile esports scene of India?

Mobile esports is very big in India right now but it is only in FPS games like PUBG, Free Fire etc. And the MOBA games are not really popular in India.

Q. Have you considered switching professionally to mobile games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang or League of Legends: Wild Rift?

Well, I did try last year when there was hype for Wild Rift. I played a lot of games. It was fun and I reached quite a high rank in a very short time but the game was not getting released and it kept on getting delayed over and over again that made me stop playing it.

Q. As a veteran Dota 2 player of the country, do you consider Indian Dota 2 servers not having ranked matchmaking except for a brief period of time, played any role in the eventual downfall of the Indian Dota 2 esports ecosystem?

I don't think so. It wouldn't make any difference. I think the main reason for India's declining scene in Dota is the lack of understanding of the game among new players and the skill gap between top teams and other teams.

Q. At the time of this interview, you are on the 274th spot in the SEA leaderboards of Dota 2. How much of your time are you investing in pubs now?

Nowadays I play very little, like 3 or 4 games everyday.

Q. You have quite often served as the in-game captain for your teams. With things like drafting, shot-calling, etc in mind, how much have you enjoyed the role?

I loved the captain role. It's like you're the mastermind of the team. You make plans, you can pick any hero for yourself huh! But yeah, sometimes it can be a headache too, since you have to argue with your teammates if there is a conflict regarding the plan or picks.

Q. With TI10 being two months away, which team do you think has the best chance at victory this time?

Team Secret. They have been playing top tier Dota all year.

Q. Do you think a wild card tournament before TI10 is justified as a significant part of the Dota 2 fanbase thinks teams like, say, Team Nigma, Tundra Esports, and TNC are deserving of a TI slot?

I would be happy to see that because I want my favorite team Nigma to play this TI.

Q. How much do you think a gameplay balance patch is necessary before TI10? On that note, which are the most overpowered heroes you encounter in your pubs right now?

There is a patch coming up next week. They announced it two days back. The strongest heroes in my pub I get to see are Luna, TA, DK. In almost every game you get to see these heroes either getting picked or banned.

Q. As one of the craftiest Dota 2 players, which heroes do you think are currently underrated in the meta and possibly need one-buff-to-become-broken?

Lone druid, Panda [Brewmaster], Shadow Demon are very strong heroes. With one more buff, you will get to see them getting picked almost every game for sure.

Q. Which general gameplay balance changes would you like to see in the next patch?

Definitely a nerf on Luna and TA.

Q. Regardless of patches and the metagame, which is your favorite Dota 2 hero and why is it your favorite?

I love playing Invoker and Tinker. It's fun to press a lot of keys in the game.

Q. Any word of advice for the still aspiring Dota 2 players of India?

Don't try to become the best in India. Try to be the best in Asia, or in fact, the world. If you want to really do something in Dota, then give it your 100%, otherwise there is no point wasting time on it.