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"I think it depends how we come back from [the Major]": Dire Wolves focused on learning from international debut

Dire Wolves took a hard knock in their international debut, but their eye is on the long game.

It’s been a tough start to international Siege for Dire Wolves. Not only were they debuting at this level on May 16, but they were also hit by the elimination of Elevate before the start of the Major, making every other game that much more valuable to get points from.

Starting with a 2-7 loss against Team oNe was then certainly one of the worst possible openings they could have had. After the match, Chih-Kang “HARAM3E” Huang tweeted that he needed to get his “head cleared” before the matches on May 17.

“We’ll definitely come back in later games,” affirmed HARAM3E in a May 16 press conference, also reaffirming his team’s efforts to keep an upbeat mentality. “For me, I played bad so I’m frustrated but I’m gonna improve after that.”

Team captain Tsung-Cheng “Ed” Hou also maintained an air of realistic positivity, acknowledging that Dire Wolves are still very new to competing with the best in APAC and had just debuted internationally.

“The point is that we are new, everyone knows we are new,” he said. “I mean, it’s like acceptable but… yeah, I mean, our mindset always be like good after losing. Like definitely, we learn from it. For tomorrow, we’re like a brand new team.”

Dire Wolves coach Odin Hempel cited a poor map veto phase as a key factor behind the difficulties against Team oNe, stating that his team was “not really prepared to play Border”.

Ed chimed in, reassuring fans that it did not mean the team was unprepared entirely, but just had been unable to mentally adjust to the surprise of having to play Border against Brazilian opponents.

Odin agreed, revealing that Dire Wolves had not managed to “scrim Brazilian teams at all” and that the Team oNe play style gave the players a “shock”.

The result hasn’t let the team get down, however, and Ed and his teammates have far from given up. They are well aware of the unpredictable nature of a BO1 group stage, especially with just three teams, and said that they go into every match believing it is “winnable” even though they are “okay” if they lose. After all, they are here to gain experience.

The key to gaining experience has been the scrimmages that Dire Wolves have been playing. Assuming they are eliminated in the group stage, they will have played a mere four official BO1 matches at the Major -- the number of scrimmages will far outweigh the number of official matches.

Odin expressed more confidence in taking on Oxygen Esports as a result, revealing that his team had almost exclusively been scrimmaging against North American teams thus far.

Dire Wolves coming to the Major has also been a new experience beyond the matches; this is the first time they have been together as a team.

“It feels weird,” said HARAM3E, spurring a laughing fit from Ed. “But it’s cool to meet each person like face-to-face. In real life, we have a lot of things to communicate, like our lifestyles and stuff.”

Odin quickly chimed in, joking that “they’re making fun of my culture”, leading to a chorus of “no”s from the rest of the team.

As happy-go-lucky and carefree Dire Wolves seem, they’re also aware that the bulk of their work will start when they leave Charlotte and head back to Taiwan. As any APAC team, they have to build up a consistent set of results through top four finishes in APAC South and then top four finishes in each APAC Playoffs.

“I think it depends how we come back from [the Major], what we learn and don’t learn,” said Odin about his team’s chances of stringing a set of Major appearances together. “And also how our attitude will change after this. I think that’s the two main points.”

Ed agreed, revealing that despite the “shock” of seeing such a different level and style of play, he has “learned new things” that will have to be blended with their domestic prowess to keep improving steadily.

Catch Dire Wolves next against Oxygen Esports on May 17.

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