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MidOne’s only been around for a couple of years, but he’s already had a top four finish at TI and become one of the few SEA players to find success in the European scene.
Over the last couple of years, the South East Asian Dota 2 scene has changed dramatically. Super teams such as Faceless and the current Mineski squad have been formed, new and upcoming players have found their way to the top of the international scene, such as TNC’s high-flying squad, and crucially, SEA teams have started to win massive international events. It really has been the best period SEA has ever had in the world of Dota.
One of the perhaps more controversial trends during this time has been the increase in western players moving to the SEA scene. Jimmy ‘DeMoN’ Ho was one of the first fairly successful stories, taking TNC from losing in their first open qualifier to the top eight at TI6. Since then, the likes of Sivatheeban ‘1437’ Sivanathapillai and Jacky ‘EternaLEnVy’ Mao have followed similar routes, heading to SEA to play with the best the region has to offer.
But only in a few instances have players gone the other way and found success. SEA stars leaving their home region isn’t that uncommon, but most find themselves back in familiar territory within a few months. One of the players who has found massive success with this route is Yeik ‘MidOne’ Nai Zheng, a 21-year old Malaysian mid laner who has only been in the pro scene for around two years.
He first got his big break with the old Fnatic roster, coming fourth at TI6 and playing alongside the likes of Khoo ‘Ohaiyo’ Chong Xin and Chai ‘Mushi’ Yee Fung, two veterans of the SEA scene. But after TI6, he decided he wanted a change, and set out on a journey that has seen him become one of the best players in the world.
“After TI6 I was sure I would leave Fnatic because I wasn't really happy on that team,” explains MidOne. “I wanted to play with somebody else. I decided to play with Forev and then he just comes up with an idea that Secret wants to play with us. So I was like let's go, why not? Right now I’m still on Team Secret.”
During this time, Team Secret had a complete restructuring, dropping three players and bringing on three SEA stars. MidOne joined the team with Pyo ‘MP’ No-a and Lee ‘Forev’ Sang-don, two Korean star players who made their names in the famous MVP Phoenix roster. Forev would only stay with the team for a few months, while MP lasted for the whole season. However, MidOne was the only player to stick with the team, and it’s not difficult to see why.
Over the past year and a half, MidOne has won multiple tournaments with Team Secret, such as the FACEIT Invitational and ROG Masters, made it to the final of the ESL One Hamburg Major and has developed into one of the most feared mid laners in the world. Even in just the last few months he has won qualifiers for the StarLadder i-League Invitational Season 3 and PGL Open Bucharest Minors, as well as the DreamLeague Season 8 Major, becoming the most successful team in Europe in terms of qualifying for Dota Pro Circuit events. That’s not to say that this wouldn’t have happened if he stayed in SEA, but it seems unlikely he would have done this well, and he thinks the change of play style in the west has been beneficial for him.
“I think European teams are more about strats and I mean, for sure SEA has some strats too but it's more about personal skills in the SEA [region],” says MidOne when discussing why the European style of play suits him. “It’s really all about playing better [individually] in SEA. If you play better you win,” he says.
As MidOne and Team Secret continue to improve, it’s clear that his stock as a player is rising, with multiple people signaling him out as one of the best in the world. It looks like this version of Secret will see out the rest of the season, as they have been dominating every other team they’ve faced so far, but after that, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see MidOne move onto other pastures. One suggestion that seems potentially exciting is MidOne doing the opposite of DeMoN and 1437 and captaining an up and coming western team. After all, if western players can do it in SEA, why not the other way round?
“It’s gonna be really hard [to do that], right?” MidOne jokes. “As I said, SEA is more about high skill players, like, you play better – that’s the strategy.”
“Western teams are more about detailed strats, so I don't think western teams need any leadership from SEA. I think it's pretty hard to happen,” he says.
With that idea seemingly out of the question for now, the conversation turns back towards the SEA scene and a potential return for one of its most successful players. When quizzed, MidOne ponders about returning to his home region – “I think I would,” he tells us – although he’s not entirely sure about that just yet. Understandable, considering how well his career is going in the west.
However, it’s clear that MidOne is someone who likes to focus on the challenges directly in front of him, and not worry too much about his plans for years down the line. While he takes his time to think about answers regarding his future options, he’s quick to respond when asked anything about his current team and their goals for the year.
“This is a tough question for me, but I hope we get the most points for TI for sure,” MidOne tells us when asked what his team’s goal is for this season. “We hope for the best. It's not going to be easy for me. There are a lot of teams out there that are very strong – it's not only us. We have to keep it up. We have to train ourselves in order to be up there when TI qualification ends.”
Of course, The International is the ultimate goal for any Dota player. It’s the biggest tournament of the year, with ridiculous prize pools and the prestige of being a world champion. Few players ever get to lift the Aegis of Champions, but it’s certainly what MidOne is aiming for, hoping to become only the second ever SEA player to do so. But with SEA’s stock rising in the international scene, is there a chance we could ever see an all SEA team win TI, potentially with MidOne as a part of it?
“Anything can happen,” says MidOne. “I think SEA winning would happen one day.”
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