Revival's Special: Chat with Lysander Xonora - About Him, Dota 2 and Esports in Southeast Asia
Hello RevivalTV friends! This time we had the opportunity to interview one of the casters who has been in esports for a long time and even cast the TI4 All-Star Match, namely Lysander Xonora.
Lysander briefly joined Beyond The Summit a few years ago before he finally had to complete his mandatory military service and finally completed the assignment in 2016. Now he’s back and has started to cast a few different games from time to time.
See firsthand the history of esports, his opinion on the Dota Pro Circuit system and the development of esports in Southeast Asia!
can Did you introduce yourself and your career in esports?
“My name is Lysander Xonora, as many people know. To keep it short, just call me Lysander. I am a caster esports and host esports.””
Can you tell us more about your journey as a caster during your time in esports?
“I’ve been in esports for about 4 years now, and I started with cast some random games. Then I joined a talent search contest as caster and somehow managed to win it. The win paved the way for more events, and more Dota matches. In the end, I was able to join Beyond The Summit and through that I started to be cast more competitive matches and finally invited to The International 2014 event.”
“Then I went for military service, as a result I had to take a break from the world of esports for quite a while. Until I finally completed the task in 2016 and was able to continue my journey in the world of esports properly. I started branching out into jobs like hosting, and not just as a caster.”
Of the shows you’ve cast before, which is your favorite and why?
“For Dota, it’s definitely TI4, the fun of the event, and I got the chance to cast All-Star Match; the same time that Valve released Techies for the first time. Obviously this is an honor as well as a great opportunity for me. I really feel that I have accomplished something great after being able to do that.”
“Outside Dota, I also like cast I’m the newest but not for Dota. I cover the event Clash Royale for Supercell recently, and I see that the work ethic and production quality they are very tall. Those are things I can really respect and I’m enjoying the event.”
Apart from casting esports events, what are your hobbies outside of esports?
“My other hobbies include painting, I make art from time to time – digital art – and I also make fan art or just an original sketch and upload it to Instagram.”
“I also write in my spare time, I’m actually also writing a book. Those are my hobbies apart from trying to stay fit because of the lifestyle indoor that we, myself included, have.”
Many people ask about what you are doing lately. Do you still often cast esports matches?
“I remain cast some esports matches, and I also started branching out into some of the jobs I mentioned earlier, namely hosting but not necessarily in Dota. I also sometimes work as panelist in a few different games, recently I’ve been working with Battlerite, and also I’m starting to look into PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS as caster or host.”
Gonna be running my first ever tourney for @Battlerite @StunlockStudios
Here for more info!!!!! HYPEhttps://t.co/PUEtEbtxF4 pic.twitter.com/3ETnLyw0w3
— Lysander Xonora (@LysanderXonora) November 26, 2017
“I also wanted to collaborate with some friends I’ve met over the years to put together an event. But I will still cast competition Dota from time to time.”
As someone who has been in esports for a long time, what major changes have you observed in esports?
“It’s definitely money involved, there’s a lot more money involved in esports these days. But as more money is involved, there must be greater responsibility. In order to reduce the number of problems and increase the number of successes in esports, there must really be arrangements and ensure that quality is maintained. I think this is the biggest change in esports that I have observed.”
In your opinion, is the realm of esports in Southeast Asia growing right now? And do they have the potential to be as good as the other teams out there?
“Those are difficult questions to answer, “Is it growing?”, “How fast?” Certainly esports is thriving in Southeast Asia, but not as fast as they actually could be. When compared to region other countries such as Europe, America or even countries such as China, Korea, compared to these countries, Southeast Asia is developing moderately, maybe except for the Philippines which has fanbase which is growing very rapidly.
Many Southeast Asian tournaments are not so hype like the tournaments out there, I think because of the reduced opportunity there is in Southeast Asia for esports.”
“In addition, there is also a social construct from the Asian community who made gaming seen as unacceptable. There always is social construct from a society that restricts or looks down on professional players. As a result, there are many talented people who stay away from gaming professional because of this social stigma.
The result is that we lose a lot of talented people and those left in Southeast Asia may not be as great as those who finally decided to give up their dream in esports. In order to be able to answer this difficult question, there are still many hidden problems that need to be fixed first.”
Speaking of Dota Pro Circuit, do you think this is a good idea for the Dota realm right now? Or do you think it was better in the past, when there was a Major event every Season?
“I think this Dota Pro Circuit is both good and bad, one good thing is for people with busy schedules and can’t keep up with tournament hours, this new schedule is better because previously if they missed one tournament then they could only watch streams of other players for a while before the next big event comes.
But now, there are always online events, there are always tournament streams, there will always be Dota professionals to watch. So for fans Dota professionals, they will enjoy it.”
“But for those who try to keep up with everything, it will be difficult because there are too many events being held. Also, because there are too many tournaments, the excitement of an event is actually reduced, as I felt with the latest DreamHack. Even though the event is huge, the games are great, I feel a bit cut off because of the sheer number of tournaments in the last few months. So from perspective hype, I think decreased significantly, but for the casual Dota connoisseur who just wants to watch something on Twitch for example, there will always be a match to watch.”
(Also Read: Win the Major, Rank Secret Jump to First Position)
“But as an esports talent myself, I think it’s good because we are given more opportunities and more work, so I can’t complain.”
What are your plans for the future? Are you still going to continue your career as a caster or choose to find another job, both in esports and outside esports?
“So far I think I will stay in the realm of esports. I don’t see myself outside of esports, but maybe when I’m older I’d like to take a little break and do something a little more corporate but still involve esports.”
Finally, what would you like to say to the fans out there?
“As always, thanks for the support, keep up with what I’m doing. I’ll be doing some fun stuff in the future, like some personal projects, or group projects in a bit. I hope you can respect whatever I choose to do as my job, even outside of Dota.”
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