Player Spotlight: dignitas/Hydra

Q: Hello Hydra, you probably don't need much introduction for WoW players but could you introduce yourself to our non-WoW readers?

My name is Ryan aka hydra, I'm 20 and I live in the UK. I'm currently at university and I've been playing wow on and off since release. I've made a bunch of videos that originally were just made for fun, (for friends to see etc), but hydra5 got leaked and everyone seemed to like it so I carried on making them, I guess that's why I'm pretty well known.

Q: You have played for Ensidia in the past and now joined up with Team Dignitas, how do you feel about the switch?

We didn't really benefit from being with ensidia at all, Dignitas have already vastly surpassed them in terms of professionality, friendliness and we have already received Alienware laptops, couldn't ask for more. We hope to do well in the upcoming ESL tournament and represent them well.



Q: As mentioned above you are quite known in WoW, when did you start playing and how long did it take you before you became a top PVP player?

I've played wow since beta, starting out with warrior I hit 60, found it was boring and instantly made a priest which i've been playing ever since. At level 60 I pve'd with synergy which broke up when tbc hit and reformed as next chapter. At level 60 I skirmished arenas with a mage called wimble who I basically learned to pvp with since I never pvp'd at level 60. We continued to play 2v2 and 3v3 together for the whole of season 1 and I played 5v5 with movielol and athene. In season 3 I started playing with cherez and beasteh and we got picked up by mousesports, we went to 3 tournaments as this setup in 2008.

The team fell apart after the third tournament as beasteh decided he didnt want to play anymore and we couldn't find another 3rd player. At level 80 I formed a new team with kalimist and redkoala, both players I had known well since season 1 on reckoning and we got picked up by ensidia. We placed third at mlg and first at dreamhack summer before redkoala decided to quit the game and we picked up flyn. We immediately placed first at the esl event at gamescom and have high hopes for the next esl event.

Q: How did you get involved with KalimisT and flyn?

Kalimist and I have been good friends since season 1 where we played together in 5v5 with athene (we ran something like priest holy pala rogue lock enhance shaman). We've been playing 2v2 and 3v3 together since season 3 on cyclone. We played against flyn on his rogue since season 4 and he swapped to mage in wotlk where we faced him in the esl online tournament and on the blizzard ladder in season5/6. When redkoala quit the game, flyn's team seemed to be falling apart since their rogue quit too, so he seemed the obvious choice to pick up.

Q: You have been playing with the well known RMP setup for quite a while, is there a reason why you are so fond of this setup?

It feels way better to win with this setup than when playing any other setup that I have experienced so far. When you lose there is always something that you could have done better. The only thing that came close to this was the setup i previously played at level 70, priest druid hunter however wotlk made this setup redundant by essentially removing viper sting from the game.



Q: Despite RMP being a favourite choice for a lot of teams, there are players who think that the setup is rather cheap and takes less skill to dominate the arena. What is your view on such claims?

RMP is the highest skillcap comp in the game. Unfortunately with wotlk it has become easier to learn and in turn easier to do well with, causing a lot of people to complain. Fortunately it is still difficult to master at top level since the skillcap of all three classes is so high, i think the only other classes that rival them in terms of difficulty to play at top level would be resto shaman and affliction lock. The three classes in rmp have great synergy, maybe this is why it has been so popular for so long, people who think that the setup takes less skill have no clue about the game and are probably playing cleave at 2200.

Q: There are always things that people want to change in the game, whether it's a nerf for some class or a removal of a certain arena, what are your top3 things that you would like to see changed? [Note for readers: Nerf - reduces effectiveness of a particular game element]

- Ring of valor removed from the game or dramatically changed - see my blog at Hydramist.net
- Hunter nerfs - all hunter specs are absolutely ridiculous right now, the fact that nobody can play them does not mean that they need to be buffed into oblivion.
- Overall damage of all classes needs to be lowered or health pools need to be increased.




Q: Intel Extreme Masters European Championship Finals are less than two weeks away, how are you preparing for the tournament?

Playing loads of 3v3 on ladder and on esl tournament realm, eating lots of toast. I like toast.

Q: Which team and which setup do you rate as your toughest opponent?

Any beastcleave since this setup is most forgiving of mistakes and everyone makes more mistakes on lan.

Q: Have you prepared any special tactics or perhaps a secret setup change to counter them?

We'll see :)

Q: Apart from these Beastcleave setups, is there any grudge or a wish to beat anyone more than the others?

Not really, just sick of teams that require no skill to play and perform stupidly well like cleave.

Q: That was all. Good luck at the event, any shoutouts?

Shoutout to Godmode on stormscale and all the guys from naphoc vent, you know who you are. I'd also like to thank the sponsors Intel, Scan, Alienware, LG, Creative, Razer, Bigfoot, WD and EA for their support.