Q&A with OG.Ceb

7 May 2021

OG offlaner Sébastien “Ceb“ Debs has been chosen in a Socios poll to participate in a Q&A session on team’s official Discord. The recording is available on OG Youtube channel (link coming soon!), and this is a cleaned up transcript of the session.

Tom: I’m trying to find a way to this because it's still like a fairly new functions...

Manon: I can give you the link again if you want. And I've already given them a link, but they seem to being able to join, so that should be OK. So, yeah, one of our selected persons was apparently a bit too shy to say hi himself, so we're going to ask you his question instead. Tom, please go ahead, if you wish.

Tom: This is from CryptoJutsu. So he's a big crypto fan, but he does want to know, what are your top three most annoying and fun heroes to play with? 

Séb: My top three most annoying fun heroes to play with, that was the question, right? *laughs*

Tom: The most annoying to play with, to play with. And the most fun, too.

Séb: OK, uhmm. The most annoying to play with... I mean, my top one has to be Pudge. You know, one time out of ten you get a very good Pudge, and then he inspires you and makes you believe in the hero again, but most of the time whenever I see Pudge first pick in pubs, I just I just know I'm in for 40 minutes of pain and suffering and tilt, but I'm sure everybody can relate to that one. Techies is number two. Techies is… I still don't know, what Techies does in Dota, why is he even in the game, but you know. And the third one that's the most annoying to play with… Let me think… I kinda like all the other heroes, but I'm going to try to come up with something…Probably Antimage, by the lack of action. It just makes the game very slow until he comes online. So these are the top three most annoying. And the most fun... Now, that sounds better. Most fun, I wanna say... I mean, I kinda like playing with Mag. I like getting empowered, *laughs* changes from the official games, where I’m the one empowering. So getting empowered and seeing some RP hits, hit people in the stun, that sounds good. The save heroes are kinda nice, I like playing with Dazzle or Oracle. I think they're pretty fun to play with, too. It kinda pushes what you can do with the game and how far you can overextend. So, yes, those would be my guesses.

Manon: OK, you want to be empowered, huh? Okay.

Séb: That’s my secret, right there *laughs*

Manon: Secret pleasure, okay, wants to get empowered. *laughs*

Séb: Exactly, guys. That's me. I’m graved. Or Oracle ultied. *laugs*

Manon: OK, so we have our two other speakers that are going to join to ask you their questions. First one is Fortes, I think, I hope I'm saying that right. You should have been invited to speak, my friend. Can you unmute yourself and... Hi, thank you for coming! 

Fortes: Oh, hi, it's working. OK. Hello, hello Séb. It's a pleasure - it's an honor, really. I could’ve asked him many questions, I was asked to narrow it down to one, obviously, so I'm kind of wondering how is the life during the bootcamp? So like you are living together, I guess, during these times. Do you play the game all day? Do you, like, strategy talk all day or do you just do your own things, dunno, do you watch movies, play table tennis or cook or... So how are you living during the bootcamps?

Séb: Yeah man, a very interesting question, actually, I'm sure it is. This is also something I was wondering a lot before I became a part of it and joined bootcamps myself. Uh, well, I can give you a lot of details, I guess. We do spend time doing other things. Like you mentioned, table tennis, we actually have a table tennis table and other things. So the schedule is usually three days on, one day off, sometimes maybe a little bit more, but usually this is what it looks like. On the days off people can do whatever they want, and we also suggest sometimes to do things together. We go out outside, like we did paddling on the lake the other day, that kind of stuff, so that we just bond, get some fresh air, kinda reset also from the game. That can be a bit exhausting when you grind a lot and put a lot of effort into it, of course. And as for the days on, we basically usually start around 12:00 or 1:00 PM, something along these lines. Usually we are going to talk a little bit about the day and what to expect from it, or just go over certain games or just brainstorm ideas. Then will we play scrims. Best of two, that's the format. It used to be best of three, but I think a lot of teams actually didn't like the 2-1 for some reason, the best of two just felt better for the teams. I'm not really sure, but it's kind of recent. I think it's been two years, or maybe three, that all the teams are doing best of two’s now. So two sets, in between sets we usually have a tactical brief where we just go over the games or maybe replay some lanes, that kind of stuff, then into the second best of two. Then we have an hour-hour and half debrief-slash-replay analysis, and that's the end of the day. At that point, it's probably like nine PM and then the evening is free for people to do what they want. But usually we spend time together, play other games. For instance, I think it's been a week, we're playing a lot of Counter Strike together, five men queue. It's an absolute disaster, by the way. But it's fun. At least it's fun. People think we're probably - what's it called? - fake nicking the OG Dota guys because of how bad we are, but it’s actually us; so if you ever meet five guys that have the OG Dota names in CS - it’s actually us. So go easy on us, we might be better than you in Dota but in CS that’s not true. So, yeah, basically that's what it looks like. 

Fortes: Awesome, man. Good times, most fun times.

Séb: Very fun times, yes, very fun times, a lot of hard work and effort being put into. So, you know, there's the highs, there's lows. But overall, great, great times.

Manon: I have an additional question, excuse me, sorry. Because I remember you mentioned the paddling. I remember in the written chat someone asked about your green shorts. 

Séb: Oh god.

Manon: Can you tell us a bit behind, like, how did you end up wearing these or what's the thought process?

Séb: Thought process? Is there a process behind that? It just happened to be in my luggage, I had it for an awful amount of time. It's just there.

Manon: Just mirroring the green page in your Dota profile, I guess.

Séb: I guess.. I mean… Yeah, sure. Let’s say that. It isn't working very well right now, but yeah, the shorts are still great, at least.

Manon: They are. *laughs* Well, thank you, thank you so much for your question and thank you for joining us and for voting, by the way.

Fortes: Ah, thank you so much.

Manon: No, thank you. Kinda a good one. All right. So we're going to welcome our second speaker, I think, or, well, technically third, which is it, Ydonis? I don't know, I hope I'm saying your name right.

Ydonis: Yes, hello, hi. French? Speaking French?

Manon: Since we have a few people listening, if possible, it would be nice if you could speak English if you're OK with it.

Séb: You can say in French and I'll be the translator tonight.

Ydonis: Oh, OK. Séb, bonsoir, merci a pour l’invitacion á tout l’équipe Socios. Quels sont tes projets ambitions sur moyen enteans et tu va tu toujours donc gamiller dans dix ans?

Séb: Oh wow. OK, first I'll translate quick, before I forget. I was asked what are my project-slash-ambitions on the mid to long term, and also do I still foresee myself as a competitor, on the playing side of things, 10 years from now. Projects and ambitions mid to long term… I mean, short term is obviously TI and, you know, the tournaments and stuff. Mid to long term... That's a pretty good question. Competition kinda forces you to not look too far ahead of where you are at the moment, at least that's how I treat it, so it's hard for me to know exactly in midterm... I guess it would still be to compete at the highest level and have a team that is well functioning, nothing too different from today. But what those midterm means is maybe a year or two years, it's hard to say over that. And what do I do? Do I still foresee myself as a competitive player in 10 years? I would say no. I think 10 years from now is too long. You never know where life takes you, but as of today, I would say no, I think. But it's not because of- I don't think you get worse with age, for instance, I don't think there is an age limit. I don't believe in it. At least I haven't felt any difference. If anything, I'm much better today than I was five years ago. But I do think that maybe life forces you to look at other things the older you get, probably get a family, life, other things that make it harder to commit 150% on the competition That's why I don't see myself playing in such a long time. But so much can happen in 10 years, maybe we will win TI 15 times, maybe not.

Manon: Maybe they will get empowered as well *laughs* Thank you, thank you so much, merci, merci beaucoup. And our last question will be asked by Shinbo, who is already in this call, who is also one of our Discord mods. So, Mr. Shin, if you want to proceed with your questions, please feel free to do so.

Shinbo: Hey, everyone, nice to meet you, Séb. 

Séb: Hello, likewise. 

Shinbo: So my question was, how important do you think psychological training was for you, individually and as a team, not only from TI perspective, but like in general, something you have found changing in your mindset after working all this time? 

Séb: Aye, man, it’is a big topic, I think it's absolutely important. I think it's crucial. I think it's a necessity and it has changed so many things. And I think most of the time when we struggle or when we hit our heads against the wall it’s mostly because we drifted away from certain psychological concepts or learnings or key takeaways that we have gathered over the years, so it's extremely important and I think it's still underestimated, even though today I feel like a lot of teams are if not doing something about it actively, at least they're aware of it, which is already a pretty big step. But I think it should be something of every day, maybe every second day, but there should be constant monitoring of how players are psychologically, you know. The highest level of competition, it's not only about Dota, I think it's so much about how well you feel, how confident you feel or all of these things like confidence and humility. Sometimes being a bit cocky or taking up on certain challenges can also help you. But all of it is a mind game. It's a mindset game. And it's actually funny because every time I get the chance to meet an athlete that is very good in his own field, I get to ask him the same question, which is - if you had to give me a percentage of how much is physical and how much is psychological about what you do, all of them answered the same, whether it is driving a car or playing football or playing video games or whatever, they all give you a minimum 80 percent mental versus 20 percent physical, which makes sense because, of course. The physical part and the technical part or the micro things of Dota is super important, and you need to get to a certain level so that you can compete, but once you're amongst these people that are also really, really good at what they do, everything is about what's in your mind and what's your mindset. So, yeah, it's extremely important. I can't emphasize enough how important it is. 

Shinbo: Yeah. And we love your mind games. 

Manon: *laughs* We absolutely do. Well, thank you for asking your question. Séb, I will ask you a few questions gathered both from Discord and Twitter. So thank you everyone who asked their questions. The first one, I think, you'll like, it is from Freak1Dave, I hope I'm saying your name right and sorry again for everyone whose names will be butchered in this call. So, given that you're both French and Lebanese, which country do you think has the best food?

Séb: Oh, that's a hard one, because I think both have really good food. Just asking me to choose between mom and dad, this is the kind of question you're asking. If I had to choose right now, I’d choose Lebanon, just because I miss Lebanese food so much. I don't get to eat it as much. But I think it's just because of that, because I'm sure if I'd be put away from French food for long enough, I'd miss it as hard. Both countries have amazing food. Luckily for me.

Manon: The second question is from Patrick. Do you have any pregame rituals and if yes, what are they and if no, what's the weirdest one you have seen or heard from your teammates or ex-teammates?

Séb: I kinda like answering “no” just so I can get to the second part of the question *laughs* I’ll answer both. I suppose I do. I need to listen to music before I go into a game. It's really important. I need five to ten minutes of alone time where I choose my music. It helps me a lot to regulate my energy, like if I'm too hyped or if I'm not hyped enough or if I'm not angry enough in a healthy way, or like that I really want to win, or maybe I'm too mad at the guys. I'm going to have to play and I need to be more calm and distanced from things, so music helps me regulate that very effectively. So it's definitely my ritual. Really weird rituals that I've seen... I don't think I have seen anything too weird, honestly. I'm trying to think... maybe there is, but I don't pay attention to them. No, it's not weird, but I remember Miracle before TI games, he would sit down on the floor, grab his legs, put the hoodie on and put the headset on with really loud music. So it was music too, but the way he do it is he would really, like, disappear, even though he was still there, you know, because we were backstage, the five of us, or the six of us, and we're waiting to go on stage, and there's a lot of people around you. But he would still isolate himself this way. It was weird. I'm quoting “weird” because I get it. I wish I would have done the same, to be honest. But it was definitely the most atypical I've seen. But back then, TI6 era, that's what he was doing.

Manon: He was your player at the time also, it was like his first LANs, right.

Séb: Yep. It was his way to get in the zone, like forget about everything around you, forget about the stadium, the noise, whatever, and just get ready to play the game.

Manon: Well, it's almost like meditation, I guess, also. 

Séb: Yeah, definitely. 

Manon: OK, so the next question is from Sophia411 from Twitter, who do you think is the strongest opponent in Europe right now and why?

Séb: There are strongest for us and strongest overall, I think strongest for us right now is probably Alliance, I would say, and the reason for that is that I think it’s the most disciplined team, they are probably very hard on what they do and everything is just very methodical and whatnot. And we're more chaotic. I think we go with the flow more, we're more instinctive as a team, so we don't really like when everything is planned out and thought through. We like just going with the chaos of Dota. So when we match up against them, especially in this one week format where they prepare everything and stuff, it's not as easy for us, I would say. But overall, the strongest team… I think it's either Secret or Nigma, just in terms of how much they can do in a game and adapting on the spot. I think these two are the strongest. Probably Secret still, I would say. And we play them tomorrow, sooo good news.

Manon: We will be there. OK, so next question is a bit of a tricky one from PJ.Jover, again, sorry if I butchered your name. Social media can be really toxic. Do you guys sometimes see and read tweets, posts and comments about yourself? And if yes, does that somehow affect your mentality or how do you deal with the negative feedback, basically?

Séb: Well, to me personally, I don't look at it and whatever is negative, I just stop reading. So I don't really need to deal with it. I distance myself from it completely. I know it can get to other people sometimes, and my advice is just to let it go. I think social media, there's great things about it and there's awful things, there's things I really hate about it and there are things that are great. Honestly, if it wasn't for social media, there's a lot of people I would never have interacted with. You also get so much positivity and inspiring stuff from it, too. The fact that people that you don't know that have a different culture, a different age, different language, everything, just get to reach out to you - I think it's great, the world without it would be very boring. But at the same time, yeah, you also get all the haters. They have a direct line to you if you decide to open that line. But just close it, honestly. I think for their sake, too, for everybody's sake, block it all, as in, don't pay attention to it, just move on with your day.

Manon: Yeah, that is very true. Next question is from MaybeBH. If you were not a part of OG right now, like if OG did not exist, for example, which team would you like to be a part of?

Séb: Oh, what a question. It is first time I’m asked this, actually.

Manon: There you go.

Séb: Which team would I want to be part of? I mean, I would probably want to play with my Middle Eastern bros, I guess, play with my Lebanese friends, GH and Miracle, that would sound like a lot of fun. This is probably my choice.

Manon: I think that's a fairly good choice,

Séb: And I think we’d fit pretty well also in the way we play Dota, so it would be fun.

Manon: So I'm going to answer that question a little bit. If it was as a player, you would join Nigma, and if it was as a coach, is there a team that you, for example, see potential in right now, or you feel like helping if you are not playing for OG?

Séb: A team that would be up and coming or…? Hmm, up and coming team that I would coach... I think... I think the the young CIS, like VP or Team Spirit. These guys that are extremely talented at the game, I could definitely help them become the best team in the world, just foresee why they are going to lose at some point, because they will, and how to deal with it from Dota perspective and also on a human level, because there's so much resources stored away. It's like how they play the game. They're very smart and they're very good at the game, but they're probably very inexperienced, so I'm sure I could help them out. So I would pick that as a challenge, try to see if I can accelerate their growth as a team.

Manon: OK, that's interesting.

Séb: Yeah, and working with the different culture I think is always exciting. I would get to learn a lot from them, too. So that's the type. 

Manon: That sounds cool, though. OK, next question is from DarkSoul, who basically said that you always, at least in the backstage footage that we get to see of you, you always seem to be very positive. So his question was, how do you stay very positive? And lots of people as well asked how do you keep a positive mindset even when you lose one game in one series, etc.

Séb: Well, I mean, the way I do it, at least, is a lot of preparation before. What helps is the travel, the process of going there, it gives you time to think. It's like going to war to me. I embrace the fact that I might not come back. The do or die thing, I really embrace that. I go there to win or I will die if I don't, and I of course I know I won't, but I just tell myself that I have to do this, I have to get it done, no matter how, no matter what, and then once you have this mindset, you realize the only way for you to have a chance of getting it done is if you stay confident, if you stay positive, if you keep a good mood and a good energy. Because I know from experience that the second that mood, that energy starts going away, then everything just collapses anyway. No matter how good you are doing and stuff, it doesn't matter. No matter what, you will end up losing. There's a lot of things that can happen and that can hurt my mental strength or that can push me into being negative, and maybe I have negative thoughts, sometimes they’re crossing my mind, but this will of getting to the other side and knowing that no matter what, we have to protect the energy and the positivity, this takes over and it helps you fight these thoughts away. And it's mostly dissipating, you know, knowing in advance that this is going to happen, I'm going to feel like this, I'm going to feel like that, my teammates are going to feel like this and they're going to feel like that, at some point we're going to feel defeated, at some point we're going to feel angry, upset, at some point we're going to feel frustrated - and when that happens, this is what I'm going to do to not let that damage us in any way because I don't want it to damage us, because I want us to get to the other side healthy and on the winning side. But what I mean is these thoughts that the person that asked probably is fighting with, we all are fighting with it. It's more about getting ready for them and getting the best out of them once they happen.

Manon: Yeah, well, I think you can say that you guys have done a pretty good job of that so far.

Séb: Hopefully, yeah.

Manon: The next question is from Plum, do you know how to cook?

Séb: Oh, this has been the worst question, uh. I'm a terrible cook. I’ll admit it.

Manon: You cannot cook Lebanese food, then. 

Séb: I can actually cook some things, but it's the very basic stuff. I'm pretty bad. I cook great Uber Eats.

Manon: You will not starve yourself, at least, let’s say that.

Séb: No-no-no, I think. I think I will enjoy cooking. I guess there are people that are like “nah, cooking, never for me”. For me, I'm sure that one day I will cook at least more than I do today. And I will enjoy it, every time I get to do it a little bit I enjoy it, but I just haven't spent time, I'm just pretty bad at it. 

Manon: Not enough practice then. 

Séb: I'm a student cook, you know, just basic stuff, but that's all, I hadn’t needed to get any further than that.

Manon: That’s fine, you're busy doing other things. We can forgive you for that, I think. OK, so the next question from CESCO, do you have any other hobbies outside of Dota? And also are you blessed with a musical talent like your sister?

Séb: Well, let's get rid of the second part. I am not blessed with anything artistic. No, I mean, the dancing was OK for me, but everything, everything else, like playing music or singing or something, I'm a disaster. So that is out of the scope. And as for hobbies, I like football, basketball. I like them a lot. Dancing still is something I like, music and dancing, I guess, would be the first that comes to mind.

Manon: You are a good dancer, that's true, I've heard very good things about your hip hop skills.

Séb: I once did a lot of hip hop, but this is like a lifetime ago.

Manon: Next question, Bryn. Hi Séb, what is your all time favorite Dota 2 cosmetic and what's the most expensive cosmetic that you owned or have bought in your Dota career?

Séb: All time favorite cosmetic... Let me open Dota… I did like the Nature's Prophet set a lot, the butterfly, that came out for TI. I was really sad, actually, because we played a game one against LGD and then it made the game crash or there was a lot of bugs and lag, so I couldn't use it anymore. And that's actually why I didn't play Prophet after that, because I really wanted to play Prophet a lot at TI. You guys might think I'm crazy, but to me it matters a lot when I feel good aesthetically about a hero, if the hero is nice and stylish and it does this and that - it matters. I know it sounds insane, but it does, even in these games. It's not so much about how it looks, but if you have a really strong will to play the hero, you just play it much better. And that can help, having that will. And the most expensive stuff... I think I have the Diretide thing, the Halloween thing, I think it's like 800 bucks or something. I'm kinda ashamed that I bought it, because I understand that it's not worth spending 800 bucks on the cosmetics, but at the same time I play this game so much it probably cost me 10 cents per game. 

Manon: It's a fair investment, yes. 

Séb: I don’t regret it. I understand that it can sound crazy to certain persons, but I can stand my ground here and explain why I think it's worth it.

Manon: I think you deserve to have an aesthetically pleasing hero to watch, it’s fine.

Séb: Makes me feel better in games, so whatever does is worth it if it helps you win.

Manon: That’s for sure. Next question is from Lachrymose, again, sorry if I murdered your name here. Hi Séb, where do you think you would be right now in life if you never pursued esports? What would you be doing?

Séb: Hmm, very good question. These are questions that I sometimes ask myself, but I usually stop thinking about it before I get an answer. But now you're putting me on the spot and I have to come up with one *laughs* What would I be doing? Honestly, I think I'd be maybe closer to politics. Maybe not as a politician, but just to society matters, I think. I would wanna do something meaningful, something to help people. I would want to put whatever resources I can bring to something that helps have a positive impact, put it this way. And the closest thing to me is just to get involved in your neighborhood or something, politically, just help. Or maybe something with associations, I don't know. Something along these lines. Hopefully something that can have a positive impact somewhere. Something like that.

Manon: That's a very wholesome answer. OK, next question is one of the questions that were asked the most. It is from Bichael, saying hi Séb, what type of hair products did you choose to make that kind of fabulous hair?

Séb: Well, thanks for the compliment, first of all. And secondly, believe it or not, I actually almost never use hair products, unless it's getting out of control. They just live their own life. Sometimes, when they go too far, I bring them back to something more socially acceptable, but besides that I just let it be. I don't use a lot of hair products, actually. Sorry, I can’t come up with anything else.

Manon: Natural, fabulous hair. Here's your answer. *laughs* Next question is from Ruby, in the Position Six podcast that got out recently you spoke a bit about reaching your peak as a team and that you didn't feel the team had reached that point yet at TI8 or TI9. How important do you think the drafting is specifically in order to reach the peak for OG? Is this something you would put on an equal position with developing your gameplay or teamwork?

Séb: I mean, it's definitely very, very important. I probably would not put it at the same level as developing your team dynamics and teamwork, I think that's a higher tier above, one tier above. But drafting is fundamental. But I think drafting should be a result of a healthy team dynamic, because if the team functions well, then the drafting becomes smoother and also becomes closer to what the team needs. So yeah. But it's extremely important, for sure. I wouldn't disconnect both, drafting and team dynamic usually go hand in hand. If the team dynamic becomes dysfunctional, then drafting gets dysfunctional right away and vice versa.

Manon: Well, staying in the gameplay topic, the next question is from Hushed. Séb, do you think that this game is starting to become harder for new players to join?

Séb: Hmmm, I wouldn't… No. No, actually, I mean, that's a simple answer, I don't think so. I think it's becoming easier. That's my opinion. At least I think Dota is way less punishing than it used to be if you don't know what you're doing. In terms of the community and all of it, I mean, that's probably where the question is coming from - I'm a bit too disconnected to have a good opinion on it. Unlike the early stages of Dota, these days I don't really know what is the path for the new player and what are the problems that they encounter. Maybe it's hard, but in terms of only the gameplay, I think it's easier than it used to be.

Manon: I mean, there are lots of new guides as well, I guess, so it probably helps a lot. And the last question, but not the least, is from Will, asking, have you taught Notail any new French slurs or sentences that he didn't know before?

Séb: Oh, yeah, we did. He has some good ones. But I can't, I cannot. The last time I was featured in some mass media French clips they mainly only took the TI8 insults. Then my parents and some friends' parents watched it, and they were like, oh, well, he's very vocal. They came up with something and I was like, why did I even say these things? So I'm done with the French slurs. You're gonna ask him.

Manon: OK, well, that's it for the questions. Thank you so much for taking the time to come and say hi here and be a part of this with us. It's been a pleasure to have you here. And I'm sure everyone agrees that it's very special to have you here because this is a very active OG community and they all love you very much. So thank you very much.

Séb: I mean, I'm really happy to see that many people tuned in, it’s crazy. Also learned about a new Discord feature, it is really well made, like everything else. That was great, that was great. Had a great time. 

Tom: Just gonna jump in before you go, Séb. So who did you vote for in the poll? 

Séb: *laughs* I did not. I didn't want to jinx it. I wanted it to let it be. I was really surprised that I was the one chosen, if I have to be honest. I was 100% sure that Ana would be the one going, but he actually didn't go.

Manon: Well, there you go. That’s your fan club.

Séb: I expected Ana to rig it. And I was like, oh my goodness, how come I have to go, like, I was losing, you know, but apparently I wasn’t, I guess I was wrong.

Manon: Well, yeah. Well, send our regards to Ana because you are the chosen one here. Thank you so much. Thank you again for coming in. And thank you everyone who chimed in as well, it's been a pleasure. And I hope you have a lovely night of grinding in pubs.

Séb: Yeah, getting ready for Secret tomorrow. I'm sure you guys will be watching and we'll be hopefully giving you a good show and probably a good reason to watch, too.

Manon: I'm sure you will. We will all be watching anyways.

Séb: Oh, well, thanks. 

Manon: Thanks very much. Good luck.

Séb:  Likewise. Everyone here, enjoy. Take care.