pZ Gaming was founded a few months ago after a split in United Gamers. The team's leader was, and still is, Korok who was not happy on his former team and wanted to try to make his own team. The team was not very active at first. Anytime pZ scrimmed it was a rare occurrence and the team tended to lose scrims to lower skilled teams that they should have been able to beat consistently. The team was not discouraged because it was still young and for the most part, there was little drama. Then, like Jesus, Josh "PAINTITGOLD" Amos, returned from a long hiatus due to medical problems and revitalized the team.
At first, scrimming with Josh was a luxury. (I would normally have to call his house and ask his mom if Josh was there to play. Hey Mrs. Amos!) This was due to the fact that Josh could not physically play. He had trouble sitting up right in a chair for long periods of time and as many of us know, games can last upwards of sixty minutes. Josh, without knowing, made the team stronger. Suddenly, pZ began to scrim more often because the team believed Josh would be coming back soon and having an active player of his caliber would help them to achieve the next level. This was evident in IDEC Earth League. Though Josh was on the roster, he did not participate in the first few games.
At that time, the roster only consisted of five player(wtfmate, Korok, Cubs, OwnageJuice, Lord) and the team often had to ask friends to sub in for games. However, pZ was still able to win a majority of their games and ended up going undefeated in the cut-short, IDEC Earth League. Before Josh rejoined the team, pZ heavily relied on Korok's Morphling and Morphling soon became a 'Must-Ban' when playing pZ. The team was very one dimensional at this point. However, the team was very good at what it did. This gave pZ a strategy they could always fall back and allowed the team to compete with and beat stronger teams.
Josh then began to play with the team on a much more consistence basis. At first, the team went through some growing pains. For one, Korok had to adjust back to his more natural team-leading ganking role. Cubs had to control himself during games since he had someone new to talk. Often, he would get caught up in telling a story about Juice's mother and forget to buy wards or just randomly run into the enemy base. Cubs was often scolded for this. Juice was probably the happiest team member to have Josh back. Juice joined the team because he wanted to play with Josh and not having him around at first discouraged him. However, Juice stuck with the team an arguably became its strongest member during Josh's hiatus. The team was now at full strength and was poised to go on a hot streak.
Before pZ could really breakout they had to first get a more active roster. Cubs, wtfmate, and Lord all went inactive and Mikey and Kapz were brought in. Mikey fit right in with the team because now Korok could always play his weird heroes or lead ganking role. Josh did not have to play carry as often and was able to play semi-carry ganker more often. At first, Juice had to play more a support role since Cubs left but once Kapz was acquired Juice slid back into to his 'Silent Assassin' role. With the new roster, the team was able to turn the corner. Kapz also was a great fit for the team because everyone on the team, besides maybe mikey, knew him before hand. He was easily able to slide in and play the support role. pZ's first big win came against the former Swedish team, Blight^.The team then went on to beat SGC in Pick-League Playoffs to advance them to the loser bracket finals, and surprised everyone when they knocked out fnatic of the Dota Pride tournament in the second round.
Things are looking up for pZ. They were just picked up by Blight Gaming and are currently the new American sensation. Can they keep up their level of success? Only time will tell but they are off to a good start.
Interviews:
I got a chance to sit down with one of DJLARGECOCK's most avid listeners and infamous EDL Pub-Star, Mikey! Mikey is the one of the newest members on pZ/Blight and is a rising star in the American DotA scene.
NADota.com: Did knowing the members of the team beforehand lead to you joining the team or did you just join because you thought it was a high skilled team?
Mikey: Partially, it was the only team i even considered joining. I always wanted to play on a team with JoshNADota.com: How does this team compare to Decisive?
Mikey: In comparison to Decisive I like this team a lot more, I would like to say it's a better team but that's a matter of personal opinion rather fact.
NADota.com: Would you say PZ puts more of an emphasis on having fun as a team than other teams you have been apart of?
Mikey: Pz likes having fun of course, but in matches like the one versus fnatic it's all business. We try new things and play customs a lot too though which helps team bonding.
NADota.com: What made you leave Decisive to come to PZ?
Mikey: I left Decisive due to the clear fact that Biscaya wasn't tolerable anymore. It came down to him or myself basically and in the end it was me I guess. It was for the best I think, because I'm much happier playing for Pz then I ever was on Decisive.
NADota.com: What do you attribute you recent success to?
Mikey: Well, we were going through some problems with picks but Korok has been doing a lot better picking more to our style and how we play the game so it's worked well, that's a main reason for our success.
Next up is the leader of the team Morphling! I mean Korok!
Enters the famous Josh Amos. AKA: Volcom_Stone, SaucepanMafia, Certa.Earth, Stripez, PAINTITGOLDNADota.com: What roster changes has the team gone through recently?
Korok: Ever since Mikey joined the team got a lot more active. Lord started playing HoN and mate is a pretty busy person so he signs on once a week. Anyway we started playing with 4 + 1 ringer until Josh decided to recruit Kapz. The current roster is as follows: Korok, PAINTITGOLD, Ownage-Juice, Mikey, and Kapz. Mate and Cubs are inactive.NADota.com: What would you describe your play-style as?
Korok: We usually try to run an aggressive lineup but we've turtled before.Cubs: Ever since you and I started running teams we decided that we only wanted to play with our friends. From bringing out chancy and wavelength to trying to make friends with better people since chancy's accent became unbearable (free bird!). Do you think pZ is a group of friends and does this make it easier to discuss issues that can lead to drama?
Korok: Pz is a group of friends. I don't think any team can last if you put random players with each other. FREE BIRD
NADota.com: I hear PZ is looking for a new sponsor any insider info you can tell us?
Korok: Stay tuned!(Out of date picked up by Blight)
NADota.com: What do attribute your recent success to?
Korok: Just being more active and having a solid 5.NADota.com: Should we look for Ta becoming a main stay in your picks or was that just a one time thing?
Korok: Probably. I like playing TA.
NADota.com: How are the new roster changes working out (Mikey + Kapz - Cubs - Mate)
PAINTITGOLD: How are the new roster changes working out? Uhh they're working out for the best I think.. Mikey is really active and Kapz is working out surprisingly well.. Cubs had to leave due to school and partying with jabbathehut(LOL) i miss him but he just couldn't dedicate to a team anymore. Mate's schedule was pretty horrible for the rest of the team.. so we barely got in any scrim time.. although his schedule was off, I felt like mate's head wasn't in the game as much as it used to be with his former teammates/friends. Lord left because he got left out 1 game and never signed back on ???
NADota.com: Does this team feel like a former team of yours team Shakens?
PAINTITGOLD: Does this team feel like Shakens? Well I guess in a certain way it does feel like Shakens.. 5 active strong players who didn't start at the top but gradually rose and dominated.. but now Kapz is alot better than he used to be and juice has gotten alot better too, and I'd like to think Ive improved.. Mikey fits well with our team and Korok plays all the weird heroes that James (miraclechimpmunk) used to play. I feel we are going to be stronger in the future.
NADota.com: What do you attribute your recent success in tournaments to
PAINTITGOLD: What do we attribute our recent success? Well i guess i attribute it to sticking around even though we were having roster problems as well as never scrimming.
NADota.com: PZ didn't experience the amount of success at the first that it is experiencing now, why was the team able to stay together during this tough stretch?
PAINTITGOLD: pZ didn't experience success because we had players leave the team which left a void, on top of that players who minds weren't on the grind (weren't motivated enough) and no scrims/leagues to play in also, I didn't take dota very seriously because i was planning on quitting after helping Korok rebuild the team with solid structure.. but Ive had countless surgeries which keep me here
NADota.com: Do you feel like the team is pretty much a group of friends which is why it was able to stay together through hard times
PAINTITGOLD: We stayed together because me and Korok built this team on the fundamentals of good friendship, and that you have to completely trust and believe in your team mates to fulfill their roles and play to the best of ur ability. Cubs helped a little I guess
NADota.com: Do you like repeating the question in your answers?
PAINTITGOLD: Do I like repeating the question in my answers? Yes
Let me introduce the Indian sensation! No Ladies and Gentleman, not PMS. Rinoa but my old friend Kapz!
NADota.com: What is your roll for the team and why did you join this team when you came back as opposed to other ones?
Kapz: As far as role it would be primarily support play. Any of the chicken, crow, ward, babysitting heroes. I quit cause the game was no longer fun, and I had to take care of real life obligations, and now my life has settled down and i always kept in touch with josh about anime and with juice about sports and dota gossip. I messaged josh to talk to him about anime and he asked if i was interested in playing again and i said yea i was considering it. I have experience playing with Josh Juice and Korok in the past and i believed i could help them as a support role something i didn't truly embrace in the past but is what the team needed now
NADota.com: What do you think about the player make up for this team? It seems to be a mix of older school players with players that recently emerged as top players.
Kapz: I love the player make up of this team currently, even though I'm relatively new to this team Ive known all these players for a long time. It is a bunch of players who have been around for a long time and almost all of them except Mikey played in the old ihl.
NADota.com: does the team feel similar to a former team of yours Shakens?
Kapz: Very much so there are very little difference from that team and this team. You have Korok who is Yoshi[P] jr, and Mikey who plays kinda like miraclechipmunk who played alot of our carry heroes. What i meant by Korok as Yoshi is that Yoshi was kinda suicidal in games and korok follows sometimes in his foot steps and Josh and Juice are the same but both have improved alot.
NADota.com: what do you think was successful about that team and this team
Kapz: The thing that made us successful about that team was we scrimmed alot, we had dedication from our players and one of the biggest thing was you could trust your teammates to do the right thing. Its very hard to play on a team when u don't trust your teammates to successfully play their hero properly and regardless of how much farm or what the score was. We always kept a positive attitude and we could turn a game around with no items based on our teamwork. I see a lot of that in this team, we are trying a lot of new strats and heroes we all keep each other in check in games and during picks and try not to kill each other. We have alot of different perspectives and one of the best things is we all have had experiences playing every role in dota. Oh and if anything ever gets tough juice always runs to the other side of the map and dies and every1 laugh at him he keeps the mood light even if he doesn't speak. I guess he took your roleNADota.com: Does Juice not having a mic affect team chemistry?
Kapz: We are working on juice and speaking. He's Mexican im not sure if they have education in the country he's from yet. They might still be communicating thru grunt.
The Silent Assassin himself, Ownage Juice!
NADota.com: What made you join this team opposed to others?
Juice: I was intially asked to tryout for EG from Demon but I felt I wasnt ready to just jump into an established team, I wanted to build from the start and of course play with Stripez again.
NADota.com: pZ didn't experience the level of success at first that they are right now, why was the team able to stay together and overcome the adversity?
Juice: Well there was a time when i felt like quiting because i got the sense that the team wasnt playing up to our potential and we never would get there, but after a few discussions with the team i decided to stay and be more helpful and less "emo". With tons of dotapride games together and scrims we now feel really confident. I think all it took was us talking it out and changing up playstyles from game to game to find something that fit.
NADota.com: What do you think about the new additions of mikey and kapz
Juice: Miikey fits really well with us we always wanted a solid carrier to go along with me Josh and Korok's ganker playstyle. Kapz is the newest addition and hes been playing really well at the supporting role still needs more practice with us.
NADota.com: Does this team now feel like a former team of yours team shakens/h20 (after u answer the last onebaby)
Juice: This team doesnt really feel that much like shakens because there is nobody quite like Andre and Remstar so our playstyle is a lot different. As for h2o it does feel a lot like it, because we have 3/5 of the members just need james and adam.
NADota.com: do you feel like not having a mic affects your play at all?
Juice: It does not affect me thought i may affect my lane partner =)
Comments
to: http://nadota.com/images/stories/pzrising2.png
With roster: Korok, Mikey, Kapz, Desrow, Pig, Juice, Cubs
whats the problem here folks
GL
I shed a few tears while reading this...so touching and beautiful.
I believe you are using him for the sponsership and I see no harm in that, But I dont believe any of you guys would chill with Desrow in real life, but more of a "e-friend", If I am wrong correct me.
I love all of pZ btw, just some more comments and questions.
peace
also sup grant
i like the background story and the beginning and the many interviews
shoutout to moon, frankie, finith, slice, sam, 5-s, cubs, lust, and everybody else I forget at this time.
good day, good night.
You have Korok who is Yoshi[P] jr,
You have Korok who is Yoshi[P] jr,
You have Korok who is Yoshi[P] jr,
You have Korok who is Yoshi[P] jr,
idk man, pretty shady fucking business, all I did was post a replay of us beating a group of friends, and the reason I did this is we scrimmed them before, they stomped us and talked mad shit. we felt high as a kite after beating them so we wanted to make them look bad. you took this as the height of dishonour and took it upon yourself to make us lose FYC. You said I had been lying to them ( I did not ). I told them we were in cevo-p I said some teams payed in and some teams did not, but that doesn't make us any worse you shady fuck. The only teams who didn't pay in were EDGE and DBi.
I'm pretty sick of you playing the victim here seeing how malicious and manipulative you can be. You probably talked to Kri or Banguout and said something like "i'm a dota god I manage nadota.com I'm this fucking idol listen to me these are 13 year old kids wanna abuse you bla bla bla they mistreated ender"
fuck you. I hope you get kicked of Blight.us and they keep the sponsor you fat, fucking liar