DCG ShiauC on his team's identity: "It's more important to stay true to who our team is"

Deep Cross Gaming were the first team eliminated from MSI, sent home from Daejeon by back-to-back 3-0s against Karmine Corp and Team Liquid. RFT.GG sat down with Deep Cross Gaming support Liu "ShiauC" Chia-hao — back at an international event seven years after his first MSI with Flash Wolves — to talk about DCG's aggressive identity, taking the reins of a young roster, and the lessons the team takes into LCP Split 3.

How are you feeling after those two series? You're out, but you went down fighting your own way.

Obviously, it's an unfortunate loss. I'm slightly upset right now.

You played MSI back in 2019 with Flash Wolves, at 19. Seven years later, here you are again on the same stage. How did it feel to be back at an international event after all this time?

This is something I'd been looking forward to doing again, so it feels nice to be back on the MSI stage. The one difference is that I'm less nervous than I was my first time.

And the team — did you pass that mentality on, so they wouldn't be nervous as well?

One thing I told them is to just enjoy the competition and not be scared to try things.

You once said you wanted to play against your "senpai", SwordArt, to see who was stronger. Now you're the "senpai" of a young roster — how does it feel being on the other side?

Being the older one, the one who has to lead the others

I feel a little bit of pressure on my shoulders, because I'm responsible for so many people.

Your route since then went through the LPL and several smaller teams. Did you still believe you'd get another shot at an international event like this?

I think in general, it feels a little bit better repping Taiwan when it comes to qualifying for international stages and playing on these.

Even in the losses, DCG stayed true to that hyper-aggressive early-game identity. Against teams like KC and Team Liquid, were you ever tempted to rein it in, or was that non-negotiable that this was your way of playing?

I've always felt it's more important to stay true to who our team is and keep that personality.

In general, if we'd had better synergy, it would have been a good strategy as well.

You've taken on the leader role. Now that you're eliminated, what will you tell the roster so they take the right lessons into LCP Split 3 and potentially Worlds?

One thing I'd tell them is to recap all the teamfights we had — have an open discussion, share our thoughts, and discuss what exactly went wrong and how we should improve them. 

Was teamfighting the main area for improvement against the best teams?

I don't think it's only teamfights. It's also securing objectives, the fights around objectives, and our positioning during those teamfights. Those are all things we need to improve.

Any last word for the international fans who've followed you along this long journey?

Thank you for always watching our competitions. I will be back.