I got the opportunity to have a chat with the offlaner of Team Dignitas' Dota 2 roster, Saahil 'Universe' Arora. Universe is a very experienced player when it comes to Dota 2, having participated in a great deal of different tournaments. He joined Team Dignitas in the beginning of this year. In this interview we discuss getting into the competitive scene, the offlane, as well as the current state of tournaments and in particular online ones. Enjoy the read!

Allow me to start by thanking you for taking your time to do this interview. You have been a part of the scene for a long time, having participated in all Internationals so far, but you started out with playing regular matchmaking. How did you transition from that into a professional player?

Universe: I started out by playing Dota 1 in the WCIII client. The first league I played in was NADL and the first team I played on was OK.Nirvana.Int at TI1 and I got into the early Beta of Dota 2. From there on out I played on ItsGosu, EG, Quantic and now I'm finally here with Team Dignitas.

What would you recommend that lesser known up-and-coming players should do in order to get noticed and eventually picked up by teams?

Universe: It's probably easier now to get into the competitive scene than it will be later down the road. If you're a talented and dedicated player, you can do well in open and in-house leagues and the competitive players in there will take notice. Matchmaking can also get you noticed. If you continually play well and make friends with some of the professional players, they might invite you to their stack. There are also lots of open tournaments up-and-coming teams can enter with talented but lesser known players and try to go far and make a name for themselves in. Getting known in the scene as a good player is pretty merit-based right now. If you're good, people will notice.

You have been playing for Team Dignitas for about half a year now. What made you choose Team Dignitas? Was it simply because they needed a player in the position you play, or did you know the people beforehand and/or like their style?

Universe: I liked their play style and I've played with Fogged before. They were the best option and team at the time so it was a no-brainer when they needed an offlaner.

Fogged: We share the same bed now, so it's only natural ;)

Now, about tournaments: Team Dignitas are currently participating in a good amount of leagues, including the American Dota League, the RaidCall Dota 2 League and The Defense's fourth season. Do you believe there is some stagnation when it comes to Tournaments in the Dota 2-scene, or does room for more exist?

Universe: There is a level of stagnation and over-saturation in the scene, especially online. While it's good for the viewers in the sense that they get to watch quality games pretty much every day, a lot of the tournaments aren't distinguished from one another. A lot of the tournaments are pretty much the same: Similar prize pools, similar teams, a long road to the finals and most tournament story-lines get lost amongst each other. There isn't room for any more TPLs, D2Ls or Defenses if they all run concurrently. Tournaments need to get better and distinguish themselves in order to continue being relevant.

The International 3's main tournament will be happening in less than three months. You guys were among the teams that received an invitation to the tournament. How do you feel your chances are there?

Universe: I don't quite know, to be honest. We've been doing poorly lately after doing better than most had expected at DreamHack, but bootcamp's starting to go well. I don't want to say too much, but anything can happen, so we'll see ;)

What do you look forward to the most in regards to TI3?

Universe: Meeting everyone again. That's probably one of the best parts of a LAN, seeing people that you've known for a long time but don't really get to see that often.

Let's talk a bit about the offlane, which is where one can normally find you when Team Dignitas is playing. What heroes do you really enjoy playing when in the offlane?

Universe: Weaver and Windrunner.

What skills do you think are vital to have and what is important to always keep in mind when being the offlaner?

Universe: You need to be a strong laner and know match-ups really well. You also need to know how to waste the enemy support's time. You need a good game sense to know when to move as well, although I suppose any role needs that.

Another player who is situated in the offlane is Team Liquid's Bulba, who just like you played for Evil Geniuses at one point. How is the relationship between the two of you? In a 1v1 between you and Bulba, who would come out on top?

Universe: Our relationship is just fine. I would crush him in a 1v1.

6.78 has been out for a while now, what are your general impressions of the patch? What changes were good/bad and which heroes are way too strong now? ( it's Tree, right?) ;)

Universe: The recent Tree nerf was very necessary, as was the nerf to Gyro. I think Icefrog's done a really good job of tweaking what needs to be done so I think the patch was pretty good overall. There are always going to be minor imbalances in each patch, but I don't think that's a bad thing.

Which are currently your most and least loved heroes to play against?

Universe: I love laning against Furion (Nature's Prophet), as I get free farm every time. I hate playing against Tree, although everyone hates that.

Some progamers are lucky to have a family which supports what they do, while others aren't. What does your family think of your career of choice? Was it supportive of your decision to pursue a future in gaming?

Universe: They support my choice, but they would probably rather have me choose a different path. eSports is still young, so it doesn't offer the stability of a normal 9-to-5 job.

An important part of dota 2 is communication. In regards to that aspect, what are your thoughts about the mute system and the way in which it is implemented?

Universe: I don't usually talk in pubs anyways so it hasn't affected me that much. If has created some funny situations where my friends get muted, though.

Tons of thanks for doing this interview with me, let's finish by pimping you out! Where can people find you on social networks and streaming platforms?

Universe: You can follow my stream attwitch.tv/UniverseDota and on twitter at @Universedota.

Any shout-outs?

Universe: Shout out to my team, Dignitas, and my teammates as well as our sponsors: Alienware, Soundblaster, Intel, Scan, QPAD, Kingston, Madcatz, Be Quiet!, Twitch, Western Digital, Multiplayand Iiyama. Also, shout out to Broodstar.