DraCoNT: 2k3. Angels, Devils, Little Fingers and in a Bed with Modri.

[Huehuecoyotl22]

Welcome, DraCoNT. Many people don’t see you as a top player, or rather not yet. But during the last few years you have become a well-known member in the community, especially when it’s about Arena. However, it would be interesting if you could tell a bit more about yourself, both in- and outside of the game.
Hi Sir, thank you for choosing me for an interview. I am 23, living in Prague - the capital city of the Czech Republic - and recently starting to work as a banker. Many people are wrong - I am a top player.

Since when do you play Age of Empires 2, have you played Age of Empires 1/3? What are your expectations and wishes for AoE 4? If you could change one thing about AoE 2, what would it be?
My brother Yezris (2k+ player most active till like 2015) showed me AoE II when I was 7-8 (so around 2003). I’ve been playing single player, sometimes teaming with 2-3 cousins vs. 4-5 hard computers (Yezris was way too good for us). I started to follow AoE scene closely before and during WCL 7 (2011) and I also started to play on Voobly that year.

I’ve never played Age 1 and 3 and for now I’m not concerned about AoE 4. If I could change 1 thing in AoE 2, I’d completely remove hills from the game. They add another strategical point to think about, but they also heavily slow down the game, boost camping and nerf aggressive play in Castle/Imp. They also makes AoE way more luck based.

You have played in some team game tournaments, but not yet in any well-known big clan. What are your thoughts about clans and which one of the long-term existing ones would fit you the most?
I’ve played only 3 TG tournaments - 2x 2v2 Arena tournaments (GoA/ToA) and WiC in 2014/15 with Yezris, here_I_am and never_ever. That was an amazing experience (though it was mainly due to my performance that we were eliminated), sadly all those guys are inactive lately. However, this experience motivates me to play TG tournaments in the future once I’ll reach level I’ll be happy about, for now I’m just focusing on 1v1s. Once I get 2k6 I might look for a clan.

You have recently reached 2k3+ on the RM 1v1 ladder after peaking at 2270-2280 several times during the last year. What happened compared to before and what are you still missing compared to 2k4+ rated players?
I’ve started to play Arabia a lot in February 2018 (lately 60 - 70% of my 1v1 games are Arabia) and it’s easier to gain rating on Arabia, at least once you are 2k - 2k1 player. Top arena players (like Edie, Melkor and Darknoob) are 2k - 2k2 most of the time, so you’d need to be pretty much best Arena player atm to reach 2k3, to be 2k3 on Arabia you need to be top 30. I’m likely top 3 player in the world on Arena right now and top 25 on Arabia and it is still easier to gain rating on Arabia than on Arena.
To get to 2k4 I just need to avoid making the dumbest mistakes (generally not walling last 3 tiles of wall because I’m overconfident, stopping the production of the key unit because I’m too focused on my Sim City, holes, holes, holes...). It would also help to stop playing on notebook with input keyboard, where my w isn’t working anymore (it used to be my patrol key, I write w with ctrl-c, ctrl-v if you’re wondering 11).

How would you describe your playstyle and how much has it changed since you became an experienced player?
I’ve reached 2k for the first time in 2016, my general gameplay used to be on Arabia Hun wars 1 TC CAs all in, on Arena pure boom. Since then on Arena I’ve learned different strategies and how to defend those, I understood the importance of relics and adjusted my game accordingly, but I’m still mainly a boomer, just way better. On Arabia I generally play a defensive meta in feudal with great build order, very aggressive meta in castle age, usually mixing in things from Arena (like 2x Monastery fwd, Castle - UU - 1 TC FI). Compared to the 1 TC CAs Huns meta I kept using for years, I accepted that you usually need to add eco behind your Castle Age push, but especially when I’m behind in the game, I still like to go for 1 TC aggressive play for quite some time and it works more often than it should, simply because Arabia players don’t play Arena and aren’t used to defend vs those hyper aggro strategies.

Why did you choose the AoE nickname DraCoNT?
My first name is Jindra (English version is Harry/Henry), so Dra is there from it and CoNT has no meaning, I just like how it sounds and looks together.

Do you stream? If yes, what is your stream link and how often do you stream?
I used to stream in 2016, I got like 8k views overall if I recall correctly. It was enjoyable, but I wasn’t happy with the quality my stream had (now I mean equipment and net connection). Also I was 19/2k player, my stream didn’t have anything special to offer, so instead of providing inadequate show I decided to stop streaming. I’m planning to start streaming at least 5 times a week in the first half of 2019 again, this time with a far better equipment and net. The channel will be focused on the best gameplay, decision explanations and deep analysis of recorded games both on Arena and on Arabia. I’m not expecting it to be major channel peaking at 100 - 150 viewers, but rather channel for people who want to step up their understanding of the game, because AoE is extremely complex game that none fully understands yet. For now I’m planning to stream on this channel: https://www.twitch.tv/iamdracont.

Prague: What do you like/dislike about it and where would you like to move to?
I was born and still live in Prague. It’s the most beautiful city in the world, just come and see yourself. The city has 1.2 M people, so there will always be issues with traffic and pollution, but it’s not a major problem compared to other European cities. There are things to improve as always, but Prague is still very safe, clean and nice. I don’t expect to move, my family and friends are all in Prague, for now it wouldn’t make any sense.

Favourite things:
a) What is your favourite food and drink?
Chicken schnitzel with potato salad (that’s what Czechs mostly serve on Christmas Eve), favorite drink would be orange juice (I don’t drink alcohol).

Which foods from your home country/region and family background would you recommend?
Same.
What can you cook well yourself and how often do you do it?
If I only cook for myself I don’t like spending much time doing it, so I usually eat potatoes with vegetable etc, if there are more people I’m usually not the one chosen to cook 11.
What would you put on top of a pizza?
Corn.
b) What is your favourite colour? (Does not need to be one of the 8 AoE II colours)
Black.
c) What is your favourite animal?
Dolphin.
d) What/where is your favourite place on Earth?
Valley of the Kings. Pictures don’t show anything, you’d need to be there and feel the atmosphere on your own.
e) What is your favourite song at the moment, of all time (can be top 5)?

1. Globus Europa
2. He’s a Pirate
3. Two steps from hell - Heart of Courage
4. Requiem for a Dream
5. Carl Orff - O Fortuna ~ Carmina Burana

f) What is your favourite movie at the moment, of all time (can be top 5)?
Forrest Gump.
g) Do you have a favourite sports team? (football, basketball etc.)
FC Barcelona (football).
h) What are your favourite traits on a woman?
Confident, slim.

What time do you usually go to sleep? What do you like doing before sleeping?
Around midnight, I love to read in bed.

Which languages do you speak/understand and which would you like to learn?
I speak Czech, English and I learned German for 6 years, but I didn’t use it in last 3.5 years. For understanding it’s fine, I’d need like 1-2 weeks of practise to get to my old level in talking though. Slav languages are similar, so we understand each other with people from Poland, Croatia, Slovenia (although it is still easier for us to communicate in English), even more similar to Czech is Slovakian.

Which countries have you visited?
Spain (Barcelona), France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Croatia, Egypt.
And where would you like to go to? Why?
Maldives - check Google pictures.

What are your hobbies beside AoE?
Jogging, workout, soccer, table tennis, playing theater, books, poker.

Who would you like to meet once, who you have not met? One AoE player and one other person.
I’d like to meet Terror and Littlefinger (I mean the character, not actor).
Any reason for the second? What would you do with him?
For the people who don’t follow Game of Thrones/didn’t read the books - Littlefinger is an extremely intelligent, ambitious and evil character, his goals are to rule the world and to marry the most beautiful woman. I’d just love to talk with him about the world in 2018 and I’d be interested which way he would choose (social media, politics, military revolution...) to rule the world in the end and marry Emma Watson. I’d not like him to do that, but it would surely be interesting. I’d also show him Trump as the most powerful person in the world (or hopefully not), I’m sure Littlefinger would be very shocked what people are we choosing when we have democratic elections, it would likely heavily influence his vision of the world.
It is a very interesting idea. But I don’t think he would choose Emma Watson 11. And it is so unpredictable, because medieval tactics and thoughts are so different from the 21st century. I think he might be OK with dealing with modern politicians, but he would need to know a lot about computers and the internet to infiltrate powerful organisations.

Do you have an AoE idol?
No.

What is your favourite civilisation, map and unit?
Huns, Arena, Conquistador.

What is your favourite in-game sound?
Llama sound when it’s random civ and the game is starting.

If Arabia did not exist, which map do you think everyone would be playing like people play Arabia (and not Serengeti etc., which are just very similar to Arabia)?
Nomad.

If there was no Arena, no Arabia, which 3 maps would you like to play the most?
Ghost Lake, Plains, Gold Rush.

Who is your favourite and least favourite 1v1 opponent?
Favorite has to be Terror, I don’t have a least favorite, but I guess some combination of lag + lame + wall + pause is the most annoying, so likely BacT and players like him.

Who is your favourite team mate?
a) For just playing
Yezris, Modri.
b) Also outside of the game
Same.
c) Would you live in a a) 1-bedroom, b) 2-bedroom) apartment with him/her for a) 1 month, b) 1 year?
For Yezris that question doesn’t make sense as we were sharing room for years, I’d not mind living with Modri even in 1 bed.

Do you want to say anything about Metal?
Every time you need to make a decision between good and bad, you have an angel on 1 shoulder cheering for good, devil on the other shoulder cheering for bad. That doesn’t make the angel good and the devil bad though, but people don’t get it. Metal is very similar to my devil.

In the new expansions, what is your favourite new civilisation and unit?
Slavs, Kamayuk.

ECL: The tournament already started, predict a placement
1) Secret 2) SY 3) aM 4) Suomi

NAC:
What did you like and dislike about NAC 1?
I’d like players to have HM poll to choose from, it feels like this is missing in last tournaments and I don’t understand why. I also didn’t like that it’s invitational at first, although it’s a rare example of invitational tournament where this makes perfect sense, but with NAC 2 having 2 quali spots, there isn’t much to complain about. Other than that I really loved it.
Predict a placement for NAC 2.

1. TheViper
2. Nicov
3. Liereyy
4. MbL
5. Miguel
6. TatoH
7. (anybody who qualifies except DauT)
8. JorDan (could also be 7th if DauT qualifies) - no offence, I love Jordan and I’ll cheer for him in NAC 2, I just see this as the most likely order.

Why did you not sign up for NAC 2 so far?
I’ll go skiing in Italy that week, as much as I’d love to be part of NAC 2, skiing is better.
Some people might argue about that, but it makes sense if you don’t have the highest probability to qualify. Maybe for the next edition you will and also have become even stronger to have a good chance to qualify.

Which 8 players would you invite for Nili’s Apartment Cup 3?
Myself, TheViper, Nicov, Liereyy, Mr. Yo, MbL, Miguel, TheMax.

Which 6 players from your country do you think will form the A team, if there will be a Nations Cup next summer? It will probably be on WK, which maps would you like to be included apart from Arabia, Nomad, Islands?
It depends on if there will be 1v1s or not. There will most likely be Skull, Janik, Error, Mango, Ovenka. If there are 1v1s, I could be their 1v1 player, if not, then 6th likely Exit. CZ guys have incredible team play, I’d likely decrease their performance in TGs. I’d love Arena at least as HM poll, ideally for the 1v1s. Even for 4v4 Arena is IMO the most enjoyable map to watch, because it’s so different from anything else and 17+ team with great decisions can destroy 2k3 team, so it would make good sense in NC, where many matchups are very one-sided if you only include water/open land maps.

Which 4 players would you like to see forming a team? (can include inactive players)
Myself, TheViper, TheMax, Mr. Yo.

What are your thoughts and expectations regarding Masters of Arena 6?
First of all, we don’t know when MoA 6 will happen. I don’t remember when MoA 1-2 started, but since MoA 3 it is starting between November and January. This would collide with ECL, might collide with NAC 2. For me MoA 6 will be the most prestigious tournament of the year and I’ll sign up for sure. However, if we want a great MoA 6, it needs to get top players like MoA 3 and MoA 5. There are 2 options:

1. It will be hosted again by someone from the community like previous MoAs, it will gain couple of hundreds donations. In that case with ECL likely still running, will top players go for it or not? Is the MoA ‘brand’ already huge and prestigious enough for them? Maybe it is, maybe not, but as we learned from past tournaments, either there are most of the top players, or almost none and we don’t want another MoA 4 (despite Racer doing amazing work as a tournament admin).
2. It will be hosted by 1 major channel like HiddenCup on T90’s, KotD on Memb’s etc. I don’t see that as likely, but I’d prefer it because of the coverage, hype and promotion only casters can give to their own tournament. It’s also likely we can get more funds this way and therefore more likely to attract top players. In either case, I hope that Ereon will be admin of the tournament.

Regarding the settings I’d like to see Draft same as in MoA 5, if there are reasonable BOs like 5-7, I can see it as single elimination. If all goes well and we’re gonna get most top players in, I’m still very sure one of the clowns will win MoA 6.

In which other tournaments would you like to participate? Design a tournament concept which you think would be the best for all players (Participant size, qualifying stage or not, regional brackets or not, map pool, match settings - home maps or set maps, random civs or pick, Best of ?, etc.)
200k prize pool, 1v1 tournament, Qualification BO5, Draft, single elimination. Top 128 1v1 rating players can participate, 32 players winning in round 2 move to the group stage, 8 groups of 4 players. BO5 vs. each player in the group, every game worth a point. Winners of each group are put in order by the amount of games won - lost and they can choose players from 2nd positions in each group, winner with the most points choose his opponent first, this way you get 8 matchups, winners of those matchups qualify into LAN Finals, there it’s BO7, same system as NAC 1 had (players play each other, after that based on amount of points they are put in order, 8th plays 7th, winner advance vs 6th etc. HMs included in every stage, rest set maps, no map packs. If I ever win Sunday Million Anniversary, you can expect that .

If you visit AoEZone and Voobly, is there something you like especially or would like to have improved?
Not really, both working very well for me.

What is a) the funniest, b) the saddest and c) the strangest moment in your life you experienced because of AoE?

1. So many funny moments with Terror, great fun in WiC... I played 10k+ games, I play 5 - 6x/week, I love the game more and more, finding new great people and most of the days there’s at least 1 really funny thing, I can’t just choose 1 moment.
2. For me it has to be either losing in KotH 1 Finals, when I did such a big mistake and throwed the game due to those or loosing in the MoA 5 Semifinals vs CL, when I incredibly throwed last 2 games and lost 2-3 in the BO5. I usually rewatch videos of my tournament games in case there’s somebody streaming those, so far I didn’t have the courage to rewatch those last 2 games vs CL.

What would you do to make the world a better place?
Make all people read books.

If you were not in a relationship, and could date anyone, who would it be?
Emma Watson, when she was like 22-23 and had long hair.

Choose without having any background information or what it should be about:
Chris or DauT? Chris.
Tim or TheViper? None.
Edie or Terror? Terror.
FeAge or Lavie_Head? FeAge.
ZeroEmpires or Memb? Both.
Robo or Pumukel? Robo.
Lumberjack or Hunter? Lumberjack.
1v1 or 4v4? 1v1.
Feudal Age or Imperial Age? Feudal Age.
Black Forest or Islands? Islands.

Who do you want me to interview and what question would you like me to ask her/him?
Terror. I’d like to ask him, which MoA is he aiming to win (6? 28? 1459?) AKA how many more years of practise he needs.

Add one more comment or question for me or someone else.
Play Arena, boyz.

Thank you a lot for this interview and good luck in your upcoming tournaments.
Thank you too!

 

[iViktorius]

Quick note. On Dark Mode (=best mode) the answers are barely visible. Black on dark grey doesn't work well.

 

[King_Marv]

in a bed with modri some true love here
unusual for the clowns.

 

[Huehuecoyotl22]

Quick note. On Dark Mode (=best mode) the answers are barely visible. Black on dark grey doesn't work well.

I use that mode too. And to me it is clearly visible, unless I put the brightness below 30 %. So it might depend on the screen too.
But I did not think about the light theme, there questions and answers are too similar, so I might change something.

 

[linetyReborn]

@Huehuecoyotl22 I agree with @iViktorius the dark color is barely visible on the dark theme, can you please make the colors like the ones you use in the previous interviews.

 

[Modri]

 

[Poxo]

"I am a top player."

11, and that's how all the interview goes.

 

[Huehuecoyotl22]

@Huehuecoyotl22 I agree with @iViktorius the dark color is barely visible on the dark theme, can you please make the colors like the ones you use in the previous interviews.

I changed it to blue. But it is not because of the theme, as for me there is a good contrast to read it. I don't believe it is because of my eyes, so probably your screen (settings), although my laptop is nothing special.

"I am a top player."

11, and that's how all the interview goes.

That's what I wanted to discuss as well. Some people only see the top 10-20 or tournament finalists as top players. But he is right, if you see the top 30-40 of 1000s of total players as top.

 

[linetyReborn]

I write w with ctrl-c, ctrl-v if you’re wondering 11

@DraCoNT it would better to link some button you rarely use like "<" to w ( you can use "Sharpkeys" to remap your keyboard)

 

[Tarsiz]

Robo or Pumukel? Robo.

Guess Dracont is not one to hold a grudge after all...

It looks much more readable now in blue than it was in black (I'm using light mode).
I think just putting the interviewer questions (and subsequent remarks to answers) in bold would be the best solution as it is not depending on color and works on either background (even if it looks more plain, it's more readable!).

Great job as always HueHue, always nice to get to know more about community members.

 

[RoR_xTeRRoRx]

Darknoob... top... arena... player...

 

[Darknoob]

''Top arena players (like Edie, Melkor and Darknoob) are 2k - 2k2 most of the time, so you’d need to be pretty much best Arena player atm to reach 2k3, to be 2k3 on Arabia you need to be top 30. ''

Thanks for giving me the erection by calling me top arena player lizard <3

 

[_Mr_St4rk_]

Disappointed by Dolphin answer, expected lizard

 

[8th wonder]

his ego is top3. that's about it

 

[edie]

it’s when you are not sure if someone is a troll or a ******, that he might be a good troll.
I rather to think dracont is just a genius troll

 

[DracKeN]

If I'd knew you'd be that offended by this:

Edie or Terror? Terror.

I'd not answer that. I'm sorry Edie.

 

[edie]

I didn’t read the interview dracont 11

 

[Influenza]

you are gonna have to increase that to at least 1200 recordings before you can reach top 25 m8

 

[DracKeN]

I didn’t read the interview dracont 11

Np, you only say I'm either ****** or a troll under an interview with me, without even reading it.

 

[GmanStreams]

Old but gold
https://i.imgflip.com/2h2lj0.jpg

 

[OrnLu528]

Yup. Interview panned out pretty much how everyone would have thought xD

Fun read as always!

 

[rustyknivess]

pretty cocky interview and I think it´s the least interresting one to read (no hate it's just very cocky)

IMO you could always improve and generally all the real top players aren't cocky/bragging about themself.

It's funny that the replies on this interview are more entertainring then the original post.

"FeAge or Lavie_Head? I always question this question and I've never seen someone fill in Lavie_Head lol.

What happend to the Dracont or Metal question 1111

 

[PROject_Belgium]

I applaud dracont for consistent trolling and keeping the banner of arena clown high. But i do want to give him one advice: Why not work as a chicken farmer cuz you are cocky as hell?

 

[nimanoe]

pretty cocky interview and I think it´s the least interresting one to read (no hate it's just very cocky)

Interesting, for me it's the opposite, I think this was the most funny one to read because of the cocky answers

 

[SuperskinnyBLS]

Old but gold
https://i.imgflip.com/2h2lj0.jpg

Bear in mind there are 25 Vivi's smurfs in top50