在完美世界上海Major期間，TomorrowLAN團隊與蒙古電競團隊META創辦人KEi進行了一次訪談，他過去幾年間持續推動蒙古CS的深耕發展，舉辦過賽事也與許多蒙古選手、教練製作節目。本次訪談我們將著重於那些鮮為人知的蒙古電競發展。
TomorrowLAN：第一個問題我想問的是有關參加IEM Taipei 2016年的The MongolZ選手。我知道Zilkenberg和Machinegun過去曾在印度隊伍打比賽，我很好奇為什麼他們選擇和印度選手一起打，不是和蒙古選手一起？
(The first question concerns the players of The MongolZ who played in IEM Taipei 2016. I knew that Zilkenberg and Machinegun were on the Indian team. I am curious about why they played with Indian players instead of Mongolian players.)
KEi：在我的印象裏面，Machinegun在當時去了印度唸書，他也和Zilkenberg一起玩了很多的遊戲，他們彼此知道對方也是朋友。當Machinegun在印度唸書時，他把Zilkenberg叫過去唸書也加入他們的團隊，因為就是很想要玩遊戲，也很喜歡這款遊戲，於是他們就開始在印度參加比賽。這只是他們在印度讀書時一個偶然發生的事情。
(From what I remember, Machinegun was studying in India back then. Zilkenberg and Machinegun used to play a lot of games, they know each other, and they are friends. The one went to study in India, and they started to play in India. Machinegun called Zilkenberg to join them, to study with them, and they went together. That’s why I think they just wanted to play the game, cause they loved the game, so they started to play the tournament. It was just a random side thing while studied in India.)
TomorrowLAN：在2016年，蒙古當地的網路並不好。我曾經看過有人說要連到香港或新加坡伺服器，玩家會有60至80的ping。這樣的情況是否真的對於想要打到高強度賽事的蒙古選手帶來影響？
(Back in 2016, the internet in Mongolia was not good. I remember someone said the ping rate was 60-80 connected to the Hong Kong server or Singapore server. Did that situation really affect Mongolian players who want to get to the top-tier scene?)
KEi： 是的，這對當時的環境來說是個糟糕的阻礙。在當時即便是連到香港伺服器都會有100 ping，直到2017、2018年，蒙古的高速網路服務公司才做了可以到香港的直接連線，這才是為什麼後來我們能有60 ping，也是現在的最低ping值。不過回到2015和2016年，蒙古連到世界上任何一個地方都最少有100 ping。作為蒙古CS的第一個世代，他們很快就發現了網路的問題會影響他們與國際上的隊伍競爭，因此他們在越南進行了數個月的集訓，我想這也是他們能夠贏下IEM Taipei的其中一個原因。
(Yes, that was one of the really bad obstacles we had back then. The lowest ping we could get was 100 ping, even to Hong Kong. And then starting from 2017 or 2018, Mongolia’s high-speed internet provider company made a direct connection with Hong Kong and that’s how we got 60 ping, which is the lowest right now. But when back in 2015 and 2016, we all had 100 pings in almost everywhere in the world. So during The MongolZ era, the first iteration, they saw this was bad for them to compete against international teams. They boot camp in Vietnam for a couple of months, which was one of the reasons why they became the IEM Taipei 2016 champion in the Asian scene.)
TomorrowLAN：IEM Taipei 2016的那座冠軍是否有成為蒙古CS甚至是蒙古電競最具標誌性的一刻？
(Did the IEM Taipei 2016 champion become one of the iconic moments of the CS or even the esports in Mongolia?)
KEi：我記得在他們拿到冠軍的那天，蒙古的國家電視台、國家廣播頻道，甚至是報紙和雜誌上都發布了這則消息。在那之前蒙古社會普遍認為遊戲是一件對於精神健康有負面影響的活動。直到IEM Taipei賽事後，國家電視台邀請The MongolZ隊員去上節目和直播，他們接受了訪問和被製作成報導，這才給了蒙古的電競很大的曝光。
(I remember like national TV, national broadcast channels, even the newspaper, and the magazine, they all announce on the day they won the championship. Until then people saw esports, specifically video games, as a bad thing in Mongolia, like you get a mental issue or self-decline. Since IEM Taipei, the national TV invited The MongolZ guys to attend their channel and live broadcast, they interviewed them and made content for them, which gave a really good exposure to esports in Mongolia.)
TomorrowLAN：在這幾年間，蒙古電競實力不斷地竄升。除了CS以外，你們的Dota 2贏下了杭州亞運的銀牌，PUBG Mobile也拿到了PMGC冠軍。你認為是什麼原因讓蒙古能夠在多個遊戲項目上都能有很強的競爭力？
(During these years, Mongolian esports has kept rising. Besides CS, the Dota 2 team won the Hangzhou Asian Games silver medal, and the PUBG Mobile team won the PMGC. What do you think is the reason why Mongolian players come out to win several titles?)
KEi：說實話，我還真不知道是什麼原因。也許是因為電腦遊戲在蒙古很受歡迎，我們有很多的網咖，人們去上課和上班完後，他們就會聚在一起打遊戲。另一個可能的原因是蒙古的冬天非常冷，除了待在家裡或網咖一起玩遊戲外幾乎沒有其他事情可以做。
(To be honest, I don’t really know what’s the reason behind it. Maybe it’s because computer games are popular in Mongolia, we have so many internet cafes in Mongolia. People go to class and go to work, and once they finish it, they all come together and play games. Maybe one of the reasons why Mongolia is getting a lot of achievements is that they practice a lot cause there is nothing to do in the winter. Mongolia winter is really cold, so people stay inside, play games, or go to internet cafes.)
TomorrowLAN： 蒙古的政府對此又是如何？它們有任何的政策來激勵蒙古的電競環境嗎？
(What about the Mongolian government, is there any policy to encourage the esports environment?)
KEi：在2018年或2019年之前，蒙古政府對於網咖和電玩遊戲有很多的限制。正如我所說，人們對遊戲的看法就是他對孩子不好，對身心靈健康不好，是個非常危險的東西。直到The MongolZ時代以及第一位成功在Major出貼紙的蒙古選手erkasSt出現，還有PUBG Mobile戰隊Zeus Esports和IHC Esports的成功。這些成就扭轉了政府對於電競的看法，人們也開始說：「嘿，這是電競，這是個很好的事情。你可以靠電競賺到錢，有工作的薪水，真的很不錯，它不是我們曾經想像的那麼壞。」接著在2020年和2021年，蒙古政府開始重視電競。我們正在談話的此刻，蒙古有一個國家的Dota 2活動，它是由蒙古地方政府贊助及支持的活動。
(Until 2018 or 2019, the Mongolian government restricted internet cafes and video games. As I said, this is something really bad for the children, it is not developing their mental health, it is a very dangerous thing, people think that way. And the Mongolian government did not support anything until then. But since The MongolZ era and also the first guy whose name is erkaSt, he became the first player to come out with a Major sticker. The PUBG Mobile, we have the Zeus Esportsand the IHC Esports. That kind of achievement triggers something within the government. People started saying “Hey, this is esports, this is something very good. You can make a living by becoming an esports player, you earn money, and you earn a salary, this is quite good. It is not something really bad we used to think.” After that, in 2020 and 2021, the Mongolian government started to recognize esports. Right now, as we are talking right now, there is a Mongolian Dota 2 national event taking place in Mongolia, that is sponsored and supported by the Mongolian city government.)
TomorrowLAN： 像是CS和Dota 2這樣的遊戲在蒙古非常的流行，但同樣的有些遊戲像是英雄聯盟及Valorant沒有蒙古的地區賽事。我們也看過The MongolZ發布過對此相關的聲明，你的看法是怎麼樣？
Games like Counter-Strike and Dota 2 are very popular in Mongolia. But some games like League of Legends and Valorant, didn’t have any local tournaments. We’ve seen a statement from The MongolZ saying this situation, what’s your thoughts about it?
KEi：這很看遊戲開發商的做法，舉例來說，在CS我們可以選擇去參加香港的比賽，我們是很自由的。如果有舉辦公開預選賽，蒙古玩家都可以參加，Dota 2亦是如此。不過之前我們的第一支PUBG戰隊成立的時候，他們面對的處境是亞洲沒有任何的席次是給他們的。東南亞有公開預選賽，不過蒙古無法參加因為蒙古不在東南亞。Riot Games也是如此，他們有日本預選賽、南韓預選賽，東南亞預選賽，包括台灣、泰國、新加坡等，但蒙古是完全被排除在外的，這是很多遊戲項目都面對到的問題。現在Riot Games已經修改了他們的政策，蒙古現在可以去打東南亞的比賽，所以現在有很多隊伍和選手嘗試去打到職業層級，不過蒙古仍有很長的路要走，現在還有許多東西在發展，我們仍在一個起步階段，我們有很多具有潛力的隊伍。此外，PUBG Mobile在蒙古有很大的玩家基礎，非常多人在玩。至於英雄聯盟及其他遊戲在蒙古的發展並不好，這不全然是遊戲開發商的原因，只是玩家們並沒有很愛玩。
(It depends on the developer of the game itself. For example, in Counter-Strike, we have the option to attend events in Hong Kong, we have all the freedom. If there is an open qualifier Mongolians can join the tournament, Dota 2 is the same example. But when the first team in PUBG came out, Mongolia didn’t have any slot to join any tournament in Asia. Like the SEA tournament, there is an open qualifier but the Mongolian team cannot join that event cause Mongolia is not there. Even Riot Games also have that issue, they have Japan, South Korea, and also SEA like Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, etc. Mongolia is excluded from over there. That is one of the reasons why other game titles are having lots of issues, but then Riot Games changed the policy over there. Now Mongolia is inside SEA, so that’s why a lot of teams and players trying to come out in the Valorant pro scene. But we have still a long way to go, I mean Mongolia Valorant is just still developing, it’s in the early stage I think. We have a really promising team in the future. Other than that, PUBG Mobile is really big in Mongolia, and a lot of people play the game. League of Legends and other titles are not developing in Mongolia, it’s not really because of the game developers themselves, people just don’t play that much.)
TomorrowLAN：eXTREMESLAND 2024賽事將在明年一月於上海舉辦，對於ATOX及其他蒙古戰隊你的看法如何？有沒有你認為會在這個比賽中被看見的選手？
(eXTREMESLAND 2024 is going to be held in Shanghai in January, what do you think about ATOX Esports and other Mongolia teams? Do you think there is any talented player will be seen by the audience during the tournament?)
KEi：The MongolZ原本會參加這個比賽，不過和BLAST的比賽撞期了所以他們決定放棄參加eXTREMESLAND 2024。至於其他參加的隊伍，我們蒙古有三隊會參加，其中兩個是IHC和ATOX，第三個會在12月底的預選賽中選出。我不確定誰會成為第三隊，但我希望是Chinggis Warriors或The Huns Esports。在所有隊伍中，我認為最強的是ATOX，他們有五名很有天賦的選手，其中兩個是dobu和kabal。有個很有趣的事情是ATOX之前釋出了幾名創隊初期的選手，像是Zesta和AccuracyTG之前就被釋出到IHC。最近他們重返了ATOX並讓這支隊伍更有競爭力，我想他們意識到他們在一起打會變得更好，而且他們也想念和彼此比賽的時光，所以他們重新聚在一起。最近也有一些傳言出現在蒙古的社群之中，大家正討論有些選手要轉成教練，有人要當老師，有些將近30歲的選手準備退役，所以在eXTREMESLAND 2024之前可能會出現變動，像是換人之類的，不過這都是傳聞而已。對我個人來說，我很希望蒙古能出現第二支The MongolZ，像是巴西有Imperial、MIBR、FURIA、paiN等隊伍，你很難說誰是真正最強的那支，他們也都打進了Major之中。現在The MongolZ統治了賽場，他們可以換掉任何選手，補入任何選手，仍然非常強勁，但我們真的需要第二支隊伍出現。
The MongolZ was supposed to join that event, but they had a BLAST tournament at the same time so they decided to draw from the tournament. And for all the teams that are joining, we have 3 Mongolian teams, 2 of them are determined, IHC and ATOX. The third one is the last chance qualifier which will be held at the end of December, I am not sure which team will join that event, but I am hoping maybe Chinggis Warriors or even The Huns Esports, might join the event. Of all of these teams, the most powerful in my opinion is ATOX, they have five players who are quite talented, two of them are dobu and kabal. One interesting thing about ATOX is that they removed some of the players when they were created, Zesta and AccuracyTG were removed and went to IHC. But recently, they rejoined the ATOX team and they are much more powerful. I think they understood they could be better together, and some of them missed each other, that’s why they regrouped again. There are a lot of talks within the Mongolian scene, some of the players are going to become coaches or teachers, and some of them are just getting old like nearly 30 years old, so things might change before eXTREMESLAND 2024, this is a rumor. There might be like roster change before eXTREMESLAND 2024, but I am hoping for the second The MongolZ. The MongolZ is the biggest team in Mongolia, the biggest team in Asia, I want the second Mongolian team to come out. It’s something like Brazil, right? Brazil has Imperial, MIBR, FURIA, and paiN Gaming, they all go for the Major, and they all show really strong performance. You can’t say this team is better, they are all just high-level teams, I want something like that from Mongolian teams. Right now, The MongolZ is just dominating everything, right? They can pick up any player, they can remove any player, and they have all the strong power, but we need a second team.
在訪談結束後TomorrowLAN編輯部也特別送給KEi一件由IEM Taipei 2016時The MongolZ隊員簽名的衣服，希望KEi能夠把這個具有歷史意義的禮物帶回到蒙古，去激勵蒙古年輕選手繼續往更高更強的比賽邁進。
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