Interview with She said she was level 18's captain, Alex

During the past week, I had the chance to interview Alex Turner (from She said she was level 18), about his team and experiences with DOTA2 as it has grown. After stints as a player in Heroes of Newerth, Alex is now turning his sights to the realm of Dota 2 as he and his team climb the ladder necessary to reach Godlike status.

I talked to this man to find out what makes him tick and his team.

Name: Alex Turner

Age: 23

Current Team: She said she was level 18

Headset: Turtle beach p11

Keyboard: Tt Challenger Pro

Mouse: Tt BlackElement

Essential tournament food: Dare Mocha Choc Coffee 2for$5 at IGA

As I do with just about every team that I interview, please introduce yourself and your team to the Canberra DOTA2 scene.
I am Alex, Captain of SSSWL18. My Priority list goes as follows; 1. Dota 2. My wife 3. Dota.  This should give you a general idea of how serious we at SSSWL18 are. My team consists of Puresteel; A man allergic to Cats and Losing! NO; he needs no introduction. Science; if God had a Dota team...he would be on it. Iksur; if you want to beat us be prepared to listen to him...Literally he won’t shut up! No seriously he is my brother and I forgot what silence sounds like. 

A lovely team picture

She said she was level 18, is there any hidden meaning behind this team’s name or past indiscretions that occurred with a level 18?
Can't go into detail about this story unfortunately (maybe ask us on the day). But since then we have two rules; 1. Always accompany a bow tie with suspenders, and just slightly more well-known 2. Always check ID.

We could continue on with the innuendos, but let’s keep it at a PG level.  Has your team competed in any other tournaments? If so which ones?
Most of the current team appeared in a Heroes of Newearth(HON) Comp maybe 2 years ago. Due to amazing competition, we sadly lost. We all went into training since then. Many of us taking to the Buddhist of Nepal for guidance and training, there where the high altitude helps increase blood flow to fingers allowing for a higher actions per minute(APM)

Having spoken to you recently, like many other teams, you are confident that this tournament is yours for the taking.  What factor do you think separates you from all these other teams?

I have spent the last month in the gym doing shoulder presses. When push comes to shove I will carry the shit out of my team. 

How long have you played together with your current team?
We have played as 5 for 2-3 months now, but have all been playing and hanging around for a few years together at The local Internet cafe The Barracks. We all also play magic cards, my little pony, dungeons and dragons and are registered MMA fighters. 

Who plays what roles on the team?
 Iksur is our offlaner (gotta put him alone, no one wants to lane with him), NO our hard carry(if its creeps score u want, it's NO u send), Puresteel our hard support(He once was the supporting act to The rolling stones), Science our support/roamer(He had ADHD and can't stay in one lane for long), and I play only Riki, or Bounty if Riki is picked/banned, sometimes Nyx. 

You’re hailed as the 2nd Barracks team, would you take offense to this or do you consider Cunning Stunts and yourself as equals?
Ah yes, I have heard of the "other team". If this were a communist society where everyone was equal, we would be the ruthless dictator and they would be the dirt our slaves farmed(no offence intended). 

Cheers to communism!

Are there any teams that you are familiar with in this tournament or looking forward to playing against?
 Most teams are new for us, so we are looking forward to playing most teams, they all look like friendly people and the whole day should be heaps of fun!

Do you have anything to say to your opponents that will have to face you?
We probably come off as some super cool, good looking guys, with killer beards. But just remember we put our pants on the same as you, one leg at a time... it's just after we get our pants on we wreck the competitive Dota2 scene. 

Alex, thank you for your time, is there anything further that you’d like to add?
 Just that we are looking forward to a fun day, we are not scary people, come say hi. Maybe get an autograph. Whatevs.