tN1R: “I never even thought I’d become an esports player.”

When you’re doing well and start to stand out from the rest of the players, you just realize that someone is bound to come after you. Because it’s inevitable. Any organization, when they see players performing slightly below the top tier, finds—to put it bluntly—a gold mine, because those players are cheaper to sign and have the potential to perform well at the highest level. And in any case, logically speaking, someone was bound to come along. But I didn’t expect that, say, HEROIC would approach me at that moment. Yes, I knew that the core was being sold there, and that the roster would be reshuffled and a new core bought, but still, an organization came along that, to put it bluntly, had literally competed in the semifinals and playoffs of a Major, and for me, that was a shock, because it was such a well-known organization, with very famous players who had competed in all the Tier 1 events and playoffs, and you think to yourself: “Here I am, even closer to my dream.”

I had seven or eight hours of training, then I’d immediately take a 30-minute break, and then I’d spend an hour working with a tutor. After that, I’d be free—I could, say, go do something on my own. I was so—to put it bluntly—fully immersed in this whole thing that I understood: I needed to improve my English, and at the same time, I needed to stay in shape, because they signed me with the goal of having me dominate and play. And yes, I have communication issues—I don’t understand—so I need to score goals to compensate for those communication issues while I’m catching up on my English.

It’s like with any activity. Obviously, there’s some talent involved, some unique predisposition, but I think the earlier you start, the more intuitive experience you gain in the game. I mean, it’s like in any—I think—activity or sport, or even in business; people have a certain intuitive sense. And the same goes for gaming: the more you play, certain processes happen automatically for you—things that other people who play less have to think about. But because you’ve been playing for so long and have been through a ton of situations while playing, it just works on some kind of instinct or intuition for you. ...> I never even thought I’d become an esports player, because I actually loved soccer. I mean, I played soccer a lot.