ArtStyle on resuming his playing career: “I need to think about my family and other things; I don’t have time for this.”
Ivan “ArtStyle” Antonov, General Manager of the Dota 2 division at Inner Circle, explained in an interview at the Esports World Cup 2026 why he doesn’t plan to continue his playing career and also spoke about a fight within the championship-winning Natus Vincere roster.
About his work before joining IC
I coached the NAVI Junior squad, which eventually became the main roster. For about two or three years.
On playing Dota 2
To be honest, I mostly watch replays and training sessions.
On the desire to play professionally given the current pro scene
Sometimes those thoughts cross my mind, but my brain is already tired of it. I need to think about my family and other things—I don’t have time for that.
On the physical fitness of IC players
[Question: “If the players got into a fight, who on the team would win?”]
Probably laise: he’s pretty big.
On fights in past teams
It happened. Not on my first team overall, but on my first Dota 2 team. That was at NAVI. I won’t go into details, but there was one incident. The roster that won The International.
[Comment: “I can guess who it was.”]
No, it was someone else.
[Question: “If we use the process of elimination, since it wasn’t him, could it have been XBOCT?”]
No.
Inner Circle finished their run at the 2026 Esports World Cup in Dota 2 after the group stage. In Group D, the team lost all five of their matches and didn’t earn enough points to advance. The team qualified for the tournament through the Eastern European qualifiers.
Photo by Ivan “ArtStyle” Antonov.
