Davai on the arrival of lorenof and SumaiL at Nigma Galaxy: “I think we really needed this breath of fresh air.”
Nigma Galaxy offlaner Cedric “Davai” Dekmin spoke in an interview following their victory over Yellow Submarine in the final series of the closed European qualifiers for The International 2026 about qualifying for the tournament, his emotions after the match, the balance between Dota 2 and family life, the choice of Timbersaw in the decisive map, and the roles of Artem “lorenof” Melnik and Said Samail “SumaiL” Hassan in the team’s revamped roster.
On qualifying for The International 2026
It’s awesome. I’m all sweaty, and I don’t even know if it’s because of the heat outside or because of that insanely stressful game. I’m still shaking a little, but it was a great match.
On balancing Dota 2 and family
I promised my wife that I’d get back to my duties as a dad right after the qualifiers. During the qualifiers, I definitely slacked off in that regard, but now that we’ve qualified, I can help out more. [How do you manage to juggle Dota 2 and fatherhood?] If I don’t have qualifiers or a tournament, I try to help out at least with the nighttime feedings. And during the qualifiers, to be honest, my wife basically carries me. And my best friend helps out a lot, too.
On Timbersaw in the last game of the series
We had a few options for the last pick, but we had plenty of time to think it over, so we didn’t panic. Timbersaw just seemed like the most logical choice. The series was pretty back-and-forth and slow-paced, and Timbersaw scales better than anyone else. Plus, he’s my best hero. It’s easy for me to play him in high-pressure matches, so I think the choice was obvious.
On lorenof and SumaiL at Nigma Galaxy
I’d say that as soon as lorenof and SumaiL joined us, the difference was immediate. We probably needed that breath of fresh air. Obviously, we all had our own issues in the previous roster, but this refresh really helped us. lorenof and SumaiL brought a lot of new energy to the team. It was very easy for me to trust them. They knew exactly what they wanted, and when you trust the guys, playing becomes much easier. So the rest of us were comfortable just playing our game.
Nigma Galaxy secured the final European slot for The International 2026 by defeating Yellow Submarine 2-1 in the lower bracket final of the closed qualifier. Earlier, Team Spirit, as well as L1GA TEAM and PARIVISION—who compete under the tags HULIGANI and TEAM VISION, respectively—also qualified for the tournament from the region.
