Fishman on Satanic’s transfer: “If any Dota player is worth a million dollars, it’s Satanic.”

I’d be surprised if [the transfer is worth more than $500,000]. Why? Where does that kind of money come from in Dota? Is it even profitable? Well, I guess it is, I don’t know.

[Question: “Maybe you heard a different price?”]

I can’t comment on that. Even if I did know, these are all just rumors—I simply can’t believe them. Dota is currently at its lowest point in the last five years in terms of organizations, transfers, and salaries, and someone is paying a million dollars for a player? Well, if any Dota player is worth a million dollars, it’s Satanic.

[Comment: “Maybe it was a long-term contract, or Spirit set a condition: ‘If you want to keep playing…’ Although, I doubt Spirit would put a spoke in the wheel.”]

They will—why not? It’s business. You have your number-one rival, whom you’re facing in The International finals, and you own one of their players. Why wouldn’t Team Spirit throw a wrench in the works or sell him for a high price? It’s business—it’s worth the money. Team Spirit just has a good reputation, but that doesn’t mean they’ll let their player go for free. And you’re hearing figures like $500,000 to $1,000,000; if they weren’t throwing a wrench in the works, that amount would be much lower, but as you can see, no one is going to let a player like that go for free.

Illidan is a hard worker, plus he’s been part of the Team Spirit organization for a very long time and has been streaming. As you can see, Team Spirit is sticking to its strategy—and doing so quite successfully—by working with people they’ve already worked with in lower-tier teams. Illidan was the coach of Yellow Submarine for a while—one of their rosters—and he even traveled with them to a LAN event [This refers to PGL Wallachia Season 7, where the team finished in 12th–14th place. — Ed.].

And Miposhka apparently said: “I’m not about to sweat it out for a whole year, especially since Collapse is leaving; let’s wait until Collapse comes back and we kick Batyuk out—then I can come back if I’m needed.” Batyuk is a strong offlaner. I think, from the perspective of having such a core yet semi-bench offlaner, this is a good option for Team Spirit. They’d be hard-pressed to find anyone better. Plus, Batyuk himself will gain a lot of experience, and all Tier 1 teams will want to play with him because he played for Team Spirit. It’s a win-win situation for both Team Spirit and Batyuk: Team Spirit has acquired a strong offlaner, and Batyuk will gain experience playing Dota at the highest tier.

[Question: “How hard will it be for him to play in Collapse’s shadow?”]

It depends on the person. I don’t think there will be any pressure on him. I think he’ll just play; he played pretty well when he was a stand-in for them [at PREMIER SERIES and PGL Wallachia Season 8, where the team finished in the top 8 at both tournaments—Ed.], so we’ll see.

[Question: “How different might the Spirits’ style be with Illidan compared to their style with Miposhka?”]

I think they’ll stick to the same strategies. I think Yarik [Miposhka] has trained the supports as best he could during this time. Illidan will join the team, and it’s unlikely he’ll be the “decision-maker” there; it’s unlikely the players will dance to his tune. I think Yatoro will be calling most of the plays. Illidan will obviously have his say; he needs to prove himself and earn respect within the team, but that takes time. We’ll see—I think he’ll pull it off.

They have a good, strong roster. There are CIS players, the Dota “big four”—four teams, so to speak—and, roughly speaking, LGD is fighting for the spot that OG, Team Liquid, and LGD are currently competing for.

They have the potential to make a splash; the players are strong, perhaps on par with Aurora. This is the kind of team that, if something clicks—if they find their groove and take a step forward—could compete for the top spots. Maybe not in every tournament, maybe they’ll be inconsistent, but they can do it. On the other hand, they’ve got some veterans on the roster—how old is Sneyking, and how old is SumaiL? [They’re 31 and 27, respectively. — Ed.] Wits is all young blood, eager to prove themselves to everyone, so it’ll be interesting to watch. <...>

I think LGD needs Sneyking, and Sneyking needs LGD. It’s the best place for him. It’s his best invite, and he accepted it.