Fng on Team Spirit: “I’m expecting a definite slump.”
Former pro player Artem “Fng” Barshak commented on the replacement of Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov with Ilya “Illidan” Pivtsaev at Team Spirit, and also shared his thoughts on how the “Dragons” will start the season. Fng’s comments were posted on the BLAST by BETBOOM channel on Telegram.
The quote is reproduced with the source’s spelling and punctuation intact
It’s silly to compare Illidan to Miposhka: after all, Miposhka is already a two-time Inta champion (now a three-time champion, if you count his time as a coach). And by comparison, Miposhka will obviously always be better. All we can do here is wish Ilya the best of luck.
I’d like to believe that Team Spirit knows what they’re doing, and that they brought Ilyukha on for a reason. But I think it’ll be tough for him, because expectations are always high for Team Spirit. Let’s put it this way: a new coach could end up being a liability, but let’s hope for the best, as they say
As for the teams’ skill levels: historically, Team Spirit has always struggled early in the season after The International. Well, except after TI 10—they didn’t start the season quite as poorly then. Right now, it seems to me there might be some motivation issues as well. That’s why I definitely expect a dip in form. Because other teams—seeing that Spirit is dominating—will be preparing, watching replays, and so on. So Spirit is clearly in for a rough start.
Team Spirit won their first match with their revamped roster—2-1 against Team Nemesis. Illidan previously mentioned that he had been preparing for the tournament alongside Milan “MiLAN” Kozomara, and he cited improving his efficiency and being open to trying new things as his main challenges.
Photo by Sebastian Pandelache, SC PGL Esports S.R.L.
