gpk: “My plan for the future is to play for a couple of months, and then I plan to go inactive.”
The players and coach of the BetBoom Team Dota 2 roster summed up the past season and answered questions for the club’s YouTube channel. Team members talked about the happiest and toughest moments of the year, personal changes, and plans for the near future.
On the happiest moment
MieRo: The happiest moment was probably during the Riyadh Grand Final. We walked out onto the stage, and it felt great to realize that we’d made it this far and were ready to play well.
gpk: Well, let’s go with the victory at Valachia. Yeah, it was just great that we won the tournament—we’d been working toward it for a long time. And, probably, our second-place finish at the EWC, because that tournament was really tough. The fact that we made it to the top two—we were very happy about that. And in the final, if we’d played just a little better, we’d have had a chance.
Kiritych: The victory in Wallachia. For me, that was the very first victory of my life, of my career, so it’s definitely going to be the victory in Wallachia.
boolk: The amount of work we put in paid off, and that’s just nice. I think it all comes down not to the final result, but to the journey itself. If you realize that it led you to victory, then you start to appreciate it, and that brings you a lot of positive emotions.
Save-: I’ll have to think about this for a second. The most emotional moment… Okay, let’s go with the victory at Valahia. It’s kind of the only tournament we’ve won.
On the toughest moment
MieRo: The toughest moment was ESL One Birmingham. After that loss, we discussed our plans for future teams and future seasons a bit. We had different ideas about how to play Dota, slightly different perspectives on the game.
Kiritych: Right after the game—probably the first few hours—it was just an unreal tilt. It’s like, in that moment, you just lose your purpose in life for a few hours, so to speak. You’re just devastated.
Kataomi: Literally two months without even stepping foot at home. It was like going from one bootcamp to a tournament, then to another bootcamp, then to another tournament. That was probably the toughest stretch. And it turned out that Birmingham was the third tournament on that list, and by the time we got to Birmingham, we didn’t have much energy left to play it.
Save-: Also, I think the toughest moment was at the start of the season: the very first tournament after we changed the roster. We played the online qualifiers for BLAST in Singapore, and we lost 1-2 to Team Spirit. And that was really sad. I lost that online qualifier, and I think it was practically the first time I’d ever cried over Dota, because it was the first time in five years that I hadn’t qualified for a tournament. That was really sad at the time.
gpk: That was probably when we finished fourth at Valachia and lost to MOUZ. That was really tough for me. I was also supposed to have surgery around that time. We were playing DreamLeague there. That moment was probably the hardest.
On how they’ve changed over the season
Kataomi: Personally, I’ve come to realize that this game isn’t that important in life. I mean, I think your family and your life are much more important, because the game will end, and that’s it. Well, that doesn’t change the fact that I want to give it my all, win, and so on. It’s just that it’s somehow become easier to deal with losses.
boolk: I’ve become a lot calmer than I used to be. I overthink things less and get less emotionally invested. I just do my thing and am grateful to have this opportunity.
MieRo: Every year I tweak my philosophy and outlook on matches a little bit; I try to approach games a little differently. And we’ve actually brought on a psychologist, nokeepeesh. He helps us get in the right mindset for games. And that’s the main thing that has actually changed many players on our team, making them a little better mentally. Most likely, I’ve become more level-headed and handle criticism a little better. And as a result, I play better, too.
Kiritych: I’ve definitely grown a lot as a player first and foremost, and secondly—as a person. In other words, I’ve learned a great deal: how I want to develop in this game, how to prepare for tournaments, and what my “recipe” is for getting in good shape before a tournament. I’ve been able to figure that out.
On what’s next
Kataomi: Well, probably nothing too special. We’ll just keep playing together.
MieRo: I think something will definitely happen, but, as they say, you’re not really in a position to change it or anything like that unless you really want it. I kind of feel like we’ll just keep developing and working. Personally, I’ll keep an eye on myself and train, no matter which team I’m on. For me, it’s just my way of life, that’s all.
Kiritych: I think there will definitely be changes to our roster. We’ll find out exactly what they are after the reshuffle itself. That’s it. Well, we’ll see what happens.
gpk: My plan for the future is to play for a couple of months, and then I plan to go inactive. I don’t know for how long. We’ll see. Well, I said that I could leave either right away or later—whichever is more convenient for the organization. I don’t mind playing for a couple more months, but after that, I definitely want to take a break.
Save-: I deliberately didn’t make any decisions before the Int, so I waited until the end of the Int to see what would happen, and only then will I make a decision—in the next week or two, I think. So I don’t know. Anything could happen.
Earlier, Dmitry “Fishman” Polishchuk commented on a rumor that Vitaly “Save-” Melnik might switch positions and become BetBoom Team’s mid laner. According to Nemiga’s support player, BB Team wanted to sign Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak.
Photo — Valve.
