Niku on advancing to the playoffs of PGL Wallachia Season 9: “Overall, we’re showing that we’re capable of winning.”
Natus Vincere mid laner Artem “Niku” Bachkur spoke in an interview at PGL Wallachia Season 9 about the team’s advancement to the tournament’s playoffs and explained what the team is learning from its losses.
On advancing to the playoffs
I’m really glad we made it to the playoffs because, as far as I know, this is only the second time in eight Wallachia tournaments that we’ve managed to get there. Overall, we’re playing well, but other teams weren’t quite ready for this tournament either. Some had stand-ins; their lineups weren’t their strongest. But overall, we’re showing that we’re capable of winning.
On what the team learns from its losses
If you look at our first game against 1w Team, you’ll notice that we picked the Dazzle and Nature’s Prophet combo, which had completely destroyed us in the game against Team Yandex. The key point in that game was that they had a very strong lane—literally unstoppable. We tried to take that idea and adapt it for our own players. And I also think they’re simply the best team in this tournament. That’s why they crushed us, too.
On whether he picks Undying in pub games or plays heroes that dominate the lane
Undying is a hero designed to dominate the mid lane. I like to counter certain players. For example, someone with a rank of 200 or 1,000 picks a hero as their first pick and thinks they know how to play Dota 2. But I just pick Undying and destroy him in the lane.
Earlier, Natus Vincere midlaner Artem “Niku” Bachkur talked about watching The International 2026 from home, shared his thoughts on how midlaners played at the tournament, and assessed the changes in team rosters ahead of the new season.
Photo by Luc Bouchon, BLAST.
