not me: “My brother downloaded Dota. I said, ‘I’m never going to play that crap.’”

I didn’t really like strategy games before. My brother mostly played Warcraft III. My mom, by the way, beat Warcraft III. Twice, I think. Both campaigns. Then my brother downloaded DotA. I said, “I’m never going to play that crap. I’ll never touch that crap in my life.” But then they started playing. I had two brothers, and there was only one computer for the three of us. They were playing, and I had nothing else to do, so I just ended up playing DotA with them too.

My cousin still plays, just in pubs. My biological brother has moved on to CS and regular life. My cousin’s MMR is around 8,000 right now. He follows me and roots for me. He also runs my Telegram channel. He asked me if there was anything he could do, so I suggested he run the channel. I didn’t even want to develop it myself. I don’t know, I just didn’t feel like dealing with it.

When I first started playing Dota 2, I played carry. Then I wanted to learn how to play Invoker. From that point on, I started playing him a lot, mostly in mid. Then my rank was around a thousand or fifteen hundred. At those ranks, people rarely let you take mid, so I played whatever roles I was given.

Over time, I realized I did better as a support. Before joining the first team, I finally decided that I would play in the fourth position. I just like it better. You get more action during the game. It’s a very versatile role: you can play the game the way you see fit—there aren’t any strict templates.

The story is actually really boring. Back then, to set a permanent nickname, you had to go to the website and confirm it. It stayed that way for a whole year. Even before I joined the team, I decided to set a permanent nickname for myself. I just typed the first thing that came to mind—“not me.” Once I was on the team, I had the option to change it. But I figured I’d already built up at least some recognition, so I decided to keep it. [What was your nickname before that?] “Hope.” But there was another player with that nickname, so I didn’t want to go back to it.

It used to be easier. When I joined my first team, I was already ranked in the top 80 or top 90. Before that, I’d played in various lineups, but they weren’t full-fledged teams. I messaged just about everyone. I think I even messaged Dima [Korb3n] when the roster with Satanic first came out. Then I was invited to join One Move. At first, I played really badly. I don’t know why they even took me on. That was my first serious experience playing on a team.

[What’s your main piece of advice for young players?]

Be as friendly and down-to-earth as possible—someone who can message anyone and say, “Hey, let’s play.” If you’re that kind of person, people will be drawn to you and invite you to join them. And if you’re a good player on top of that, even better.

It’s a goal you’ve been working toward your whole life. When you achieve it, you realize it’s not the end goal. It’s just another step along the way. That’s why there isn’t some incredible joy. Of course, you can be happy in the moment, but you realize there’s still a lot ahead.

[Did you even expect an invitation?]

No, not really. I was playing for Yellow Submarine at the time. Korb3n messaged me and explained the situation, then asked if I’d be willing to try out. I thought about it for about five minutes and agreed. But before that, I asked if I could finish the tournament with Yellow Submarine. They said yes. That was important to me.

Right now, I have a clear and specific goal—to become the best in the world. But I don’t know how things will develop from here. Because you can’t just stand still and think, “Okay, I’ve reached my goal. What do I do next?” You have to look for areas where you still want to improve.

[What does becoming the best in the world mean to you?]

I want people who’ve never played Dota 2 to hear my nickname and start playing the game because of it. I want them to know there’s this incredibly strong player—the only one of his kind—and say, “I’m going to play Dota 2 because of him.”