NS on the Dota 2 pro scene: “The two regions that are currently producing players are our region and South America.”
Former professional players Artem “Fng” Barshak and Yaroslav “NS” Kuznetsov spoke on the latter’s stream about David “Parker” Nicho Flores, the decline in Dota 2’s popularity, and the ESL Pro League season.
On Parker and the regions where new pro Dota players are emerging
NS: Well, he’s a *** [idiot]. I mean, why was he crying?! He’s totally out of his mind. Maybe that’s why he started whining. It’s just the Parker story: every team he joins… Let me remind you that PlayTime is a paiN team—and I think paiN cut ties with them largely because *** [idiot] Parker showed up at boot camp, got into a fight with someone in the very first match, and they kicked him *** [out] right from boot camp. ...> Parker is the guy Tundra invited to play for them, and he *** [missed] his flight right away. ...> Just act normal. Parker seemed like he could play at least somewhat, but he’s just a weird guy in real life.
Fng: If you look at it that way, South America—among young talents—has turned out to be the most promising region over the last couple of years, in my opinion. They found TaiLung, Wits, and Parker too—he’s had more time, of course...
NS: Yeah, that makes sense—quantity turns into quality. They have a lot of people playing, and so do we. The two regions that are currently producing players are ours and South America. In all the other regions, it’s basically just a bunch of old-timers playing—only Karrigan is left.
On the decline in Dota 2’s popularity
NS: Everyone’s already *** [fed up] with Dota; seriously, no one can just play it anymore, while CS is only getting more popular. I looked at the numbers from yesterday [at the Major]—it’s *** [a shock].
On the European TI qualifiers
NS: Honestly, you never know where the chaos will break out in these qualifiers. There was one map yesterday—Nigma—wow! What happened there was enough to *** [drive you crazy].
On the ESL Pro Series
Fng: Let’s be honest, when Riyadh first came out and there was some kind of ranking system in place, it was good, overall. It gave organizations, teams, and players motivation to compete in every tournament, at the very least, rather than just having some teams play at the start of the year… Well, of course, some played and some didn’t, as usual.
Earlier, Fng spoke about the closed European qualifiers for The International 2026. “There’s a good vibe at these [qualifiers] because there are a lot of mid-tier teams, and there are enough slots for them too,” explained the Virtus.pro ambassador.
Photo by Yaroslav “NS” Kuznetsov.
