Pure on joining a Tier 1 team: “Invitations started coming in when I reached rank 30—or maybe 25.”

My friends and I put together a team and played KV. That’s a whole other story—the first time, the first experience. How do you look for KV players from Asia when you don’t have a manager? In professional Dota 2, everyone’s so used to having a manager who messages another manager; they kill time together, teams show up, play, and don’t have to do a thing. But when you don’t have anyone, when you’re just a team, you have to either find a server or know other teams, coordinate with them, and kill time. Plus, there’s a time difference with Asia. It’s not that big, of course, but it’s still there. My job was to find KV matches for us, play KV with other Asians, and even play KV with Europeans.

When I went to my first LAN, it was in a town near Vladivostok—it’s called Artem. We played against guys who were popular throughout Vladivostok and the Far East. It was cool that we beat them—the “new generation,” since we were all younger, but the “old guard” won. From that perspective, anyway. I wouldn’t say that I suddenly believed in myself or that it obviously gave me anything. I was just happy that I went to the tournament and won. It was a whole new experience.

I had a choice: either stay in Vladivostok or go to Moscow, because I had a scholarship from the tournament we won in Moscow. They paid for our tickets back then; we flew there, played, won the tournament, and were given a PS4 and a scholarship to study at “Synergy.” And so, when I turned 18, I was sent to study on that scholarship. I’m still studying—I’m in my master’s program now. I’m a certified manager, by the way.

I was ranked 100th; I played 150 games a day, grinding matchmaking. I grinded my way up while competing with a friend in Vladivostok, and continued doing so in Moscow once I arrived. The first invites started coming in when I climbed to rank 30, maybe 25. Then I broke into the top 10, and that’s when major organizations reached out: Virtus.pro and Gambit. Those were the two main options.

Virtus.pro’s coach was Tolya “boolk”; he scouted players after that The International, where Team Spirit won. I was one of the candidates. He sent me for a tryout. RAMZES, Daxak, Kiritych, and I were at the tryouts. He later told me that they had a rating system based on three criteria: each player and the coach gave their ratings, and then they reviewed them. The guys rated me highly. I was also invited by Sergey Glamazda from Gambit, and I also liked lorenof. We played together back then; it was fun to hang out. Since then, we’ve been in touch from time to time and have a positive relationship. I liked both Gambit and Virtus.pro, but I understood that Virtus.pro was Danya (GPK), Dima (DM), and illias—guys who had just played against Spirit for a top-6 spot in the Intellix Playoffs and could have easily won.

I made a lot of mistakes and didn’t understand a lot of things, but Tolya and I would sit together, and he’d tell me about Dota 2. I enjoyed hanging out with the guys: illias, DM, Dan, and yamich. Tolya and I would stay up all night. I wasn’t interested in anything at all except Dota 2; I asked Virtus.pro to let me stay at boot camp forever.