RAMZES: “When you talk about Dota in the CIS, for some reason everyone says Team Spirit.”

Few people know that I was there at the very beginning of Team Spirit, and it just so happened that Yevgeny Alekseev [Sh4dowehhh] and I were playing for ScaryFaceZ back then. A new team wanted to sign us, but it didn’t have a name yet. And Sh4dowehhh, my longtime teammate, ended up coming up with the name Team Spirit. Back then, the entire ScaryFaceZ roster wanted to move to Team Spirit—we even had a photo shoot.

Well, it just so happened that I played at a LAN event for ScaryFaceZ and then moved to CIS Rejects, and we were signed by Team Spirit. That’s all there is to it. Back then, the roster consisted of me, ALWAYSWANNAFLY, Iceberg, Goblak, and AfterLife. That was the very first team at the founding of this legendary organization.

Actually, for that time, Team Spirit was a pretty good organization. My memories of that period are, I guess, generally positive.

Back then, we qualified for every LAN event; the qualifiers weren’t easy, and we actually beat some strong opponents, but it just so happened that whenever we arrived at a LAN event, we always ended up in last place. But that was the start of my career—a learning experience. Back then, it was my first serious organization—the foundation of my path.

I think Spirit is where they are now because they have a great manager—Cheshir—hello again to you. Overall, I think Korb3n has done a lot for the organization. Shoutout to Dimasi too. DKLana, I think so, yes. Together, they’ve achieved what they have. I think it’s all well-deserved overall. These people were probably the ones who laid the groundwork.

Well, obviously, I have the most positive feelings toward Korb3n, of course. Diman and I worked together at Team Empire, and he was a mentor, so to speak. And to build a team like that from scratch and win the biggest, most epic The International 2021—that’s worth a lot.

Team Spirit in 2025 is, at the very least, a matter of prestige. Even when you talk about Dota in the CIS, for some reason everyone mentions Team Spirit. I mean, well, not “for some reason”—everyone understands why. Actually, that very International had a big impact on that. So, prestige, Tier 1—across the board, in all disciplines. They even have cool in-game voice lines; overall, their media presence and brand—that’s all we associate with Team Spirit.

Winning The International obviously had a very positive impact on the CIS as a whole—and not just on Dota, but on esports in general, I think. Because, well, they were basically five nobodies, so to speak, except for Miposhka. Oh, and Silent, too. We won’t leave Silent out either. Huge respect to Airatik.

It’s also great that Team Spirit is developing our academy teams and getting our youth involved. Young people see how quickly and rapidly all of this is developing here. Full steam ahead.

Nikita Chukalin’s superpower. Probably patience, because for a very long time there weren’t really any results there. And for a while—well, there really weren’t any results for a long time. So, Floating—that was considered a mid-tier super organization here, yes, across the CIS. Then came The International, then the CS roster—I mean, well, we went up, we took off, I’d say. Well, I guess let’s go with patience—yes, let’s highlight that factor.

In 10 years, I see Team Spirit as a major multi-game club with its own esports base and academy teams. Probably without Nikita by then, since he’ll be able to take a little break—he’s worked hard enough. And we’ll probably be aiming to become one of the top esports organizations on the planet.