Artstyle: The naked truth

posted by Mantis., 102 days ago

V1lat: I think it’s not a secret that you had some kind of cooperation with M5 or to be more precise with, Dmitriy Smeliy (ddd1ms). Can you tell us what exactly went wrong?

Artstyle: Firstly, I want to say that all my answers will be completely honest and I will make no jokes today.

I was invited to M5 by NS and promised to receive 1000$ per month salary, good conditions and all possible support from organization. At the same time Darer contacted me and told he wanted to create his own team. From that moment the negotiations have started. We wanted to create one team with two huge sponsors – Darer and M5. Nobody had contracts at that moment and nobody was connected to the M5 tag so we started discussing terms and agreements.

Darer made a very good proposition and we liked it. We asked Dmitriy about his suggestions. Here I must make a digression and say that his words in a recent statement where we totally refused to pay 10% from prize money are lies. We refused to pay 10% because he proposed a 300$ month salary! I think it is not logical to receive 3600$ per year and give away such a percentage from my winnings – I would have losses. And what is business? Business is profit and in our case we would only lose. I can say more. We were even ready to pay 100% of prize money to M5 but in case we had a decent salary. There should be a normal ratio of salary to given percentage but in ddd1ms proposition it was just ridiculous.

I don’t understand why Dmitriy reacted in such a way. By the way, he also wanted us to promote M5 everywhere for this 300$.

So Darer made his good proposition and it was Dmitriy’s turn. Until the very end it was unclear what he would say. Sometimes I heard about 1000$ salaries for 20% from prize money but in a few hours it was rejected and so on and suddenly I’ve found myself being boycotted.

V1lat: What were the terms of negotiation prior to the boycott?Did Dmitriy and Darer have any personal conversation?

Artstyle: Yes, of course. They exchanged their contacts from the very beginning to be able to make a deal. But all they were talking about was some majority share holdings and other nonsense. We all were shell shocked to know that.

Finally we said everything in a simple manner: “We will give you everything you want – advertising, interviews, T-shirts and any percentage from winnings. Just provide us with a decent salary!” And ddd1ms seemed to agree with it but unexpectedly promoted a boycott. Apparently he felt that I’d stolen his players. But he was the reason behind everything because he couldn’t make a normal proposition to players.

V1lat: It sounds like a very stupid situation to me.

Artstyle: Yes, I am also shocked that Zerogravity and Maxim (XPEH) have signed under this boycott.

V: Well that is easy to explain. It’s like, “Hey guys! I’m being offended at my block. Can you come and help me?” – “Ye, sure! We’ll be there in a moment.”

Artstyle: By the way, I want to disprove everything that was written in XPEHs statement as I have the rights for this. Maxim told that I’d left his team (DTS) once again. But he didn’t say that he wanted to pay me only. The other 4 players from that roster would have nothing! I can’t play in such a team because it has no future. I just ignored DTS organization and won’t work with them anymore.

Also let’s remember the old DTS roster. Nowadays everybody says that team provides you with trips, salaries, LAN’s, etc, so you must respect it and give a percentage from your winnings. Where did we go with the help of XPEH? We were sent to ESWC from Russia.



V1lat: XPEH had sent us to WDC in China once. But the other trips…

Artstyle: Exactly! The other trips were small in terms of invested money. And let’s remember Na’Vi times. Where did they send me?

V1lat: Kazakhstan.

Artstyle: True. That was the only trip paid by organization. At that moment it was not hard because we had Arbalet sponsorship.

V1lat: Yes, I’ve been to Kazakhstan and it costs $300.

Artstyle: Organizations are trying to make cash these days. They issued boycott and it makes me laugh! The three giants are boycotting one person. It just reveals their true nature.

V1lat: What do you have to say about Zerogravity's statement? He said that you let them down and didn't show up for few photo sessions.

Artstyle: It’s true that I didn’t arrive then. I just didn’t tell Zero that I was not going to sign contracts. They were also unprofitable although I won’t tell you the numbers but I would definitely lose as a player after signing them. There was no sense in signing it.

V1lat: So according to contracts, the given percentage from your prize money was bigger than your salary and you could have earned more without your salary?

Artstyle: Yes, you are totally right. I actually didn’t show up for few boot-camps but there were other reasons behind that.

Also I want to tell about another important thing which is giving 10% from The International prize money to Na’Vi organization (20 000$ from each player). Everybody agreed to give their money except me. I was leaving Na’Vi with scandal and decided to keep all my money. I sincerely apologize to McDee because the situation was very awful and unprofessional. Zerogravity told Mcdee to take his money (20 000$) for working as our manager from me. But I wasn’t giving any money and Zero knew it. As a result, McDees salary was gone – he received nothing!

V1lat: So in general McDee was the one who suffered the most. Tremendous! *sarcasm*. Have Na’Vi received their prize money as yet?

Artstyle: Yes, we all received our money. I still have some problems with this but it’s temporary.

V1lat: Do you think this 10-15% for M5 is connected with the upcoming "The International 2"? Maybe ddd1ms wants to earn 100,000$ in such a way?

Artstyle: Guys from M5 told me that Dmitriy doesn’t need money because he earns enough and we can’t blame him for that. As far as I know ddd1ms, he could give us 1000$ month salary and not take any percentage at all! I don’t know why he decided to act like that.

Prior to leaving Na’Vi, I actually wanted to play for M5 and contacted ddd1ms myself. After negotiations I decided not to ruin the team and said that they could count on me if something would go wrong in future. And now I was invited to the team with promises of high salary and so on. But when I came to see the real proposal I saw nothing. By “nothing” I mean miserable salary and high percentage from the winnings.

V1lat: Well, I think in CIS the maximum salary limit is $300. Let’s recollect about your salary in DTS 2010. Was it 200$ per month?

Artstyle: 250$.

V1lat: I think you can earn more money by distributing flyers in Kiev. It makes me laugh!

Artstyle: Exactly. When people say about support from organization they just don’t know the truth. If you want to say that our trips are being paid then remember the number of these trips. Besides, they were mainly paid by tournament sponsors.

In other words, I was never supported so greatly by any organization as people think. If we are revealing the naked truth today then I must say that Na’Vi had 250$ salary before The International.

V1lat: As I said it’s a standard salary for CIS players although there were some exceptions like PGG, who was paid more that 300$ by Dmitriy for streaming at their website.

Artstyle: You know M5 could have created perfect conditions for us. I just don’t understand why they acted like that. It makes no sense.

V1lat: Did you have any personal conversation with Dmitriy?

Artstyle: We had it few times and seemed to have a deal. We have a strong desire to win and he has possibilities for that. The more we are paid the better we play – that’s obvious. Also Moscow is not a cheap place for living. They must have a normal salary so they are able to concentrate on a game and not to search for a second job.

V1lat: As far as I know XPEH invited the entire M5 roster to DTS before Dota 2 Stars Championship with $200 salary and giving away 50% from winnings. I think he noticed that you wont even pay 10% and hence boycotted you.

Artstyle: It’s quite absurd. These people are developing cyber sports and should work diplomatically.

V1lat: Wait a second. What do you mean? You are tyring to say that ddd1ms is developing cyber sports?

Artstyle: He definitely does it in Russia. I think nobody develops it here except Dmitriy.

V1lat: I strongly disagree. Dmitriy only supports his team and not cyber sport. There is Dima (ASUS organizer), Virtus.pro, GoodGame and other organizations who are trying to develop cyber sports. We have ddd1ms saying that he is the only one to develop it in Russia? What has he done other than sending CS team to the mountains? Is this developing cyber sport? Also were you scared to be sent to the mountains?

Artstyle: By M5? Ofcourse not *smiles*

V1lat: I still wonder what the consequences of this boycott will be? Maybe other teams won’t play because ArtStyle comes to the tournament or Kaspersky will not work on your PC because of Na’Vi sponsorship.*sarcasm*

Artstyle: I have already discussed it with my team. Imagine The International 2 finals between us and Na’Vi where they just stand up and go away because of boycotting me. *laughs*

In general this boycott was their mistake. The effect from it is opposite – we are mad and ready to crush any other team.

Dmitriy could have made a deal with us and he still can without any doubts. Just cancel boycott and sign an agreement. We don’t want to be enemies to anybody.

We will certainly play further because we have a team and a main goal which is Dota 2!



V1lat: As I understand your main Dota 2 goal is The International 2, right?

Artstyle: Yes. Anyways this boycott has made me famous once more. I think more people are on my side rather than theirs. The most ridiculous thing is that nobody from M5 has contracts at the moment. The same thing was in Na’Vi and DTS when I was leaving. In other words we have a free choice to play or to go away.

V1lat: I think nowadays contracts should be made mandatory.

Artstyle: I agree. But they should be thought out.

V1lat: Okay let’s take a few comments of ddd1ms from his website. First he says that NS lied in his statement and ArtStyle is a “rebel leader”. What do you think?

Artstyle: I will disagree with these words too. Dmitriy thinks that I am his enemy and I took his team away. He refuses to believe he is proposing awful terms and conditions. And how could I take his team? There are four of them and I am alone. I only follow the teams’ choice.

V1lat: I’m citing his further comment: “Darer proposed them less than they had in M5 before ESWC”…

Artstyle: It’s true. But he is giving stability, paying all travel expenses and I trust him because I’ve worked with him before. This man always keeps his word and pays money. By the way, he gives only a bit less than M5 and he has no sponsors at all. He pays from his own pocket! Imagine what would have been the increase in our salaries if we, for example, sign contracts with Razer.

V1lat: Let’s talk about your current roster (NS, God, Santa, Dread, ArtStyle). How long have you been playing together?

Artstyle: About a month already. We train a lot playing around 7 hours in a row. We already have 2 big and trained strategies. Also we are searching for new heroes in place of heroes that are banned by our opponents. So we have a good progress in terms of cooperation and our team in general.

As for our recent losses to Next.kz and SK, these were our first tournament games. It was hard for me to understand what was happening because I haven’t played Dota 2 since The International.

Then we lost to French team at Infused Cup because their coach knew our strategies and banned two important heroes. We played about 70 minutes and lost in the very end.
The last game we lost was a match versus Fire. They really impressed us! I respect them a lot from that moment. They played very carefully throughout and are good in terms of skill. We could do nothing against them.

V1lat: What about Santa hexing a creep in a match against SK?

Artstyle: I remember that moment but that game was not so important. Nobody blamed him for this as it does happen sometimes. We were losing that game anyway and even destroying mid racks would give us nothing because they had tier 2 towers on top and bottom lanes.

V1lat: You are lying!

Artstyle: Well, we could have won back then if we killed brood and went straight for a throne although I doubt this was possible.

V1lat: Perhaps I should finish interviewing you and ask one last question. There is a very-very huge chance that there will a WCG in Dota 2 this year. I have some reliable sources that have it confirmed. So you know the rules – every team member should be from the same country. How will you decide that?

Artstyle: It’s too early to think of it. Only time will tell. In the end I want to give a huge respect to Valve because we are likely to be visiting The International 2. This time it won’t depend on any team, organization or boycott. They are dealing only with players and high-quality game. They even pay prizes only straight to players. I truly respect them for doing it!

V1lat: Thank you ArtStyle. Now we will talk a bit with M5.God to clarify the situation. Hi, Sergey!

God: Greetings.

V1lat: Dmitriy said he called you many times recently and you didn’t answer. Are you ignoring him?

God: You know ddd1ms blamed me in many things lately. I was a liar, a coward, a bad player and so on. It got to the point when we were blamed of not achieving anything and only consider ourselves “the stars”. At that moment I told Dmitriy to show me other candidates in Dota 2 roster and he pointed out to the M5.LoL team.

I know a few things about LoL because I played it as a beta tester. There is a buff and if you control it the entire game, you win. A week ago I heard that M5.LoL were the only team who discovered it. I was shocked and I think there is nothing genius in this strategy as many fans think.

As for the missed calls sometimes I am just sleeping all day long after playing Dota 2. I never respond in such situation. And this time I accidentally answered at once from an unknown number. It was just a random call answer and I immediately was blamed for being a coward and other stuff.

V1lat: Were you threatened?

God: And how is that possible?

V1lat: Well he can promote a boycott!

God: He can really scare me if he threatens to break my legs or something like that. And what is boycott? – Few dirty comments on a couple of websites and nothing more.

V1lat: What is the present situation in your team?

God: We came back from Dota 2 Star Championship in December and discussed with ddd1ms about our defeat to PGG and other things. Finally the conversation comes to our roster. According to Dmitriy’s recent comments, I said that KyKy and Klif are low skilled players and we should find 2 replacements. He said let it be as it is though the situation was different. One fact in his words was totally correct – we had to find 2 new players. I told him that I must think of the new candidates and he immediately proposed ArtStyle. I was surprised by that because long time ago I was warned to take into account only Russian players but ArtStyle is Ukrainian. As it turned our ddd1ms was ready to make an exception.

Everything seemed normal but Darer became a rock on which we split. His proposition was better and we couldn’t make a deal because of this 10%.

I don’t understand why M5 boycotted ArtStyle now as they wanted to see him in roster just few weeks ago. In the very end we were given strict conditions – being paid 450$ without Darer or 300$ with Darer and give 10% to M5. We responded that with normal salary we were ready to give 50% from our winnings. At this point ddd1ms understood that he couldn’t make an agreement as he wanted and provided a boycott. It’s very strange and can’t figure out his motivation. That’s all I wanted to say. Thank you.

It seems that all of you think these 10% goes to players and 90% goes to M5 and not vice versa. I want to explain how M5 is working with players. All of those guys who have contracts and full support from Moscow Five are giving 20% from their winnings to our organization! This is how it works for CS, LoL and worked for Dota roster from September 2011. Only from April till September we paid them small salaries and didn’t take any percentages. So what I am trying to say is that M5.Dota2 will have the same conditions. I won’t work with Darer!I know that team with ArtStyle is very strong and all our fans want to see him playing for M5 but it won’t happen. We don’t make deals with betrayers. I’m sorry. There are 2 options – it can be a current roster without ArtStyle or completely different team.