posted by Sun_Tzu,
The guys over at Dota 2 Magazine have snagged themselves a really big interview for their latest installment, with both ru Sergey 'Ars-Art' Revin and ru Dimitriy 'LighTofHeaveN' Kupriyanov of the previous ua Na`Vi going on the record.

From the cover of the latest Dota 2 Magazine


The whole Magazine is now for the first time available in an English version, so unlike previous installments where we provided you with complete translated articles, we will instead provide you with some of the key quotations. We highly recommend you check out the whole interview as well, as it presents a truly fascinating read.

Concerning the leadership of Na`Vi and the strife that grew over time within the team and lead to the roster changes, Light spoke as follows:

"The head of the project should prevent such cases, everything is in his hands. What happened was in the hands of Puppey and ZeroGravity. Clement is largely responsible for what has happened, because he is forming the team composition. He is the captain and he should search for players which are needed to implement his plans. And ZeroGravity should approve it. Everything related to the team and the game is on Clement's shoulders; however, the promotion of media projects, public relations and show should be done by ZeroGravity. Their main task is to maintain the balance in order to achieve maximum results."

Ars-Art also chimed in regarding how the decisions were made, as well as how he felt about what had passed and his future:

"From an objective point of view, Clement did everything right - he got the most suited players for himself and his goals. Time will tell if that was useful for the team. Even if something goes wrong for one particular player at the moment, it does not mean that the experience will not be for the best."

"Of course, it is unfortunate that I will not be able to go to The International 3 with this team, but in general - do not worry, I don't feel sad. I'm not making any plans right now - I will take a break for a month or two. Perhaps I am going to comment or will create my own team. I cannot be certain right now. I will most likely travel somewhere to rest there. Also, I was invited to comment Techlabs, which is being held on 23rd of March. I would certainly do something around Dota, but I have no intention to play it professionally just now, I'll get some rest from it. I will go to StarLadder, talk to my friends and acquaintances, someone can suggest new ideas."


In turn Light spoke extensively about why he decided to take time off from the team and what he would do during his time away:

"My departure from Na`Vi is primarily associated with quality of the game that our team has shown during January and February. I have realized that I want to do more interesting things. In late February I was pleased, even though I knew it before, that KuroKy and Funn1k are going to play in Na`Vi. We have decided that I will be inactive for a couple of months, and during this time the team will understand what and how they want the things to be. If they succeed - it will only make me happy; this will be a great progress. Moreover, I have also contributed, because everything could have happened three or four months earlier, but the decision was dragged."

"I had this idea for a long time, that I have to find something interesting besides playing Dota. Everything happened exactly as I wanted. At this point the career in eSports is not my primary decision, because, in my opinion, eSports is still underdeveloped. Of course, I have thought about going there, where eSports is on a completely different level, but to do that I needed to have the freedom, which I have now, I'm sure I will find a good option."

"In three hours when people heard that two players are going to leave Na`Vi, offers came immediately, but as long as I do not understand fully in which direction I want to move I am going to refuse."




Light also spoke about his aspirations within eSports, and his opinions about the current state of eSports organizations in general and Na`Vi in particular:

"Right now I want to get on a higher level, where the process of preparation and training is happening differently than it is now - people are being paid, they come to training, sit down, play and leave, and do it for half a year. Then someone says - "Screw you guys, I'm going home", and leaves the team. I want to do things that progress faster, grow rapidly. In fact, all teams in CIS, except Virtus.Pro, did not improve the quality of their recent plays and did not reach the level, where they could have been. At the momoent, the main problem is that there is not enough high-quality things in the team which develop motivation in-between players. The employees aren't able to create the conditions to improve efficiency. I don't know a lot of organizations in CIS or Europe which have these activities. In fact, at the moment everyone is working with a "I've been paid - must win" mindset."

"Most managers do try to do the best, but they just don't get it because they do not have a lot of experience, a lot of them are newcomers. Right now I want to get into an organization where, figuratively speaking, the captain will be a lion who leads his team to a clear goal, instead of walking around for a few years."

"Na`Vi is no exception, the organization has a lot of thigns, which could be improved. Most likely, this is due to the fact that Na`Vi, like other organizations, has only recently begun to make some steps in development and haven't yet reached a formidable level. However, to be fair, I can say that we were leaders for a long time because we have been provided by arguably the best support amongst European organizations. In addition, we were encouraged by our first place at The International, but the feeling gradually disappeared. We did not have financial problems, but the moral component was suffering."


Regarding his possible return to Na`Vi after his absence, Light said the following:

"I think that if I will have the desire to go back - I have high chances. Our new players can be manipulated. But I am unsure that a return to the sinking ship is worth another try. The time will show whether the team is cable to change for the better - then, maybe, I'll start playing for Na`Vi yet again. However, it is likely that by that time I will find the team that will suit me more."

Towards the end of his interview, Light also talked about the fixed roles in Dota today, and how he felt teams were sacrificing strategic depth and hindering talent players growth by this style of play:

"Roles are just 5-6% of success, you shouldn't forget about the rest. In modern Dota a lot of truly talented players limit themselves to just two-three heroes and always stay at the same lane. The game turns into elementary tactics with the complete absence of strategy. It's obvious, if a system error occurs - team ends up at a dead end, because they are only used to play on a pre-established pattern. This style of play has come from another discipline - Counter-Strike. Initially, only one team played like this, it was Na`Vi, but afterwards a lot of teams adopted this style of play. Perhaps this style is not so bad, but you should be able to switch in every possible situation as we have done in from time to time. Such a model oversimplifies the game, not allowing good players to realize their full potential and opportunity. People have played differently before, it was much more interesting to watch the game in terms of strategy - everyone was playing according to the situation. Now everything is just much easier and more predictable. That is why the best players are from the "old school", who played a lot in those days, then Dota wasn't put within the framework, they were able to teach themselves to think with their own head and have become versatile players."

This and much more, not just about these two fascinating personalities of Russian Dota but also about a wide selection of other topics; such as Envy leaving No Tidehunter, game analysis and educational material is covered in the latest issue of Dota 2 Magazine, which is now available in English.

Check out the full interview here.


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