Hello to all the viewers of Na`Vi channel.
We are now at Scandic Elmia, which is a hotel nearby Dreamhack summer 2015 venue.
And sitting beside me is Igor Sidorenko, also known as Caff. Hello, Igor!
Hi.
How are you doing?
Great!
I know that several Na`Vi squads are visiting this event, namely HotS, CS:GO and Dota 2 teams.
Iím also aware that all of the teams were reaching this place in a different way. Why did you decide,
that they will each take their own path? Why didnít you all take one huge Na`Vi Bus?
Well, itís quite simple. Each team had its own schedule before the event and for the event itself.
Our CS:GO team first had a tournament in Stockholm, and then they had a bootcamp there.
So, theyíve come here from Stockholm.
Our HotS players were flying here not from Kyiv anyway, they were coming directly from their home cities,
so they gathered in Frankfurt and then flew here altogether.
As for Dota 2 squad, we were flying from Kyiv, and by the way, we should have come here only today afternoon
due to well known Ivanís problems with getting visa, but it was issued for him a day earlier than we expected,
so we made a decision to catch a plane immediately after getting it. We arrived at the hotel late in the evening.
But, at least we had some good nightís rest and are now ready to play.
Awesome. As far as I know, you have stepped away from managing teams, however you are still here with the guys.
Please, tell us, what exactly your job is now at Na`Vi
and why didnít Eugene Erofeev come here, who is know the global team manager?
Iím now holding the position of COO and I also deal with squads one way or another, since I oversee all of the sports activities.
Eugene didnít get his Schengen visa, because he was dealing with Akbarís and Ivanís visas.
So, Iím filling in for him. Apart from that, I also wanted to meet face to face with our HotS team, cheer for them,
deal with some business issues etc. Iíve got my own agenda as well.
Youíve already mentioned Artstyleís visa issues and that Eugene had to help Akbar with getting his one.
How often do Na`Vi have such problems with visas? Have many times have you seen it happening?
It is not a frequent issue for us, really. All of our older players have multiple entry visas for 2 or more years.
But as weíve signed up some new players, namely Akbar and Ivan, and Ivan had, umÖHe lost his passport or something,
so he had to get a new one and we were simultaneously trying to get him US, Chinese and Schengen visas.
As for Akbar, his passport was expiring and this basically means the same procedure.
Thus, we had some troubles with these two. Other than that, we donít face problems that often.
Okay, so you are the COO, but you are now here with the teams. What are the benefits of being with the teams?
Is there some action in working with your squads that you donít have in your COO job.
Maybe, you can name some pros and cons. Which one do you like the most?
Face-to face contact is what I love, I guess.
Since most of Na`Vi management, especially top management, used to be gamers themselves,
we are trying to communicate with our players, get to know what they need now or what they might need in the future.
Then again, we are developing at a fast pace,
weíve got lots of plans, some of which have to be discussed with our teams, and this is what I like doing.
Furthermore, it is fun, because to my mind, our players are the most cheerful players ever.
Thatís true. Youíve got 2 fresh players. Well, one is absolutely fresh, and the other one is ìsemi-freshî.
What can you say about Akbar? I hope you had time to get to know him, because when we were having breakfast,
he was sitting next to me and said only about 5 words in like 45 minutes.
Actually, quite the opposite is happening in the game.
I donít want to overpraise, but we are very glad weíve got him. He contributed so much to the play style.
We were watching the boys during bootcamp and then during TI qualifiers,
and he actually added a whole lot to the team together with Artstyle, of course.
And he is much more talkative in the game than in real life.
Overall, he is a friendly, easy-going and joyful guy, weíve only had positive emotions about him so far.
Thatís wonderful.
Letís get back to those visa problems. Did you think of not going to China at all or did it all happen too fast?
Yes, we though about that, but the time frame did not allow us to make this decision.
There was a delay on issuing the visa, but we were sure we would get it.
And certainly we didnít expect to wait as long as a week for it.
If we'd known that, we would have definitely given it up. But as 4 of our player were already in China,
we were hoping to send Ivan there a bit later. Unfortunately, it didnít go as planned.
Correct me if Iím wrong, you wouldnít be here if Artstyle hadnít been issued a visa.
Thatís correct.
Okay. This is your first time at Dreamhack, right?
Yes.
You havenít reached the venue yet, but regarding the trip and accommodation, what are your impressions?
Well, we arrived at about 1:30 am in Jonkoping. We were amazed by the cityís nightlife,
cause there were lots of cyclists, lots of cheerful people, they might have been drunk, I donít know.
The hotel was stuffed with gamers. Feels like a youthfest, to be honest.
The hotel itself is tiny and tidy, has the good and the bad. But, it is the best you can get close to the venue.
I think itís okay. And Iím feeling great, it is like a youth championship or a gaming holiday here.
A gaming holiday, nice. Apart from Dreamhack, youíve traveled a lot with the team, havenít you?
What are the main problems of Na`Vi? Is it discipline or something? I mean, amongst players.
It can be discipline sometimes, but it is the managerís task to organize everything and everyone properly.
Our guys are not special in any way, they are people just like all of us. So, I donít really now.
We might have some casual issues, as everyone does, as any other player or team might have, nothing special, to be honest.
Alright. As far as I know, you have recruited a lot of new employees to your office in Kyiv.
So, in what direction is the company developing at the moment? Is there a clear vector?
Yes, we know where we are headed. We are developing our marketing department, as you may know.
And we have two main focus areas: marketing and sports. Weíre almost done with the first one
and are now shifting to the sports part. We have a lot of great things in mind, but I probably canít discuss them yet.
But we do have some serious plans of fundamental development of e-sports both within Na`Vi and in general.
We have something to offer to the other teams as well.
Will it be like Na`Vi.US?
Haha, no, of course not.
I might be wrong, but I guess that by the nature of your office you maintain close contact with Zerogravity.
Yes, I have to.
And youíve known each other for quite some time. Obviously, Alexander has evolved from gamer to a leader,
but in terms of managing the company, does he have the same level of involvement?
Maybe, he wants to step away, or something. What is going on with him?
Well, Zerogravity deals with strategic decisions.
We now have a tier of top managers, each dealing with a separate department.
And they have all the tools and capabilities of making independent decisions.
But we have a global meeting once a month, where we discuss our plans for the upcoming month and our general strategy.
We strike the balance, plan our next step and get going.
Alexanderís involvement decreased significantly in the sports area, and in the marketing, well, everywhere actually.
He doesnít participate as much, as he used to be, he is only pointing in some direction as a chief, thatís it.
Some say on the Internet, that if Zerogravity starts to travel with his teams againÖ
I mean, he has this quality, that he can persuade people they beat the impossible.
So, they say the teams will start winning again. What can you say about that? Is it worth giving a try?
Well, he has to try it out for sure. But it is hard to say, whether it would be effective. 50/50, maybe.
A team is a complex organism, comprising 5 individuals that have to find a common ground.
They have to find a goal they all want to achieve. So, this is methodology, first of all, trainings and so on.
Sasha [short for Alexander] adds to the moral, which is also important, it does help a lot.
But this is also what the team managers do, and they keep getting better at it.
Thus, I can only say that Sashaís presence wonít hurt, though I donít know whether it would be helpful.
Youíve been with Na`Vi for a long time.
Since 2012.
Well, not that long, 3 yearsÖWhat do you think was Na`Viís biggest accomplishment for this period?
Perhaps, the fact that we didnít die!
Should you have died?
There actually were a handful of extremely famous team, which donít exist anymore. Na`Vi is a team that grew out of nothing.
We didnít have wealthy investors, the team was created by gamers and only with their efforts.
So, it is a success to be where we are now. It is great to be developing and to have plans for all the different things.
And thatís the main accomplishment in my opinion.
As for the sports, there will always be upswings and downswings, thatíll come with time.
We are watching and studying our results carefully and we are working on improving them, on reaching the top levels.
I believe, all of our teams have an upswing at the moment, despite the results,
Iím simply judging by the dynamics and by the way players communicate. I have a good feeling about it.
What do you think about the development of e-sports? A lot of good stuff, essentially,
but I also find some bad things. For example, everything is about money now, etc. What can you say?
I can say that the competition has become much more severe.
Amongst players it hasnít really changed, they are still keeping in touch and being friendly with each other,
but at the organizational level, especially with big money involved, the competition is fierce and you can feel it.
Sometimes it may even affect relationships, and in some cases certain people could have made different decisions, from what they actually did.
E-sports used to be a hobby, an idea that united many, but now it is slowly turning into a business.
Canít say whether it is good or bad, but maybe it is inevitable for e-sports to grow.
Do you play anything yourself?
Yes, I play Counter-Strike from time to time.
What about Dota 2?
No, I donít play Dota. But I do watch the tournaments and stuff.
Well, thatís something.
Okay, Igor, I will also be interviewing all of the Russian-speaking Na`Vi players and if there is something
you want to ask them but you donít want to do it personally, you can tell me and I will ask whoever you want.
I donít know if our fans would understand this, but I want to ask Zeus, when he will set about?
The story is that his favourite phrase is, ìWe need to set aboutî.
Set about what?
No one knows that.
Iíll ask it.
Well, Iím not ready to ask anything else. Iíll think some more.
Okay, thank you for the interview. Any shoutouts, greetings etc.?
Firstly, shoutout to our fans, who support us no matter what, thanks for being with us.
Thanks to all our sponsors for helping us develop. We will do our best to continue winning and making you happy.
- Thanks, Igor. Good luck at the event! - Thank you.