Hey, friends. We're at the Sky Loft hotel in Kyiv where NAVI Dota 2 is currently bootcamping.
I'm here with Roman "Ramzes" Kushnariev and this is his first interview as a NAVI player on this channel.
- Hiya. - Hello. Long time no see, Roma.
Yeah, it's been a while - since LAN days.
That's right, we haven't had any LANs in ages.
Anyway, I'm thrilled to welcome you to our organization.
Let's chat about everything today: your life before NAVI and what's happening now, if you don't mind.
Yeah, sure.
Are you excited to be back to bootcamping and playing for an organization?
Sure thing. I may have been one of those who's made it happen as I was really dying to go to a bootcamp,
as my last one was in March last year with EG in the US ahead of the LA Major, which got cancelled.
What's the main benefit of bootcamping?
NAVI haven't always bootcamped during the online era and played tournaments at home.
What's the advantage of having all your players at the same place?
I don't know, it's just that I've known Bogdan [Iceberg] and AWF for a while.
And Rodjer, too, though he couldn't come.
I just wanted to hit the ground running and start improving right away at the bootcamp.
However, Rodjer had some issues so he couldn't join us, and there are four of us for now.
That's how it's been so far.
Good thing you've known Rodjer for years now, so it won't take a lot of getting used to each other.
Why didn't you go to the US during the pandemic? Their borders were open at one point and you could get there if you had a visa.
They'd been playing online tournaments, so what was the point of going there?
Playing the NA league? It didn't make sense to bootcamp.
So yeah.
At some point, I was back in Novosibirsk and I couldn't play with them because of the ping.
Once tournaments came and we started playing online, something clicked in my head and I lost motivation.
Walk me through what happened after you left EG, which was in September.
I think you played your last match with them on September 4 and then you became a free agent.
- You joined Just Error who you played the Epic League with, if I'm not mistaken. - Yeah, we did.
Take me back to that period and what was going through your head. Did you believe in Just Error's success or were you seeking to join other teams?
I took some time off after leaving EG and I felt like making something of my own.
Suma1l and I go way back, as well as No[o]ne and Solo. Zayac was the last one available, whom I didn't know well.
We decided to give it a go, and the ultimate goal was to go to a bootcamp and get signed up by an organization, among other things.
Though it didn't really work out as we didn't last until our first bootcamp.
We had certain issues, so no dice.
Then you had a break. How did you manage to regain motivation to play or it never faded?
What were you up to back then? Did you go on another vacation or you were practicing to maintain your skill level?
I played Dota every day, but I was mainly just chilling and not devoting too much time to the game.
Did it bother you that you were getting out of touch?
It did, sure.
And you started actively seeking to get back to the scene.
I wasn't really excited about competitive Dota up until NAVI asked me to stand in and I didn't even know what I wanted to do.
Though playing my first games with NAVI as a stand-in really made me enjoy it, and I didn't care about the role and things like that.
I was simply getting a kick out of it and that's how I ended up here.
Following Valve's announcement of the DPC season, a lot of famous pro players, including yourself, ended up teamless ahead of the first league,
which meant you were gonna miss the Major lowering your chances of getting to TI.
Did it catch you off guard? Things unfolded rather swiftly as Valve announced the League right after the New Year's along with the new rules.
How did you feel after you were left on the sidelines?
I could make a team with no[o]ne and 9pasha for the first DPC league, but at the last minute we figured it was just the first season, so we might as well skip it.
- So nobody really cared? - Nuh-uh.
Did you have any offers from any European organizations?
Nothing major.
I see. You mentioned one of the European clubs that never had a Dota roster was looking to sign Just Error, why did you turn it down?
We didn't want to let them down at some point.
We could get signed but it could end up being the wrong decision as we'd been having certain internal problems at the time.
So we decided to stay out of it.
You've played plenty of tournaments and LANs in your career, winning Majors and large events, so you know what it's like.
How do you feel about what's going on in Dota, esports and the world overall now?
It's only online competition now. Yes, there was the Singapore Major, but that was different.
Or do you feel more comfortable this way?
It's hard to say, really, but nothing replaces the LAN atmosphere: people seeing each other, hanging out together, everyone is being friendly.
Even bumping into someone outside and starting a chat.
The lounge area for the players.
We don't have that now, but what can you do other than get used to it?
Let's talk about your return to competitive Dota which caused quite a splash in the community.
What preceded it and how did it happen?
We know the guys' side of the story from their video on our channel, and they spoke out on their streams and socials.
Now we're curious to hear all about it from your perspective.
There was nothing really happening from my side.
Basically, here's how it went down: I was asked to stand in, 5 days later I went to Singapore, arrived there, and found out the team had withdrawn from the tournament.
I was like, "Oh, that's a bummer. Well, okay."
Stuck around for two days and went home.
The Major ended and there was some time before the roster lock - about 5 days.
Which is very little time.
I kind of decided to try my luck and asked my agent/manager to contact NAVI.
That's what happened.
- I didn't force anyone's hand. I merely put out an idea. - Feelers, so to speak.
Did you make any other inquiries or was it only NAVI?
No, I didn't, it was only NAVI.
How did the guys welcome you? How did it go with the players?
If I recall correctly, I think it was Andrey AWF who said you'd practiced together ahead of the Singapore Major when it was clear the team was gonna use stand-ins,
and they liked how it went and all the in-game chemistry with you.
What about you? Did the scrims make you realize you were doing pretty well and it could actually work?
Yes, we did quite well in practice, and we are doing so now, but as it turns out it doesn't matter.
- Well, I've always known that. - Yeah.
I had a long break, which is why I need to get my form back.
Alik is really good and I noticed his potential right away, so I'm willing to play offlane and assist him.
Speaking of which, after leaving EG, you said you'd lost motivation to play position 3,
and it was rather an experiment to play in a different region in a new role, which didn't really work out, and then you got back to your old position in Just Error.
What about now? Why did you switch back to offlane?
Well, saying it didn't work out is a bit of a stretch - we placed second in 3 tournaments over six months.
That's what you said and I even got a quote.
Hold on a second.
"In fact, I'm a carry player, but I wanted to switch the region and role to see how fast I would adjust, but nothing worked out."
- Nothing worked out because of the pandemic though. - Fair enough.
We had been invited to TI and I had everything to place high at that TI as an offlaner.
I did really well and you can tell by the results.
I think it's not about results and you doing poorly in offlane but rather you saying you didn't have the motivation to do that.
- How did you get it back? - I've said a lot of things in my life.
- We are well aware of that. - So take my words partially with a grain of salt.
- I don't know. - Sh*t happens. - Exactly.
Speaking of communicating in English and your experience in North America, what was it like? Did you have any language barrier?
And what's it like now being back to the CIS and hanging out with the people you know?
Here, it's easier to relay information, communicate in real life, and discuss things.
Though I didn't have any particular issues there either as we all realized what the ultimate goal was and what we played for.
Alright, back to present day, one of the reasons the guys considered you as a potential substitute was your leadership qualities.
NAVI lacked a shot-caller and captain, so they needed a leader and they saw one in you.
As far as I know, you used to be a drafter on VP and did that for a while.
How's this experience coming along for you?
Yeah, I did. I've always been vocal in the game, though I don't think of myself as a sole leader.
- We had Lyokha Solo, who was our captain. - Right. - And I just helped him in some way.
You were in charge of the drafting aspect though, weren't you?
I was, and so was Lyokha.
We weren't trying to figure out who was better at it, but rather because someone was doing a better job at some point.
I'm just trying to do what I did before.
- But you're enjoying it, aren't you? - Of course.
- Since you said you'd always been vocal in the game and you're now the one doing the drafting in NAVI. - Yeah.
Good luck with this challenging job.
I think there's always a shortage of good captains and shot-callers, and improving in this aspect might go a long way, don't you think?
The emphasis is on "good" though.
Right. I think people get good at it towards their 30's, so you've got plenty of time.
I mean, I was being taught to call and lead by Bulba at EG as he knew why he got me on board and what he was gonna shape me into.
So you had private conversations during which he explained to you what he wanted from you?
I've known Bulba for about 10 years. He's my good friend and he helped me in every way.
- I think he's easy to talk, engaging and so down to earth. - That's right.
How much time did you have to get ready for the second DPC League, which was clearly little, and what was the preparation like?
When did you arrive at the bootcamp?
- I don't remember, about... - Recently. - A week ago or so.
We had enough time actually, and we did pretty well in scrims, getting a good win rate, however, it doesn't matter.
As it turns out with official matches, it's not about how many scrims you won but about your mental preparation.
Speaking of which, you have extensive experience in the game and dealing with media,
but since the announcement caused quite a stir and was the talk of the town, did you feel any pressure from what the community was saying?
Well, this isn't my first rodeo. Goblak kicked me out of the team claiming I was a noob.
I was leaving Empire while having a valid contract, which fueled a lot of drama.
There's always been a messy story whenever I was leaving a team. Except for VP.
So I don't really care about what people say about me, and I don't read that stuff.
The league has started and the new update has brought a lot of changes to the map and heroes.
What do you think about the new meta and how is it being developed? How would you describe it?
The game itself hasn't really changed in terms of what to do on the map.
This patch is too team-based, and it's been like this for a year or a bit more.
Dota is a team-based game and it's all about teamplay.
Take a look at Team Spirit, nobody heard of them one year ago, and they're on a roll now because they've been playing together for a while.
I think they enjoy each other's company and playing together. I don't know, just an example.
You don't need to have highly skilled players on a team to be able to win in Dota now.
To wrap it up, is there any statement you want to make, anything to add or say about NAVI?
Don't shoot from the hip - these changes might be for the better, and nobody knows that.
Keep hoping and believing in NAVI.
Thank you for taking your time and good luck.
To our viewers, everything takes time, so we're gonna keep believing in the team and wish you the best of luck.
- Thank you, Roma. - Thank you.
Thank you guys for believing in us and supporting us.