Hi there and welcome to the NAVI Dota 2 channel.
We felt relieved after Spirit's yesterday's win against BetBoom but we were sure NAVI would make the Arlington Major anyway.
We could be celebrating right now, however, we have one last game to play against One Move.
It's not like it's a big deal but winning every game is important.
We're going to watch the game, talk to the guys and recap the DPC League, which has been quite a success for us.
We'll also touch on the upcoming Major.
It's been a while since NAVI competed in a Major - the last one was DreamHack Leipzig with a completely different roster.
I'm really excited the guys have made it to the Major and we'll finally get to see NAVI at an NA LAN.
That's really cool and I hope we get to go there too.
Without further ado, let's get into it.
The guys lost Game 1, but it's not over yet as we're still in the series.
We are at the bootcamp right now in Kyiv. It's great to be back because I've missed this place a lot.
Let's keep watching the game and hopefully, we finish this league on a positive note.
NAVI just won the series against One Move wrapping up the DPC season.
- I'm here with our midlaner, No[o]ne. - It wasn't the final series though.
- There are going to be tiebreakers. - Yes, tomorrow.
What are these tiebreakers about? Who are you gonna play?
Outsiders are playing Mind Games right now, and if they win, we'll play the Bo1 round-robin three-way tie with them and Spirit for 1st/2nd/3rd spots.
- So basically for the DPC points that we need to qualify for TI, right? - Yes.
- Not qualify but get a direct invitation. - Right.
I hope you do well tomorrow but the regular season is over now.
It was a success for you, obviously, and everyone is thrilled with the result seeing how you've been able to do well with this roster.
How have the past two months been for you personally? What have you been up to?
Do you mean the DPC season?
The last months since our previous interview in April or May. How has your life changed? What's your current routine?
I wake up, do the usual stuff, play Dota, play scrims and then I go to bed.
That's all. I rest and do something in between the games.
The past two months have been like that.
- It has yielded results though looking at your individual form. - It has but I feel really gassed out and exhausted now.
I've been playing non-stop for the past month and a half.
I mean, we did have some days off but we never went out for obvious reasons: there is war going on here.
We just play Dota and practice.
I feel really worn out and I really hoped the season would be over today but we'll have to play for one more day.
Then we'll have a break - a short one, unfortunately - because the Major is in 3 weeks.
- The qualifiers too. - Yeah, we will barely get any rest but it's okay. It comes with the job, you know.
Yeah, our CS is attending LAN after LAN.
I even haven't had the time to get a haircut because of different things happening on different days.
I have some personal issues with the landlord so I'm moving out of my rental apartment.
Despite all the pressure, you still manage to maintain great form.
Do you think about these issues when you're playing Dota? Or does it help take your mind off things?
It does help me distract but the biggest issue right now is fatigue.
It's getting in the way because I can feel that I was doing things way faster two weeks ago compared to now.
All in all, you start anew every time you run the game and no problems are getting in the way of playing.
Would having a rest from official games but not from Dota altogether help?
Of course. Just some time away from the bootcamp because spending two months in the same place never going out is... well, you know.
- You're gonna stay here for the time being? - Yes. - While you're sorting out your apartment issues.
I'm in the process of moving into another place and it's nearly done - I need to take care of the final steps tomorrow.
I don't know how it's gonna go but I hope I can do it with the help of my girlfriend.
Let's recap the season. How do you feel about how it went down?
Well, it went down the way it was supposed to - the best teams made it through.
The only thing I thought BetBoom would actually jump into the last car because they looked really good against Team Spirit yesterday, but they latter bested them after all.
Other than that, I think the result was pretty much expected.
Outsiders, us, Spirit, and BetBoom who nearly made it. It was expected.
What game did you take away the most lessons from?
The defeat against Team Spirit, obviously.
We had a 9000 gold lead at minute 15 but we ended up letting the game slip away and it helped us realize what we had to do.
Yeah, Lyosha said that if you played them again, you wouldn't make the same mistakes.
We wouldn't make the same mistakes for sure, but there's no guarantee we wouldn't make some other errors.
I guess we'll find out when we play them tomorrow.
Yeah, it's going to be interesting.
With the Major ahead, did you follow the other DPC regions? What teams do you think can go big at the tournament?
Are the Chinese teams going to be present at the Major?
No information yet? I see.
Tundra and OG are good teams. I've been following these two only because we've also scrimmed against them.
As for the other regions, EG have stepped up lately. We've practiced against them too and I think they're undefeated in the league right now.
The Eastern European teams didn't do well at the previous Majors. Do you think it'll be different this time around?
How would you assess your chances? What about Team Spirit?
The Eastern European level of play has dropped significantly and the reason is what happened in our country.
I see the Western European teams are way better now: OG, Tundra, and so on.
However, teams have enough time to prepare and play more scrims to adjust their game and step up.
I don't know what predictions to make because it's pretty much random.
A team with position 5 stand-in won the previous Major.
Ceb just got in and won the thing.
Besides, with no Chinese teams you can't really predict anything.
I think it would be a whole different ball game if the Chinese were coming, and I'm sure they would win the Major.
How are you gonna prepare for Arlington?
Being pretty limited in time, what are you going to do? Are you going to have a bootcamp?
We can't even get together as 5 because of what's going on.
The preparation is going to be the same as it was for this DPC season - play scrims at home, watch replays, and talk.
- Do you have a visa? - Yes.
I think you had it before?
Yes, I got a long-term visa in Ukraine back in 2015 on the first attempt.
10 years, yeah, I got the same one. Okay, so it's all eyes on Laise now then, right? I'll ask him later.
Yeah, this is one of the many things we have to take care of so we're really short on time.
So many obstacles are getting in the way and if we do go there, it's going to be a miracle.
- Though I believe we get to go there after all. - Sure.
You also have ESL One in Malaysia coming up soon.
With so many potential LANs and given the fatigue you've mentioned, do you think you'll be playing more energetically on LAN, considering you're an experience offline player?
LANs are the way to go. Playing on LAN and online are two completely different levels of play.
I'm not talking about the last Major because it was basically like the Singapore Major in terms of the competition without China.
It wasn't really a full-fledged LAN, but overall, LANs are really different and I've always liked playing offline.
What about Malaysia? Their fans are great.
I want to get some rest first and then think about it.
I really have no energy to talk about it now.
Okay, I won't keep you any longer then. Thank you, Vova, for taking the time to do this.
Go get some rest, refresh and come back with renewed vigor.
- I guess I'll go ask Vlad some questions. - Go on. Have a good one, guys, and support NAVI.
Ready?
I don't know.
We're about to find out.
I'm here with Vlad Laise and we're going to talk about the upcoming Major and the DPC season.
You just beat One Move so congrats on wrapping up the regular season, excluding the tiebreakers tomorrow.
What was your mindset coming into this game that really held no importance?
Why is that? It was important because we wanted to finish first and get more DPC points.
We secured the tiebreakers and we'll most likely play Team Spirit and Outsiders.
Why did you drop the first game today?
It looked like you weren't really motivated to win having already secured a Major spot.
No, we just messed up our draft a bit, which made it hard to move around the map.
Anyway, it was hard time draft-wise.
The second and the third ones were okay in this regard, so we played better and won them.
What was the most memorable game in the league?
Against Spirit, obviously.
We learned a lot from it.
Against the Kazakh friends. Cheers, guys.
With the Major ahead, let's talk about how your visa is coming along. I think this is what fans are most worried about now.
I have my visa interview on the 21st in Poland.
I hope I get it because I really want to attend the Major.
You said you haven't traveled much, but have you ever wanted to explore the world?
Of course. Besides, it's the US, so I really want to go there.
- Is that right? - Yes.
It's Texas, not the most touristic state but it still must be fun.
Where else do you want to go?
I've always liked countries like Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
They host a lot of LANs.
I hope I get to go there too.
You might also go to Malaysia if you make it through the closed qualifiers in late July.
I talked to Vova and he said this league really exhausted him. With the packed schedule ahead, how do you feel right now?
Well, I'm kind of used to things by now. I've been here longer than they have, so I'm not really tired.
I'm ready to keep going.
You're staying here until the 21st when you go to Poland? Are you planning to get back here after that or travel to the Major from there?
Yes, I'm going to get back and should I get my visa, we'll travel to the Major together.
What teams do you look forward to facing at the Major? I don't want to jinx your visa interview so I hope everything's fine.
Who do you think is the best team outside of China given they might not be coming?
Chinese teams are really good, that's for sure.
Speaking of the European teams, I really want to play OG because we always have fun scrims against them.
I'd also like to beat Tundra.
That was basically what Vova said.
Thank you for producing good results this season. Good luck tomorrow.
That's a wrap for today's vlog, and by the way, this was your first one with NAVI, congratulations.
It's been a while since we posted any vlogs on our channel.
Thank you for watching and supporting the guys. Keep it up.
Drop a like and subscribe to the channel. Bye.