GosuGamers had the chance to sit down with the man himself and got involved in a frank yet splendid interview where Ars-Art shed light on his current team Virtus.Pro. He also talked about the atmosphere within his team and their training schedules, future plans and also his view on the current meta-game. We also see him going back down the memory lane and reminiscing about his old teammates including the infamous Vladimir 'PGG' Anosov and the highs and lows he has entailed during the years.
Hello Smile. Let’s get started. How are you?
?verything is fine, but could be better.
If my memory serves right, you were working while playing Dota 2 for Na’Vi. Has the situation changed or is it still the same?
A little bit. I changed the role and team so nothing really has much changed as it was during the time of Na'Vi.
How about your girlfriend?
Yes, I have a girlfriend ... everything is nice between us *smiles*
Many people might not be aware that you received training in boxing. Do you still train or is your focus completely on Dota 2?
Oh, it was a long time ago. And I think I would not be able to combine these two things, either one or the other but definitely not both of them.
What made you switch from general sports to esports? Isn’t boxing one of the well established sports in your country? Did you have any intentions on becoming a professional boxer before punching your way into esports?
Yes, boxing is really developed in our country very much, but I did not set my goals high towards it. It was just a hobby and a way to maintain a good body physique.
Which other sports do you follow?
I just love sports in general, but especially football is the game I love the most. When I have time, which is very little, I gather with friends and my manager to play it. It's a rejuvenating sort of activity that I absolutely enjoy.
How did you get started in Dota?
I do not remember honestly. I think I started around the year 2004-2005 where I was introduced to DotA, when it was still called "the three corridors," followed by DotA Darkness Falls and then DotA Allstars.
You have been into the competitive scene for quite a long time. Doesn’t it bother you that you are still playing games all this while?
DOTA is my life, my favorite hobby and work. I will keep on playing until it brings me a lot of fun to the table. For example, look at CS.GO Pasha, Neo and Taz. These guys are almost thirty years old and yet they still play *smiles*
Your Dota 2 journey began with Moscow Five at the inaugural ‘The International’ held in Germany wherein you won $35,000. What was the most memorable moment for you at that time?
Memorable ... hmm ... as we ran under the wards with Gem for Ehome's weaver (gem didn't give true vision due to some bug by which both weaver and wards were unable to be detected) was the most memorable time for us. It cost us the game and more money *laughs*
Shortly after the conclusion of the first International, you and Santa were removed from Moscow Five. Did you expect such a change to happen?
Yes. People come and go. It's very natural in certain situations yet very rude and demoralising in others.
NS seemed to be very angry at you for M5’s dismal placing at TI1. He mentioned you did not take out adequate time to practice with the team. Is it true?
Yes , it's the sad truth.
You were later recruited by Na’Vi as a replacement for ArtStyle. You synergized greatly with the team and were nominated as one of the best support players to ever grace the scene. How difficult was the transition to support role?
The transition was not difficult, because I was playing around on this role and these heroes in Virtus.Pro during 2007.
Your highest winning till date is with Na’Vi who fell just one step short of winning The International 2. If you could change anything, what would that change be?
I think I would have increased team's hero pool a little more and made it more flexible.
Do you still miss your time with Na’Vi?
Sure, it was the best time of my life in my competive dota career.
You represented your current team Virtus.Pro at TI3 but didn’t reach top 8. Any regrets you’ve had so far? What could have gone better?
Yes. We could have done better at TI3 but we played badly and team synergy was very poor. I guess adding any other thing won't justify our poor performance.
VP has been changing rosters ever since it’s venture into Dota 2. We have seen Illidan rejoining the team after being removed post-TI3 and NS coming out of retirement to rejoin VP – to name a few. Do you think changing rosters on frequent basis is the right way to achieve stability and results?
It's right from one perspective and wrong from another. As I said people come and go, just like in sports where we see that teams constantly keep on shuffling and hence don't play with the same roster. At times it amplifies someone, and sometimes it's erroneous and the organisation/team has to say goodbye to the player. It's as simple as this.
Speaking of results, VP has been showing slow but steady progress with its latest roster. However, you’ve encountered a string of losses against top teams in the past few days and haven’t accomplished much. Can you share your thoughts regarding this?
I know most of the fans are as satisfied with our results as I am. We do not always implement our ideas at the end, but we try and work on it and everyday we are getting better and better. I believe in us!
What is your practice schedule with VP as of now? How much do you guys practice and against which teams do you scrim normally? Can you describe the practice atmosphere within VP?
We play everyday except Saturdays with all teams who are free to scrim against us. About the atmosphere, it varies accordingly. 
Sometimes we strongly criticize each other, sometimes the atmosphere is cheerful and sometimes its like a sea of ??laughter. In short, we all try to work as a team.
How would you describe the change in meta game after the implementation of 6.80? How has the focus shifted compared to the 6.79 patch?
IceFrog is trying to make dota faster with mass moves and action. That's why he changed spawns in woods and moved creeps closer to tower on offlane so the offlaners feel good and have it a bit easier, but supports need to move to get experience somewhere else. More gold gains, you have penalty on buybacks which is ultimately bad for a carry with 15000 gold in pocket. I like this version a lot.
We’ve seen you guys picking Traxex and Ember Spirit. How do they fit into the current patch? Also, which other heroes can be viable according to you? Why?
Each team has its own style and its heroes. Ember Spirit fits in perfectly at any stage of the game, from solo-mid ganker to carry and Drow Ranger is a strong carry which Illidan loves to play. DOTA is like fashion, everything goes in circles... right now it's fashionable, but then someone picks a new hero and everyone starts to follow the trend, forget about the old heroes that used to be played a month ago and behave like nothing has changed. So the answer to your question is that any hero is viable but it must be used carefully.
Are you keeping a close eye on the Chinese teams? Who do you think is the strongest at the moment? Also who has the higher chances of winning this year’s International; east or west?
Not particularly. Teams are changing with regularity and the team that will be in a better shape and with one share of luck is most likely to win.
Describe and compare the European Dota 2 scene with the Chinese Dota 2 scene.
They are the same really. Strategies and gameplays are nearly the same and have bee prepared a long time ago.
Speaking of which, the saturation of various tournaments has been on the rise as of late. We have StarLadder, DreamLeague, ESL, The Summit, D2CL – to name a few. How are you preparing for these tournaments? On which tournament are you focusing the most?
Training = preparing *smiles* Cannot reveal secrets, but we are focusing on all aspects.
Do you think the Ukraine-Russia conflicts would raise any sort of complications for StarLadder and possibly even for TI4?
I hope not because so many Russians now turn back at the border because of the situation, and I really want to visit it. V1lat tweeted that everything will be quiet and peaceful, and we believe him. About TI4 I cannot say anything as the situation will develop according to the situation between Russia and the U.S.
How do you see Virtus.Pro's chances of being invited to TI4?
I think we will be invited to the qualifiers.
TI4 will be held at a new and an even bigger venue (Key Arena) this July. Is this a step in the right direction by Valve?
YES!! It's absolutely the right direction taken by Valve. WE NEED STADIUMS FOR OUR GAME!!! *laughs*
Excluding NS, which player do you bond with the most?
I bond the most with XBOCT as we have been good friends since Na'Vi.
What do you think of NS as a captain? Do you agree with his decision on the picks and the in-game calls?
NS ia a good captain. I agree with almost all his decisions, but we are not robots and we can make mistakes sometimes.
Describe your teammates in one word.
BEARS.
You once mentioned that you’ve played most with PGG. What do you think of him as a person and as a player?
PGG is a nice guy but with an explosive nature. He is very aggressive as a player and will always try to win games at start.
Do you see him succeeding in Dota 2 anytime soon with TR?
Why not! It all depends on how his team performs.
Do people still refer to GoD as ‘octopus’? When can we see him play Tinker through which he earned this nickname?
Not anymore.
If there was one player whom you wanted to see out of retirement, which player would that be?
It's a hard question to answer. If I were to choose any one player then it would be SOYCD.
Will we see you streaming in the near future?
Sure!
Any last words?
Thank you for the interview. Big thanks to Tesoro , BenQ , APC , MELBET and our other sponsors!
Photo source: Igromania.ru
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