Na`Vi aiming for the first place - XBOCT interviewed

Na`Vi have quickly established themselves as one of the top powerhouses of Europe, certainly a team to fear before facing them. With the Ukrainian elite, they've plowed through the GosuCup 2nd Qualifier with ease. Indoubtably skilled XBOCT shares a few sentences.

First, I'd like to ask what's up with the nickname "XBOCT"? Whats the reason behind it?
-"Well, it was long time ago, it means 'tail' in russian, like for about 4-5 years ago I had a my hair in a ponytail, and my friend started calling me this word. I decided to use this nickname, till nowadays"

Ah, then I finally know. :D How do you like playing for Na`Vi?
-"Na`Vi is probably the best team I've ever played with. Since we changed the roster, Artstyle brought many ideas about picks and the game itself, and we started to make progress. The organization is very good, ZeroGravity is maybe the best manager and teamleader I've ever met, he is like a part of the team, and also sponsors help us out, with everything we need."

Can you give the readers an introduction to the players of the team? What roles they play and such.
-"Artstyle is a trilane carry or forester, also the mastermind of the team, I think there's no need to explain further about him. :) Dendi is a semicarry/carry player, he is okay with raping mid every game, and then controlling the entire map with his advantage. Axypa is support, usually on trilane, he's been playing support for more than 5 years, so I think he knows something. :D Goblin is an allrounder. Now they are training together with Axypa and Artstyle to prepare for the Chinese. And I'm solo carry/semicarry on top/bot lane."

Ye, I just saw your Puck. Really impressive Phase Shift action.
"It's easy with Puck, everyone can do it."

Has it changed alot with adding Dendi and Artstyle as players? Especially Artstyle as captain?
-"Yes, probably changed everything. Deff- and Mag~ are great guys, and I wish them good luck in future dota career, but Artstyle and Dendi brought stimulance and their chinese experience to the team, now we are preparing hard for next lan event."

Might not be any prestigious LAN events until the end of the year though. If you don't count ASUS every now and then.
-"The year has just started, and until Dota 2 comes, there are gonna be some events in Europe (DTS-cup, ESWC, maybe something else) and hopefully in China aswell. And ASUS is not that bad :)"

Ofcourse not, it's the epic clash of the russians. I've noticed you've taken over the aggression DTS had in trilanes. Picking lots of stuns and just kill everything. Is that because of ArtStyle?
-"Not gonna share all secrets, but aggressive play is the right way to win in Europe, it's just training of teamplay now, that's why you don't see Medusa every game."

Well, everyone likes to see aggressive play win, so it's not bad. How do you like the current DotA version, 6.70c?
-"I'm very glad to finally meet AA in competitive dota, so I like it. And Medallion is my favourite item, Venge became even more imba. And I think that nothing will change in future versions, everyone will farm4win.)"

Personally, I think that Weaver is a very strong solo lane contender, so I guess we'll see lots of him too.
"-There are many heroes that counter Weaver, but yeah, it's a very good solo and action hero, I like it."

Which hero do you consider most overpowered at the moment?
-"It's Morphling, everyone knows that.) It's very good on lane, and middle game is totally raped by a good morph, and it's also hard to counter. Alchemist is also very overpowered, nohing changes."

I guess lots of people would agree on that yes. Any underrated hero then?
-"All heroes are cool and useable, but in competitive DotA I would like the return of Sand King, somehow change it to make him more stable, maybe range of stun. Don't know, but I miss 48b times."

Everyone loves Sand King, he's the charmer of DotA. Would you like to see -"v6.70c as default map in GosuCup Groupstage?
-"Yes, it's better than 6.69. Moreover everyone started playing 70c, I hope playoff atleast will be on newest version."

What do you have for expectations on GosuCup? How far do you think Na`Vi will go?
-"Gonna take the first place :D There are others like MYM, NWO, DTS, TR and Lost.eu, the guys who're gonna compete for the top. But we are okay to fight them."

I see, might have some big games incoming then. How do you usually prepare for a big game?
-" 'Usually' is a big word, because we only been together ~3 weeks, but we're playing about 2-3 games per day as a team, and I think nothing will change before a big game."

Or no game is big enough, hah. Is there any player you fear?
-"I'm scared of China a bit, especially Burning, cause I've never played vs them, but face to face there is nothing to fear. :)"

No EU player you respect more than others?
-" I respect Kuroky and Puppey, especially when I met them on LAN, they are very funny and communicative people in real life, so I enjoyed the time I spent with them. They're very good DotA players, I've learned alot from Puppey. I was also a fan of MiSeRy, but his bad manner sometimes blow away all his fans. :)"

I guess it's too early to tell, because you haven't really had any big games yet, but you watch replays of teams you're about to face? Or replays in general?
-"Watched all replays of Ehome vs LGD. Also watching some finals, or just some Recommend Replays, not much at all really."

Okay, I think that concludes it for now. Thanks for the time. Any shoutouts?
-"Shoutout to Soju, Electri^_ka, all our fans, thank you for helping us) also thanks to our sponsors for their care about us. And also shoutout to Deff- and Mag~."