Hey there! This is Yana with the second episode of "Visiting NAVI".
This time, however, we're not inviting anyone, we are invited ourselves.
The thing is that Lil moved to Kiev a week ago.
In fact, he moved into a place near mine, so we're going to pay him a visit.
We'll see how he settled in and ask about the reasons behind this move.
Here's Ilya.
Hello people, peace.
So this is my apartment, welcome, and take your shoes off.
This is my housekeeper and my girlfriend, Diana.
How are you? Are you fine with the camera being here?
It's no problem.
Well, over to you.
This is a one bedroom apartment, the second room is the kitchen combined with the living room.
Let's start with the most important, the bathroom.
There are a few lighting schemes, the first one is called romantic. We can add some light.
The bath is huge.
It's very nice and cozy in here.
Have you been living for a week here?
Yes, a week.
That's great. Do you like the area around?
Yes, it's cool. There are places to go out, to have a meal, Pozniaky is a great area.
Can you show us your workplace?
Yes, sure, let's go.
This is the second room.
It's very cozy here.
Here is the smart TV, it's an awesome thing, you can watch Game of Thrones with a subscription.
This is my workplace, I've set it up in two days.
It appeared that it's very hard to find a table in Kiev.
If you order it, it will be delivered in a week or two, so I had to go to the shops myself.
You thanked xtrem4eg on Instagram for the PC, right?
Didn't you bring your own PC?
Not yet, I have friends in Maincast, V1lat and xtrem4eg, I asked them for a PC.
They told me they had a spare PC and a monitor and let me take it.
The chair was provided by NAVI, I assembled it myself and now I can sit in it and play Dota.
I've assembled one myself too, it was a bit difficult, especially the back was a bit heavy for me, not for you probably.
Where do you chill mostly? Ilya is streaming and what do you do?
I watch his streams actually.
Yes, she is a moderator in my chat.
And where do you sit?
On the couch, she watches it on a tablet.
That's cool.
She doesn't really know stuff Dota.
How was it? Red - kill, green - heal? Ban bad heroes, pick good heroes?
Your mom told me she was a bit upset because you didn't want to live there.
That you told that you wanted to move.
Why get upset?
She was a bit upset...
She understands it wasn't an option...
She does, but like every mom, she was a bit upset.
It was mostly not about the area, the area is cool, but once my mom went for a walk,
I was playing, and some people just climbed up on the balcony.
I heard someone knocking, turned and saw a guy waving there.
I didn't understand what was happening.
In the end, I turned the lights off, I was still young, about 16 or so, and didn't know what to do.
Take a knife? It was questionable. Pushing him off the balcony? Could I?
So the guy just climbed up the balcony, maybe on a dare, I don't know.
After that we glazed it, so it's hard to climb up there now, but anyway it was the main reason.
Yea, answering the question you didn't ask, about the reasons behind my move.
Yes, there are places like that around Moscow.
Why did you decide to move to Kiev though? Because it's closer to NAVI, or some other reasons?
Well, for now I'm still in NAVI.
Second, the prices here, I can live here comfortably even without Vitrus.pro-level salaries.
You can afford most things here, even if you're not playing for VP; living is relatively cheap here: food, entertainment, so it's fine.
Where are the inside stories you were posting on Twitter?
In the same place as 1 thousand followers.
Really? So was your idea to gain followers unsuccessful?
Yes, I didn't succeed. From time to time, Twitter removes bots or something, so the follower count decreases.
We had a challenge with Faker, I was slightly ahead, but then our followers count dropped and that was it.
It's the first reason, and the second is... yes, you need to ignore comments and stuff,
but sometimes I read them, and people say that these facts are too obvious,
so if people don't want them, I won't post them.
I'd like to sum up the results of this season and hear your thoughts on it.
Did you assume you wouldn't make it to TI?
What do I think? The results are terrible, this is one of the worst seasons of my career.
I don't remember, maybe Danya or someone else said it already, but the thing is we couldn't become a team.
I mean there were a lot of things...
The team exists when people want to play together, spend time together, and it comes naturally.
In NAVI it was different, a lot of things were done unnaturally, because of politeness and stuff.
I think I bonded the most with Vitya, he is a great guy.
All of them are good guys, but we couldn't find the synergy to get through even the open qualifiers.
You've already been inactive for two months, is it like a holiday for you, or the time to improve some skills to become better?
Even better? Is it possible?
On a serious note, the first month... With a pace of life like that, you simply don't have time to improve health.
For the past month and a half, I've been doing my best to improve health, teeth, and stuff.
Mainly, it's a time for mental rest, because when you've achieved some good result and once used to be on top,
and then you get in a slump and hit beyond rock bottom, it's hard to recover mentally, to find the motivation and resilience to move forward.
Right now I'm focused on that.
Where do you find the motivation? What do you say to yourself?
That's a tough one.
Well, probably...
I don't know, I've always been eager to prove to myself that I'm worthy, that I can do and deserve better.
So proving to myself is my motivation.
I'd like to ask about NAVI players, in particular, Crystallize.
A lot of people noticed that he's improved a lot this year in terms of skill and overall as a player.
What can you say about him, and what can we expect from him in the future?
I can say that Vlad is a great player.
We have a similar mindset and view on things, like the team and stuff.
Vlad has always shared my viewpoints, when I suggested something in the game, he mostly agreed.
He would do that not because he was trying to play up to me, but because he had the same opinion, he is a great guy in this regard.
Talking about his in-game qualities, he has great micro skill, he plays a lot.
I like that while he is still kind of new to the competitive scene, he is already a professional.
There are few people like him, he is very calm and collected.
If something goes wrong, he won't rage, tilt, even if it's some deciding elimination game at Epicenter.
He is always focused and does his best, it's great.
What the future holds for him if he keeps it up and gains a little more experience and confidence?
I think the confidence depends not only on you, but also on your teammates and how well your team is doing.
If people have faith in you, and I'm certain that sooner or later he's gonna form a team where people will have that faith,
he will probably become the best carry player out there.
Because currently the best carry is Ramzes, but Roma has certain qualities that don't allow him to be the best in all aspects.
Vlad's got what it takes.
- So is he the number one potentially? - Yes.
Returning to your Twitter posts... Gosh, we've talked about it a hundred times already.
Nevertheless, since some time has passed, if you could change anything in terms of your
attitude towards opponents, other people, would you change anything?
Well, you know, I wouldn't change anything, because this was for a reason: to understand some things, draw certain conclusions over time, etc.
And secondly...
I couldn't change anything or write anything differently, because in that state of mind
and that attitude I had back then, I felt it was necessary and the right thing to do, that's why I did that.
So I don't think I would change anything, I've drawn conclusions, and I've become the person I am now because I used to post toxic things.
So I'm fine.
Tomorrow's Lil, when you will be on top again...
Would I change? I'd be a bit different, I might gloat a bit, but not much.
Because I've played in NAVI for a long time, placing last at tournaments so I could gloat afterwards.
That's right, it's like being on top and then life pulls you down to reality.
Yes, it makes you draw certain conclusions, take off the rose-colored glasses
and start looking at the world and things differently.
Ilya, you know, maybe we're seeing a real-time anti-hero into a hero transformation.
That'd be a beautiful story.
A truly NAVI one.
What's the difference between a position 4 support and position 5 in the current meta?
What position do you want to play come new season?
At this point, I can say for sure that I'll be playing position 4, I had zero fun playing as the 5.
Why?
I don't feel my impact in the game.
That's not my thing, I enjoy wrecking opponents rather than warding.
I switched to position 5 for the sake of the team, I wanted things to work out, but it didn't.
I can't say this was for nothing, it was a great experience for me after all.
And the main takeaway is that I don't wanna play position 5.
That's not bad, at least it helped you make your conclusions.
Yes, actually, it was worth it.
Speaking of differences, position 4 is more reliant on the play style and the way different teams operate.
Position 5 is a warder, who buys wards and support items: dusts, sentries. The main focus is warding.
When you're playing as the 5 on a high level, about 70% of your focus should be on warding.
You don't look at how someone casts their spells or what's going on in lanes, it's all about warding.
Your focus is on the heroes and their movement.
For instance, you're going into the opponent's jungle,
and you have vision on an enemy hero with let's say 2-3 wards entering your jungle.
Based on the timing of where the enemy hero shows up next time you have to figure out what spots they might have warded.
This is really difficult and you have to do it every game.
Quite often I heard people blame me for bad warding.
It turns out that we're playing a game and give up a part of the map,
then the enemy team just goes and places 6 wards there.
And you're, "Guys, I don't know where the enemy wards are"
Sure, I can spend all my money on sentries and try to deward, but that wouldn't make much sense.
So let's play well and don't let enemies into our jungle.
This is probably the biggest difference.
Position 5 is responsible for vision.
Vision on the map, rotation, and if there's an option - making calls like, "Get back", "Group up", "Let's do something" etc.
Position 4 is a full-fledged core that doesn't farm in early game.
But as the game progresses, you start to push out lanes, roam.
The idea is still the same, but the meta has shifted towards more static lanes.
You run a double offlane, but other than that, everything's pretty much the same.
I don't think that there's no distinction between position 4 and 5 supports.
The only thing is that sometimes the draft implies that your entire lineup needs farm.
For example, Force Staff is enough for Sand Kind to have an impact,
while you also have a position 5 Disruptor and this particular game forces him to go for an Aghanim's Scepter.
As a result, you have two supports sharing farm.
Okay. What are your thoughts on the current 2-1-2 meta?
What patch did you feel most comfortable playing on?
I, for one, like this patch, there's action in lanes, no 1v3 matchups in most games.
I can't say that I like or dislike something.
What I like is that game's changing and it's awesome.
There's no lack of variety.
One of the reasons why I moved to another team... Or how do I put this... Was removed from the team,
is that, according to certain people, I was "bad" at roaming.
The meta has changed to static lanes now.
So it's much easier to play, compared to what it used to be on the previous patch,
because you couldn't always understand where on the map you were supposed to go,
and now you don't even have to think about it, you just go double offlane and play from there.
It's easier now.
What do I like? There have been changes to some heroes, there's an even bigger emphasis on the laning stage.
You can't say now, "Guys, I wanna play Earthshaker" and get "Yes, sure, go ahead" in response.
Now you gotta play Warlock, SK, Skywrath Mage, the kind of heroes that do well in lane.
Also, the hero pool has changed a lot.
Previously, roamers used to be 'fat' heroes that can contest runes or something,
but now you see a Skywrath Mage as the 4. When was the last time he was used as position 4?
The hero that just sits in lane and has no options for rotations.
What do you think about TI? What style of Dota will we see there?
TI is going to be really fun, I watch pubs and I noticed a lot of pro players practice some weird stuff.
What kind of stuff?
The oddest thing was position 4 Ursa, the hero's running around with the Orb of Venom killing people.
Also, Dark Willow has been significantly buffed.
The hero doesn't seem to be designed for laning as she's mostly viable in a trilane scenario,
but I've seen Rodjer play it, and GH had a few pages of playing Dark Willow too.
So, anything can happen, really.
But again, every tournament has its own meta.
Every team can have its own meta, and we might very well see Nature's Prophet getting back into the drafts.
He's in every game now and very strong for some reason.
Also, I've seen a couple of Brood games.
You just pick Brood like you don't care and win a game.
It might be anything, but the main focus will be on the laning.
All heroes that are strong in the laning stage are gonna be relevant.
Will you be watching TI closely? Or maybe you plan to go on vacation?
I'll have to watch TI closely.
Some inside information.
And the last question about AI bots that Valve are actively developing now.
Those super bots that will compete against 5 pro players.
From what I've seen... By the way, it was announced today that there'll be a showmatch either at or before TI...
- On August 5 I think. - Yes, of bots against the English casters, there'll be Blitz, Cap I think...
What do I think...
Do you think bots will be able to win?
Yes, absolutely.
What's your overall take on that? Doesn't it scare you?
It doesn't. I think it's cool, evolution, technology development, AI.
It's an exciting time to be alive.
Let's say 5 or more ago a phone that could do anything would create the wow effect,
but now it's common, which is amazing.
Speaking of bots... Very few people know of the old version back in Dota Allstars, 6.46b or something,
that featured the hardest bots to play against ever.
They could calculate your HP, resources, last hit flawlessly.
They were Dota geniuses, no matter how good you were, you would get destroyed.
I think yes, it's cool to have a brain, feel the game and the hero you're playing.
But Dota is basically about numbers: timing, projectile speed, mana cost, damage, movement speed, hit and run,
and a lot of other things are about numbers.
And I think bots can calculate numbers better than most people.
How do you think will individual skill of the players change
if those bots are introduced to the game and you could always practice against them?
I think it'd be great.
Just imagine you could...
I think it'll either remain the same or get worse.
Because there are some things that people can't do,
and you're not gonna play TI final against bots, you're gonna play against humans,
who also make mistakes and do some things off of emotions.
But if you're playing against 5 bots, you're gonna jump in and you're gonna instantly hexed.
What would you practice here exactly? That you can't blink into enemy heroes and use your spells?
For example, Earthshaker jumps in from the fog of war and instantly gets hexed.
Yes, you're probably right, after all, Dota is a subjective game,
and fans cheer for a certain person because of who that person is.
Also, there's a lot of controversy about why there are still referees in football.
Now there are advanced technologies that can tell you whether there was an offside and a goal or not,
whether a player was diving or not, and stuff like that.
But the idea is that people make mistakes, referees make mistakes, football is a game of mistakes.
I think the same can be said about Dota.
Before we wrap up our interview, share your plans for the summer.
- Today's... - July 19.
First I'd like to complete my treatment, in particular, an orthodontic one, maybe something else.
I was invited on the 29th to go to St. Petersburg, so I'll be there for a day.
I plan to stay there for a couple of days to see more of the city.
Then I'll head to Moscow, for Masha's birthday, you all know what Masha is, aka Marple.
You can wish her a happy birthday later.
After that, I'll go on a trip, I won't say what kind of trip, until August 28.
Then I'll go on vacation with my family, for a week or 10 days.
September marks a new Dota season, so I'll have to think about the team, unless someone does it for me.
I'll probably continue playing Dota.
Also, I'll keep doing sports, eating healthy and going out to breathe fresh air.
That's it for my summer plans, what about you?
Well... Yes.
I plan to enjoy the rest of the summer.
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