Interview
With gpK
“We knew we would most likely finish 7-0”, - Virtus.pro gpK interview.
Source: https://www.cybersport.ru/dota-2/interviews/gpk-znali-chto-pochti-navernyaka-zavershim-dpc-s1-so-schetom-7-0 - (04.03.21) (by Cybersport.ru)
Danil "gpk" Skutin talked to cybersport.ru about Virtus.pro's performance in CIS Season 1 of the Dota Pro Circuit 2021. The midlaner admitted to not being surprised by the final rankings of their league, shared his opinion on Vladimir "No[o]ne" Minenko's transfer situation with his recent addition to AS Monaco Gambit as a stand-in and finally touched on some of the mid lane heroes potential.
— The patch 7.28 hitting in between your victories in EPIC League Season 2 and DPC 2021 CIS Season 1 appeared to not have changed much of the game at all. Is there something you would point out about it or is it really that uneventful?
— Almost nothing changed aside from adding a couple heroes to the meta. Dota 2 stayed the same.
— Is that a good thing for your team in particular?
— Right now I’m content with almost everything. I would’ve liked for the developers to change the map so it would change some of the movement, but I’ve got nothing else to complain about.
— What was your reaction when you learned you would have to play only one match a week? Hypothetically, if you had the opportunity would you have played another tournament at the same time?
— We would’ve definitely not play another full scale tournament, but yeah, we do sometimes miss playing more in between matches. It’s quite weird to be in boot camp but only play one official match a week. The next boot camp will be organized a bit differently. Having two or three matches a week would’ve been a more comfortable format for us.
— After talking to other teams it seems that those from the same region almost never play with each other. Did you also avoid scrimming with your direct competition?
— Yes, we don’t play against other CIS teams at all and most likely still won’t going forward.
— You didn’t want to know what your CIS opponents would like?
— Yes, from the beginning we were practicing with Team Secret, Team Liquid, Nigma. That formed its own meta and that was what we ended up drafting in our league.
— Any surprises for you in CIS Season 1?
— Not really, going into the league we knew we would almost certainly finish with a 7-0. Turns out our expectations came to be. It was also obvious Na`Vi would finish in second place and the third would be decided between Gambit and Team Spirit. No[o]ne joining Gambit empowered their play a lot, especially their consistency.
— No[o]ne caused some controversy by saying Gambit would be equal to Na`Vi if he’d only joined sooner with his teammate Vasilii "AfterLife" Shishkin repeating the sentiment later. Do you think they are correct in their assumption?
— I think the same way. The thing is: without No[o]ne Gambit had no consistency, they could’ve randomly ran forward, died a few times and lost games. I am judging that by their games against us. With No[o]ne they would’ve more-or-less farmed a bit more instead and definitely had more chances to win.
— What do you think about Na`Vi's offlane Alchemist strategy? Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko [formerly epileptick1d] said that match could’ve gone either way.
— We didn’t expect them to use that strategy. Position 3 Alchemist is in fact quite strong, it’s just Na`Vi didn’t make the most out of it. If they had used him better they might have won.
— What should they have done? Their carry Slark is not the best hero for the Aghanim’s Scepter drops is he?
— Slark was a good pick. Na`Vi had more ways to catch us around the map. It’s just at that time our cores were farming and dying, so after 20-25 minutes it was very easy to play for us. We will also be trying Position 3 Alchemist on our next boot camp. Unless he gets nerfed of course.
— Do you miss offline tournaments? What do you expect from the coming Major?
— The Singapore Major wouldn’t be like the usual LAN events, so there is no chance of the stadium format to come back yet.
As far as I know this is the plan: we arrive, sit in a room for two days, then our practice starts like in other LANs - we would come down and play. It’s possible that the entire event will run in those practice rooms, so I can’t say it would be the usual LAN event. It's the same old online, just with the five of us in the same room in another city.
— You often play Shadow Fiend in your pub games, but never in official matches, why?
— We draft according to our own meta and try to play with the kind of a semi-active mid hero that doesn’t focus on farm. Shadow Fiend is very greedy in early game, he needs to farm for 25 minutes. So he doesn’t fit our team.
— What about Pugna? It’s a much faster tempo mid hero, but you only played it once against EXTREMUM and other teams completely ignore it. What’s wrong with the hero?
— Pugna is a situational hero. It has a lot of alternatives. Plus you gotta know how to actually play it. As far as I know, in CIS only Rostislav "fn" Lozovoi and Yahor "Ergon" Kazlou know how to do that. For everybody else it’s easier to pick Void Spirit or Kunkka instead.
— What happened to Lina who you were actively using before? Why isn’t she appearing anywhere anymore?
— She was nerfed, but I wouldn’t say she is that weak. You just need to test her in pubs and figure stuff out. I know she can still work.
I also actively tested Leshrac. I think he can work very well on the professional scene. But when we were picking him in scrims it wasn’t working so well (laughs).
— Did you follow other regions? Who do you think are the strongest teams in China and Europe?
— I didn’t follow China, only Europe. It’s too early to say anything yet, we have to wait what will happen on the Major.
— Analysts pointed out that you play your lanes very well and have a great late game, but are very passive early on. None of the CIS teams punish you for that at all. Are you concerned that European and teams from other regions would exploit that?
— I don’t think it’s that important. We just play for consistency off of strong lanes and a good early start. It doesn’t matter who is our opponent, if we lane well it will work. I think we will continue playing with our style regardless.
— Which game tempo do you personally prefer? Do you like acting quick and pushing your opponents or going late game while building up advantage to afford a few mistakes?
— Frankly, I don’t care. I will play the way my team wants to play. Right now we bet on a strong position 1 because it’s the easiest way to win in CIS.
We will see what will happen next during the boot camp before the Major. We will gather and start practicing on Match 14.
Translator: Dfs
