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Perhaps the most famous and most loved Dota 2 player in the world: Danil “Dendi” Ishutin has been making waves in the SEA scene with his new Dota 2 team Tigers.
Known for his veteran Midlane play, Dendi is a household name in the world of Dota 2. Although he has won many tournaments and attended so many different LANs in his career, the Ukrainian star has never won a LAN title in the SEA region. He’ll have the chance to rewrite that history when he competes at the COBX: Masters 2019.
(See Also: Tigers and DeToNator match up as groups are announced for the COBX: Masters)
This will be Dendi’s first ever LAN event with Tigers, so expectations and hype are sky-high. We decided to further up the ante by getting a hold of Dendi and spoke with him about his new journey in SEA, his expectations coming to Mumbai and plenty more.
Q. Hello Dendi, how are you doing? You have moved over to SEA after several years in the CIS scene and faced some hard competition. Did you expect that when you switched to the SEA servers?
A. Oh yeah. I expected that. The competitive scene in this region is one of the strongest.
Q. What are your favourite and least favourite parts about moving to SEA?
A. Everyone is very friendly to me and I am very happy about that. Being away from family and friends is a bit hard.
Q. How has playing in Southeast Asia changed your outlook on Dota?
A. Every region has its own playstyle mentality etc. So it was very interesting to learn something new about the game we love for me.
Q. We’re excited to hear that you’ll be coming over to India for the COBX: Masters 2019. Is this your first time here? Are you looking forward to anything in particular on your visit?
A. Yeap! my very first time and I am very excited about that. I heard that dota community there is pretty big. Would love see some interesting places also :)
Q. Have you ever had Indian food before? If yes, what’s your favourite dish?
A. I tried some before, but not in India. I heard Indian kitchen is delicious and I would love to try more dishes.
Q. Which team do you think will be your biggest competitors at the COBX: Masters 2019? Why?
A. Every team can have a shot. So we are ready to fight everyone.
Q. Tell us your thoughts about the current midlane meta.
A. You can play in many different ways. Overall game getting easier with every patch and so you can focus on more team moves/actions in the game.
Q. How would you rate the difficulty of playing the midlane in SEA, compared to the CIS scene?
A. Mechanically I think SEA region is weaker, but strategy-wise its pretty good. But I see its growing fast.
Q. Other than pos 2, is there any role that you particularly like to play?
A. In pubs I play any positions, I just love dota :)
Q. If you had to re-live your Dota career, is there something you would change and if so, what?
A. I think I like everything :)
Q. Compared to the earlier days of Dota, lots of players and teams, are moving to different regions to try their luck. Do you think this helps more regions to grow or does it take away opportunities from players from that region?
A. I think it definitely helps the region to grow. People bringing their own ideas and dota moving forward.
Q. Thoughts on TI moving to Shanghai this year? What is your best memory from visiting China?
A. I was in China many times and have lots of stories :) but I will keep them. Looking forward to TI in Shanghai!!! I think it's going to be huge.
Q. That's all from our end Dendi. Thank you so much for your time! Do you have any Shoutouts you'd like to add here?
A. Shoutout to all who cheer for me. Love you all guys. Keep playing dota and having fun!