Nikobaby: “Team Secret Is Always Gonna Be The Final Boss”

Carry player for Alliance, Nikolay "Nikobaby" Nikolov appeared in an interview on RuHub’s YouTube page and talked about a host of things. Nikobaby mentioned how he had evolved as a carry player over the past year and his thoughts on captain S4. He also stated the reason behind Team Secret’s successful and domination phase in recent times.

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Nikobaby Talks About The Strengths Of Team Secret

Nikobaby was asked in the interview if he viewed Team Secret as the “big boss” to beat considering every team, including Alliance, has been losing to them in recent times or there were other teams that were threats in the EU region. 

“I mean, Secret is obviously always gonna be the final boss. They punish mistakes much harder than any other team does so it is a pleasure to play against them. I don’t really consider them as a threat but more like a team from whom we learn a lot. Dota is like a marathon, it is not about winning these short races, it is about winning TI and that is our aim as a team.”

Nikobaby was further asked if they learned more after playing against Secret more and if they were getting closer to winning against them.

“Yeah, for sure. Earlier, we would lose against them in the lanes and not have a chance after that. But now, I feel we are getting closer and closer each time and we are growing the confidence to play. 

I feel from the top 5 teams, anybody can beat anybody but some teams have more weaknesses than Secret, I would say and then you can exploit those weaknesses. 

Gustav(S4) is the mastermind of the team and he always has a plan against certain teams and it works out.”

Nikobaby On His Progress Since TI9

Nikobaby was asked about his learning experience since joining a major organization like Alliance and if he had to change his playstyle.

“I feel like I had the chance to shine more than ever. I am the same player but I am more collected right now and work with the team more to understand how everybody thinks and plays. I was before a kind of selfish player and I am working towards that now. I realized this at TI9, maybe earlier when I was bootcamping with Mineski that this is the way to go further into the game. 

I feel like, I started trusting players and understanding them more. I received feedback from captains and players and try to use it way more than before. Earlier, I used to ignore most of the things that people would tell me but now, I take it to heart and understand every small single detail."

On being asked about Loda and S4’s contribution in his development considering both of them are TI winners, Nikobaby answered,

“Definitely, Loda helped me more from the outside of the game rather than from the inside of the game. He makes me calmer. S4 also helps me, like if I go too ham and start going too aggressive, he would say something like, “That is enough. We should just chill right now.” because in some games I don’t chill and keep going and going but that could backfire.”

Nikobaby also mentioned that despite Alliance’s disappointing result in the previous tournament, the team was in good shape and had a bright future ahead. This interview was recorded before the start of the EPIC League and it looks like Alliance’s performance has continued to dip in this tournament. Nikobaby and Co. have lost all three of their initial series in the EPIC League and find themselves struggling at the bottom of the table in group stage standings. 

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Alliance is a strong team overall and they have been regarded as one of the top 5 teams in EU/CIS Dota in recent times. So, one can certainly expect them to hit back hard in their upcoming games at the EPIC League.