Saksa Describes How His Ideas Were Well Received by Tundra Esports

The International 11 (TI11) saw the most worthy team lift the Aegis of Champions, as Tundra Esports proved too dominating for any team to overcome. Furthermore, since the majority of the team's players have been in the competitive scene for a long time, they were finally able to realize the results of their efforts put through the years with the triumph. As part of a recent press conference for Tundra, position four player Martin "Saksa" Sazdov revealed how he sees his accomplishment as proof of his abilities. As Saksa described, he has had experiences in the past where his ideas were not received as he would have liked, Tundra enabled him to direct his ideas as he saw them.

Saksa discusses how TI11's victory allowed him to prove himself

Although the victory of TI11 brought with it a multitude of rewards and recognition, Saksa also saw it as a validation of his ideas and views for the game.

Previously, he has had issues with his ideology not being well received, but in Tundra, from the outset, he feels like the team environment has been very welcoming.

“Yes, I feel like, in my previous teams, I have had situations where it’s like - I have a view of the game and it’s a way of playing the game - the ways I truly believe in. But I felt like people didn’t listen to it that much and they didn’t enable it. So, when I joined this team from day one, I felt like I had a voice in the team and that people respected it and they respected my view of the game and how I wanna play.

So, for me, that was satisfying to be able to go into TI and be enabled to play in the way I enjoy playing the game. To be able to beat all the other teams kinda proved you are the best, proved that also the view that I had works. It was a very nice satisfying feeling for me and yeah, I mean, it was just nice to be able to prove that my view works so it was satisfying.”

While Tundra's journey through TI11 was dominant and its ideas seemingly superior, the team captain Wu "Sneyking" Jingjun spoke about how he was scared that things may suddenly go downhill during the playoffs and what he tried to combat it.

“I think every series you play, you are worried that this might be the series that things so south so I think even starting from the very beginning of our first playoffs stage in the upper bracket, I think I was always just wary that things could go wrong and I play with the intention that this might be my last game. And I think if you treat every game with such respect, that’s how you get far in a tournament.”

The press conference was held by Tundra Esports involving TI11's champions who answered questions pertaining to their journey and the win. After beating Team Secret 3-0 in the grand final on 30th Oct 2022, the team established itself as the title holder of the eleventh edition.

In the month after the win, while other teams have been busy shuffling rosters, Tundra is likely still savoring the victory. It will return to action in the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2022-23, which begins in January 2023.