A few days ago, we asked for your opinion on the team to beat at The International 2012, and you told us Na`Vi. Yet, it appears there may be more than meets the eye for team Na`Vi - in an interview with Prodota.ru conducted only days ago, Alexander 'XBOCT' Dashkevich spoke ominously about the state of his team at bootcamp, which he put simply as - 'a total disaster'.
Will Na`Vi's reign come to an end?
*The translated interview from the original Russian video (above) is a work of GosuGamers' Alex "SRZ" Bykovski.
Many still consider Na'Vi as the dominant team on the Dota 2 scene right now - much is expected of the defending champions, but XBOCT admitted that their once thick aura of invincibility is slowly evaporating away. When prompted at the beginning of the interview about the state of bootcamp, he could not have been more straightforward.
"It is total disaster."
"We always have good relations within the team. After games, everything goes back to normal and everyone is good with one another. During the games, however, there is total chaos. Everyone is misunderstanding one another. I'm giving you some inside information though, but it is because everyone is tired of the situation."
But there may be a glimmer of hope, as suggested by XBOCT three days ago. "Just recently, things have started to go better. We only have three days left and if we don't return to good conditions, then top eight will probably be the best result we can hope for."
Captain Puppey, however, was not about to give up on his team, said XBOCT. A new system was instituted where scores were given to each member in the team based on his communication and team-play (see below).
"He [Puppey] was very objective about it, but afetr some time I put myself in charge and change some things around. Now, everything is under control."
Or is it? Na`Vi's less than spectacular performance of late and since their DreamHack defeat at the hands of mTw was no coincidence, but XBOCT shed light on the reasons why Na`Vi suffered losses every now and then.
"Everything that goes wrong is because of us. Right now, I don't see any decent rival. Everything other teams do is easy to read and understand. When we lose, the problem is within us and what we do. For example, there was total disharmony in the team right until yesterday. Thing that were happening during training two days ago made me feel like I was put two years back into a completely new team. Even though we played really good all year long, I was shocked to see what was happening a few days ago."
Na`Vi's regimen was simple, and in the words of XBOCT, '[they could] only play Dota 2, eat and sleep.' It seemed, too, that the pressure of the imminent tournament and the tensed atmosphere further intensified friction between the players.
"One day, we had to take a day off to release some stress. It was very hard to be next to our computers for long periods of time when everyone was tensed. Usually, we come, play six to seven games against some team, and if we didn't quarrel about it afterwards, we would watch replays and look at our mistakes.
Then, we go home or play some other games."
Back during Season One of StarLadder, XBOCT was invited as a guest co-caster by v1lat and the pair discussed the invitations for The International 2. XBOCT let on then that he knew all the teams who were going to be invited, which was also confirmed during the interview.
"I knew 85% of the teams who were going to be there. I also knew ArtStyle had a slot at the tournament but it wasn't for sure. He needed some good roster but it was known from the beginning among 'us' that his chances of being invited were really high."
Finally, the interview centered on his predictions for the top teams and picks at the event. Regarding the latter, XBOCT insisted that we would not witness any comeback of heroes that were popular during the first The International.
"Only Spectre has some chances. Right now, Visage and some other latest heroes are really strong. Teams don't pick them often but they have 'unreal' potential. Even though I don't know what is happening in China apart from their official tournament games, from what I saw, their picks are total delirium and I have no idea what they are thinking."
To close the interview, XBOCT told us this year's top contenders for that one million dollars. After leaving out high praise for his team, he said the following:
"Well, Zenith, iG and maybe LGD will do something. I'm not sure about the other teams."
Be sure to show your support for Team Na`Vi. 
