It's been more than 12 years since the inaugural champions of The International, Natus Vincere were crowned. So where are they now?
Gaming aficionados flocked to Cologne, Germany in August of 2011 for the annual Gamescon - a trade fair for video games. It was here, that approximately 550 vendors in the industry from 39 countries showcased their new or upcoming games to the public. It was touted as a place and time to feature faster and more challenging games with razor-sharp graphics thanks to the technological optimization of the time. For other vendors, it was a chance to preview sequels to previous hits. 'FIFA 2012' from Electronic Arts (EA) and 'Pro Evolution Soccer' (PES) from Konami were expected to draw the largest crowds.
It was one of those preview sequels though that would end up catching much more attention, setting the bar for enormous prizes for competition in esports and pioneering crowdfunding for prize pools.
DOTA 2 made its debut, being playable on the show floor at GamesCom 2011, but only for teams invited to compete in Valve's tournament, called The International. An invitation-only beta followed the GamesCom 2011 show in Cologne. The total prize pool of $1,600,000 was the biggest of any esports tournament at the time.
Among those 16 invited DotA teams from around the world was the Ukrainian-based organization, Na’Vi including some very young baby-faced players from Ukraine, Russia, and Estonia.
Natus Vincere
Only two months after Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov joined Na’Vi with Ivan 'ArtStyle' Antonov, Danil 'Dendi' Ishutin, Oleksandr 'XBOCT' Dashkevych, and Dmitriy 'LighTofHeaveN' Kupriyanov, The International 1 was at hand and the team got an invite after having received the beta keys to play the game only three weeks before.
The team went undefeated throughout the whole tournament. Na`Vi defeated EHOME in the Grand Finals 3-1 with a 1-game advantage, winning the unprecedented $1,000,000 grand prize.
Natus Vincere The International 2011 Championship roster:
Ivan “Artstyle.” Antonov
Danil “Dendi” Ishutin
Alexander “XBOCT” Dashkevich
Clement “Puppey” Ivanov
Dmitriy “LighTofHeaveN” Kupriyanov
It's been more than 12 years since that iconic moment. The Ukrainian team had always been an ever-present fixture at the event, seizing first place at The International 1, second place at TI2 and TI3, and eighth place at TI4.
Following TI1, the team went on to win the Electronic Sports World Cup 2011 a few weeks later. With a succession of wins after wins for the next few months, the team secured five more championship titles and two more runners-up placements in premier tournaments leading up to The International 2. The Ukrainian squad was on fire.
So where are these historic players now?
Ivan 'ArtStyle' Antonov
A few months after TI1, Artstyle left the team, triggering a debacle regarding contracts and prize winnings that resulted in teams such as Na’Vi and Moscow 5 calling for a boycott against the International Champion.
He bounced around a few teams and then in 2012 when Eclypsia dissolved there were rumors of Artstyle retiring from professional Dota and the Ukrainian player didn't re-emerge in competitive play until 2014 with a team called Relax.
In 2015, Artstyle rejoined Na'Vi where he stayed with limited success until March 2017, when he joined Virtus.pro as a coach ahead of The Kiev Major. Since then, he has been coaching for various teams and is currently coaching for Na'Vi Junior.
Danil 'Dendi' Ishutin
Well known for his solo mid-skills, Daniil “Dendi” Ishutin has been regarded as one of the most creative players in the scene, and is renowned for his unorthodox play-style and unconventional item builds. His personality, skill, and long successful history make him one of the most popular Dota 2 players in the world. His story was featured in the documentary film “Free to Play“.
Winning The International 1 was just the first step. Na'Vi and Dendi went on to seize 2nd place at TI2 and again at TI3 among a long list of accolades between. He stayed loyal to his first team through thick and thin.
After a disappointing season leading up to a subpar run at TI8, Na'vi reformed their roster with a glaring, gaping hole. Dendi was no longer part of the active roster after playing his entire Dota 2 career (eight years at that point) with the organization. It was the end of an era, but not the end of the road.
Though under contract still, Dendi dabbled a bit with stacks, answering the call a few times for friends and former teammates in need of a stand-in, before heading over to SEA region to play with Chai "Mushi" Yee Fung on Tigers. It was a short-lived experience, three months to be exact, as Dendi then headed back home after the team was unable to really achieve anything noteworthy.
Making appearances at various events on the panel and as part of talent, and of course streaming, Dendi remained active.
In January 2020, he founded a new organization, B8, yes bait. It was introduced to the 'world with a beautiful video and message delivered by Dendi himself. He was poised for a comeback — that sadly, and ultimately didn't happen.
B8 had no achievements and even relocated to North America with little to no success there either. The stage was set for one of Dota 2’s favorite players of all time to make his way back to The International after failing to qualify for five years. Dendi’s team B8 were one step away from making it to The International 2023 (TI12), but they were halted in their path by nouns, who defeated them 3-0 in the grand final to secure the North American qualifier spot for TI12.
Oleksandr 'XBOCT' Dashkevych
As one of the most aggressive carry players, Olexander has been known to single-handedly win OR lose games for the team. He started his professional career playing DotA in 2009 and joined Na’Vi’s newly formed team in 2010. He played with them until the end of an era when Na'Vi disbanded their team in 2015.
Following his departure, XBOCT found himself bouncing around from team to team including Team Empire, Fantastic Five and Team Spirit before pulling away from the competitive play to make the shift into the Russian broadcast panels for bigger events. Eight months later he returned from his hiatus on the playing field to built up the new Dota 2 division Cyber Anji created by the Russian Premier League football organization FC Anji in March 2017. His stint lasted just over two months before he parted ways with the organization with little to no achievements to show for his time and efforts.
In July 2017, Olexander switched to a coaching position for Na`Vi, staying there for approximately one year.
Since 2018, XBOCT can be seen and heard on the Russian broadcasts of professional matches as caster, analyst and commentator.
Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov
Puppey is an incredibly versatile player and one of the most successful players in the Dota 2 scene.
Puppey’s professionalism and talent landed him the captain role for the team after the departure of ArtStyle post-TI1. Under Clement’s leadership, Na’Vi would accumulate innumerable championship titles through the remainder of his tenure with them, including second place at TI2 and TI3. Following the unsatisfying results at TI4 of 7-8th place, Puppey, and teammate Kuro 'KuroKy' Salehi Takhasomi parted ways with the Ukrainian organization and formed Team Secret.
Team Secret had made a tremendous splash onto the Dota 2 landscape when they appeared. Kicking arse and taking names the team destroyed their opponents and easily became one of the utter favorites to win TI5. Some internal problems would create an upset, thrusting the team into some disarray with a 7-8th place finish. Months, in fact until recently would be rife with drama, conflict, and instability. TI6 saw the team’s low point with a 13-16th finish.
For Puppey, this was just a matter of retooling the lineup and strategy. With a rocky start laden with much instability, Team Secret’s year leading to TI7 had been rough, but later in the season, the team seemed to have found a rhythm that hints at success – giving Puppey a promising chance at making a second claim to The International trophy but ended with a disappointing 9-12th place finish.
Things started to look better as Puppey continued to tweak his roster. TI8 he moved up the ranks to a 5-6th place finish, TI9 saw him take 4th place, TI10 was an impressive 3rd place and TI11 yielded a 2nd place finish.
The road and trajectory were set for Puppey to take home the title for TI12. He was the only player to attend all iterations of The International and just needed to clinch the championship title.
- Puppey holds the record for the most International appearances, from The International 2011 to The International 2022 for a total of 11 appearances.*
- Puppey holds the International records for most grand finals appearances (4), most top 4 placements (6), and most top 8 placements (9).*
- Puppey is the oldest player to compete in the International, playing at The International 2022 when he was 32 years and 238 days old.*
*info courtesy of Liquipedia
But fate had other ideas and is incredibly cruel. Instead, TI12 will be the first he will be missing.
Dmitriy 'LighTofHeaveN' Kupriyanov
LighTofHeaveN (or Lost as he became known as after) stayed with Na'Vi during their heyday until 2013 when he transferred to Team Empire. Dmitriy retired from competitive Dota 2 shortly after failing to qualify for The International 2013 with Team Empire.
Lost had taken to casting post-retirement and in 2014 he returned to Na'Vi as a caster for a short period of time before committing himself fully to becoming a caster/analyst for Russian broadcasts. In 2023 he only was part of the broadcast for Phygital Games 2023, but fans are hopeful (and bound) to hear him at The International 12.
