Last week at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023, we had the opportunity to sit and talk with BetBoom Team’s carry player Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko.
We talked to Nightfall about his time in North America with Evil Geniuses, which, in fact, was not his first time competing in that region, about his experience in different roles and which one he feels better playing, but we also went on unwinding the 2023 year a bit to find out what are his best memories and why.
Hi, and thank you for taking the time to talk to us on your day off at ESL One KL. You are one of the few teams that stuck together after TI12, which is awesome to see. But, when did you guys decide that there will be no changes, before or after TI?
There was actually a reality where we would have had a change. But after TI we had a team talk and at the end of it, we decided to stay together and try again with the same roster.
You switched between offlane and carry roles a few times. Have you decided which one you like the most?
Just playing for one year and a half as position 3 made me realise that for me to be able to utilise all my strength as a player, it will be better to just play in the carry role. This role fits me the best so I decided to come back to pos 1 and probably I will stay in this position for the rest of my career.
In so many tournaments, you are by far leading the charts when it comes to most pings on the map which makes me think that you are probably quite vocal in the coms also. Do you feel like the carry role is also better suited for you because of that?
It depends on how the game goes, on what's the state of my team and my own state in the game. I would say that usually, for the carry player, it's important to be vocal past the 15-20 minute mark. Past min 15 or so I'm trying to lead my team towards objectives and other stuff on the map.
Have you ever considered trying mid or even one of the support roles?
To be honest, I was actually kind of considering it. Before I joined my first big team, Virtus.pro. I was playing position 4 because there was a lack of players for this role and I played in an NA stack with Kitrak, Moonmeander and Bryle, but it didn't work that well. To be honest, I wasn't really a mature player and it was kind of hard for me to start my career in a different region than my own. I was immature, as I said, and I didn't do all the things properly and I guess, sometimes it was hard for them to play with me.
What would you say is the biggest thing that you learned while playing in NA with Evil Geniuses?
I accumulated so much experience just by having the chance to talk with a lot of people in a different language. Also, having to live in a different country alone, without my family, without my close friends, and learning how to deal with everything on my own there, I feel like it changed me a lot. I grew as a person. I learned how to talk to people, how to communicate in a different language and overall, to learn and discover a new culture is something very cool.
A few years ago, when you were still playing for VP, you changed your nickname from epileptick1d to Nightfall, may I ask you why you made this change and why did you pick Nightfall?
epileptick1d was just my first nickname and it was something very random from me. I liked the sound of it, the pronunciation of it. I would say for a year or so I played professionally with this nickname before I realised that having an illness in your nickname is not cool. To be honest, when I created the nickname I didn't really think that much about the meaning, and how it could put me in a bad light. So, I began to actually dislike it at some point so, I changed it.
Why Nightfall, does it have a meaning for you?
It's a soundtrack theme of one of my favourite anime series, Naruto.
What would you say is the biggest sacrifice that you had to make to become a pro?
I guess that for all the Dota 2 players it is quite the same. You just play a lot of Dota 2 and just have to sacrifice relationships, friends, and family time. You start playing in childhood and you grow up without close friends, you sacrifice social skills.
Did you have a role model when you were younger and you were aspiring to a pro career in Dota 2?
I would say my role model was Paparazi because he was owing back when I was just starting. But at some point, I realised it's not that good to look at other players trying to copy them. You should develop your own playstyle. It's good to watch some of the really good players and notice what they do, but you shouldn't try to just fully copy them. Also, putting them on too high of a pedestal might also not be good for you.
Now that we are close to the end of the year, it's time to ask you what was the best tournament for you in 2023 as overall experience and memories?
Probably Riyadh Masters for two reasons. We played well as a team there and overall, the experience there, player treatment, how the tournament was organised and everything else was on point. We felt really good there.
What's your personal highlight from 2023?
There are few actually. I remember Game 3 against 9Pandas at Riyadh Masters because I felt that I played quite good. We picked Gyrocopter, which was a meta hero back then, and I carried that game well, and that felt good.
Besides that, there was DreamLeague Season 21 where I felt like I played really well throughout the entire tournament, I played a lot of Morphling and I was owning in every game with the Aghs' build. That was kind of OP. And there is this Game 3 against Talon at TI12 that I remember clearly because I was playing Phantom Lancer and it was really fun for me.
Did you make any resolutions for 2024?
Not something very specific, but my goal is always to keep improving as a Dota 2 player and make sure that I become a better human being and keep growing as a person.
Will wrap up our interview with that Nightfall. Thank you so much for your time and we wish you all the best, Happy Holidays and may you have an awesome 2024!
Thank you and Merry Christmas to all Dota 2 fans and all BetBoom fans, and I hope the new year will be better for everyone!
