During the recently concluded CCT Series 2, we had the chance to talk with Ivan "Kidaro" Bondarev from Dandelions.
Dandelions were just off from a top 4 finish at CCT Series 2 on the day we sat down with Kidaro. While our conversation was focused on the tier 2 scene and the impact the absence of the Dota Pro Circuit has on it, we couldn’t ignore that CCT Series was the first tournament played on the new patch, so we were curious to learn from him about how 7.37 might have changed the meta – what’s overpowered and what to expect from the teams heading to The International.
What made you choose Dota 2 from all the games that are out there?
I like to look at Dota 2 as a closed, complex system. Once you are inside the system, every time you try to make something creative, or you put a lot of yourself into it, you just bounce off the walls. It's like, when you finally find an idea, you test it and find the limitations of it and then it bounces you back to where you were. I feel like Dota 2 itself has taught me so many things that help me outside of the game as well. As a game, it actually helps you so much with your social skills, for example, it's giving you so many lessons.
I also like solving puzzles, solving complex tasks, and Dota is one of the perfect games for that. To improve as a young player, you are placed in a very competitive environment where you need to strive for success, and for that, you need to work and learn every day. By growing up from a young kid to an adult with this game, you develop your brain and yourself in so many other aspects.
Yes, it is a complex game, and I think nobody can deny how much time it takes to learn it, let alone get good at it. Did you have your family's support when you decided that this is what you want to do?
When I was still super young and I saw there were ways to compete, I talked to my granny about how I would love to try and become a professional player. And she, being a very kind person with an open heart, looked at me and said, "If this is what you want, and if this is what makes you happy, then you should try." She has always supported me. After I finished my studies I already knew that I was going to continue doing it and that I was going to fully dedicate myself to it.
Back then, did you have a team or a player that particularly inspired you to go for this or that motivated you to put in the hard work?
When I stumbled upon so-called professional Dota back in the DotA 1 days, I saw a team called DTS. Looking for more information on them, and listening to some commentary I realized that the team is from my hometown, Dnipro, which boosted my inner passion for the game and the desire to turn into a professional player.
Most of my attention was up for Dendi and Artstyle, who later joined NAVI.
Well, later on, when I met Dendi in person, I learned so much from him, I learned and improved the most from getting to know him through the past few seasons. Years later, when I met Dendi in person, I learned so much from him, I learned and improved the most from getting to know him through the past few seasons.
You've played with a bunch of teams throughout your career. Is there one where you feel like you developed the most as a player?
I learned a lot from a lot of my teammates over the years. But I would say that my pro career only started a couple of years ago, once I joined Chicken Fighters in the DPC system and then later, we became Into the Breach (ITB). What was important for me when I was with them was understanding how to position myself as a real professional in the scene.
Instead of just being driven by emotions or intuitions, instead of just playing pubs, finding stacks, and leaving them, I started to understand how important it is to play with the same people and improve each other. Therefore, I learned by just observing the other pros, observing the tier 1 scene, getting to talk to some of them or even just watching content with them.
I would say that one of Notail's thoughts on how he sees Dota as a place where you are in with your closest friends and it's not just about winning a tournament, but about winning with your best friends, with people that you consider as your family, helped me understand the relationship you build throughout your career. That also helped me a lot to change my perspective, to build my player profile. I stopped thinking about playing with the best. I started thinking about playing with the people I respect, that I want to build something with.
While you say that, I can't stop thinking about how the tier 2 scene, or even 1.5, the teams that are just a series away from qualifying for the big tournaments, suffer a lot from roster stability.
For sure. You know, the main reason for that is because a lot of the young and talented players are getting recruited in the tier 1 scene. It's a natural process I would say. The 1.5 tier, or the tier 2 scene is somewhat like a gladiator arena. We all play each other so much, we improve each other because we do compete a lot and when some make it to the tier 1 scene, they already have one or two years of playing either together or against each other.
When the tier 1 teams need to freshen up their rosters because the older guys burn out, take extensive breaks or retire, they come to the tier 2 scene and say “oh this guy is very good”. It recently happened with nouns for example. When they shuffled after TI12, they took Yuma, they took Copy from the tier 2 scene. So, as I said, it's a natural process.
It's also something interesting about these tier 1 teams, because they feel like someone's breathing down their neck. Teams like Secret, Nigma, and even OG, are feeling it.
Another aspect that is brought to discussion quite often when talking about the tier 2 scene is the financial aspect and how many struggle to make a living out of it. You are someone who got to play in the DPC system. The competitive scene has come full circle, and now we are back to the point where we no longer have a circuit. From your perspective, how was this first season without the DPC?
It was more stable when we had the DPC in the sense that you will know that you will earn at least an x amount of prize money, you will know what's your match schedule for a full season and you will always know it's a controlled system by Valve, which gave you a bit more certainty and peace of the mind. But, with all that said, not all regions were strictly controlled.
After they discontinued the DPC everyone felt everything it's grim and gloomy, but what actually happened is that now everything is open for all the tournament organisers to compete against each other to get into the spotlight. I would say that for the tier 2 or even tier 3 scene, now it's 10 times better than with the DPC, because we've been playing tournaments non-stop for the past three months or so, and we have more yet to come.
This is literally the golden age of Dota, the golden year that everyone will remember. Also, this year having open qualifiers for the biggest events is what we were lacking. Even TI had open qualifies this year, Riyadh as well and there are more to come.
Do you have a coach, or someone to help you with strategies, with analysing your opponents and so on?
We have a coach and an analyst, but I would not give the names right now. All I can say is that they are very helpful to us, working with us on how to grow individually as players and as a team and we are very grateful to have them.
I would also like to use this opportunity to tease something I'm currently working on regarding improving as a team.
Oh, what is it that you are working on?
This year I started to look into AI more and l learned how cool of a tool it is. It's a pretty easy tool for complex problems. Not many teams are using AI right now, but I'm sure in the near future it will become a common tool for analysts to find solutions to the complexity of the game. It's an incredibly good tool that can help you understand the meta or even set up the meta faster and to understand your opponents.
So, as a small tease, I would say that there is something that I will showcase soon(ish). I will probably stream it with Gorgc or someone and I hope you all will enjoy it.
Ok, color me intrigued. I'm looking forward to that stream. Until then, let's talk about the tournament you just played in. You have just finished your run at the CCT Series 2, which was fully played on the new 7.37 patch. What's your take on the patch, did it change much in terms of meta?
It definitely shifted the meta and changed the drafting strategy. There used to be a lot of first-pick imba heroes and now it feels like the draft should focus on the second pick. There is no longer this huge contest on the first-pick heroes. Of course, there still are some like this new Tinker and maybe some Enchantress that teams try to secure as a first pick, but before this patch, you had about 4 or 5 heroes that you simply couldn't give away. I feel like now it's more balanced and for that reason, the teams are now searching for what's imba, what's broken to get an advantage in the next tournaments.
For us, the CCT Series was a very good playground to figure out the way we want to draft, the way we want to improve as a team, and that is the most important for us. We learned a lot from these past few days playing the playoffs and I hope it will help us in the upcoming qualifiers.
You mentioned Tinker, which somehow is back to torment every pub game. You are a position 5 support player, what's your take on the new Tinker?
I mean, XinQ already showed in the Clavision: Snow Ruyi tournament how strong the healing Tinker is. The hero has so many tools and to be honest, no other position 5 heroes can do what Tinker does right now. He does a lot of healing, he is extremely good in the laning stage, he is good in team fights, he can push lanes, he can stop any push, he is a natural aura buyer, so yeah, it's absolutely insane of a hero.
I would say that he is just too strong in the laning stage. If they nerf his laning stage, then he will become a bit unbalanced, but he will be a hero you can deal with. Currently, he sits on 7 armour, a very high attack range, very high damage, and a lot of HP and then if you trade with him, he can put a Laser on you and fully heal his carry and himself. If somehow he lost the lane, he has the maxed March of the Machines and he can farm extremely fast while keeping any lane pushed out.
There are just a few weeks before TI, so hopefully, we will have a balance patch that will address this hero.
I think the game is quite well-balanced right now. Besides this Tinker, I don't see too many insane things coming from the top-tier teams, or maybe they are super hiding their stuff. For example, it could be a Nature's Prophet or some Vipers that are a bit OP or Lycan, but overall, I don't think there are that many heroes that will be permanently banned.
Speaking of The International, are there any up-and-coming players, TI debutants that we should keep an eye on in Copenhagen next month?
I would say that Lorenof from Aurora is standing out. I played with him at PuckChamp and I can tell you that he is a very tryhard player. He has his own way of playing the game and his mechanical skills are what makes him so special. Some say Jabz is the best player on the Aurora roster, but I would keep an eye on Lorenof.
I hope next year around the same date we will do an interview where we will talk about your TI debut. I know that you are grinding for a while now, I know that you put in the hard work and I'm sure you will be there soon.
It's a good anime story for sure. I would say that as much as someone wants to succeed in esports, they need to put themselves in this position, in the grinding spot, they need to keep on trying, they need to keep improving, they need to self-reflect a lot and I would say that the self-reflecting is the biggest part in growing as a person and as a player. Once you start competing, you quickly realise that it's less about you as an individual and way more about you being a part of a team.
With that in mind, we will wrap up our interview here. Thanks so much, Kidaro for taking the time and for being so open about your journey so far. Looking forward to what the future has in store for you and I hope we get to talk on LAN sooner rather than later.
Thank you for having me.
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