In between the group stage and the playoffs at Bali Major we had the chance to catch up with Artour "Arteezy" Babaev and learn from him what didn’t work for Shopify Rebellion in the group play at the last major of the DPC season.
We talked to him about the current meta and the state of the game after the big overhaul made with the New Frontiers patch, what he likes and what can still be balanced before TI12 in terms of game mechanics and heroes, but we also touched on so much more topics.
Hi and belated Happy Birthday! How do you enjoy the Bali Major so far, have you done anything special for your birthday?
We had some really good food here. There are various restaurants inside the resort area, so we enjoyed that a bit, we went to the beach. Nothing really special other than that, but I'm enjoying it here quite a lot.
Do you prefer a more relaxed setting like this one in Bali or a conventional hotel for the group stage and throughout a tournament?
I think there should be a balance between these things. This is the first time in a long time that I get to have such an experience at a tournament. I would say that the most in comparison to this vibe that we have here, is MDL Macau, which was kind of like a casino area, it was very chill.
But, I actually prefer the more conventional style. I'm just not the kind of person that enjoys to go the beach and relax too much. I'm more intense and I like the intensity of a normal environment at a tournament. But, with that said, every now and then it's great that there is something like this, something that creates a balance.
Shopify Rebellion is a bit of a different organisation than most in the esports scene. How are things going for you, what would be the major thing that changed since you signed with them?
To start with, Shopify is one of the best organisations that I have ever played under. They give a real sense of a family. When I talked to Jeremy Steeves (Shopify Rebellion General Manager) for the very first time, I just got a really good vibe from him. I feel like we both knew what we want to do together and it gave me flashbacks to when I first joined Evil Geniuses. In 2014 I spoke to Alex Garfield, who was EG's CEO at that time, and it was a very organic conversation. It really felt like you are joining a family, which I think it's pretty rare these days.
I don't have that many experiences with other organisations, but I've been in the scene for a long time and I know a lot of players who have had bad experiences. I guess I've been very fortunate because I haven't had any. Long story short, Shopify is the best.
The Bali Major group stage didn’t go too well for you guys, as you had to battle through a tiebreaker to make it to the playoff. Coming out of that, what do you think was lacking or can be improved in order for Shopify Rebellion to advance further?
There was a bit of a strange experience for me because our bootcamp went really well, I thought it was a very successful one. It's one of those bootcamps where you feel that you are learning every day, and we had a really great practice partner in Team Liquid. So, I guess, we were just not able to perform in the groups here. Some of our strategies I feel were very similar to our scrims but we weren't able to execute them. It's hard to give a straight answer on why. It is also more of a chill tournament, it's not really like high-stress, but hopefully, we will play better moving further.
How do you like the new 7.33 patch, how do you think it affects your gameplay?
When the patch originally dropped, I thought it was pretty lame. I could see that there are a lot of new concepts that are very interesting and overall the patch was a brand new thing to learn. But, I thought that the delivery of the patch, the execution, the small details, the numbers were not ironed out. I thought it made a way worse experience than it needed to be.
Now, a couple of months later, when the patch is on the d version, it's much better than it was at release. Much, much better. I feel like it's enjoyable now. I still don't like the watchers and the tormentors, but other than that, I think it's good.
Morphling became extremely contested at this major, do you feel like he should get some balance changes in a patch before TI12?
The hero itself is not super overpowered, it's just that since they introduced this new concept, Universal, all they have to do is change the Aghanim Scepter for him. When you buy Aghs on this hero and you press it on a Universal hero it's over. That needs to be fine-tuned and he will be fine.
They need to buff basically half of the heroes in Dota 2, because after they introduced this Universal stat, they kind of killed half the heroes. They are simply just as strong as the Universal stat. That's also one of the concepts that I really don't like. I think they just went with two very big concepts without tuning them out.
What else do you feel it should be addressed in a patch before TI?
I'd say there need to be some adjustments to the economy in general. I'm not enjoying how it feels after a certain time in the game when there is a lot of gold for everyone. It doesn't feel rewarding to kill heroes unless you kill them in a smart way. it feels like killing is just not that important compared to the economy in the game. It doesn't feel right for Dota, but I'm ok with it. I like farming, so it's ok.
TI it’s finally returning to Seattle, what’s your thought on that, are you happy to see it back to the US?
It's pretty great! It's been a long time since I've been to Seattle, at TI7. My first TI was in Seattle when I first joined EG in 2014 and it was an unforgettable experience. Now that I'm older or a veteran, it's gonna be pretty nostalgic to come back there.
Do you think that not having TI in the States for the past 4 editions has had a negative impact on the NA Dota scene, as in Dota became even less popular there?
It's a fair point to make. I would say for sure there are negative aspects associated with that. But I wouldn't say it's the primary reason that NA has gone down. When you are an NA player maybe you get an extra feeling that you play for Seattle, that feeling of playing for the US TI, maybe that matters to some people.
You have taken part in many tournaments throughout your career, which is your favorite one and why?
It's probably TI8, and apart of that, it was a small tournament called China Top 2016. It was Christmas, I remember because it was a Christmas tree in the hotel. Patch 7.00 had just dropped, it was the biggest patch for Dota at that time, and we actually won as well, so it's a very good memory that I have from that. It was really fun to play a tournament on a completely new patch and just go free and do random stuff.
Who would you say it's the most talented player right now?
Right now, active player? Abed.
Who would you say is the GOAT?
Miracle-. I'm a fan of Miracle-. I enjoyed playing with him a lot!
And who is the best individual player?
There was a period of time when indisputably Sumail was the best player. It's always the mid-players, carries don't get that much attention these days, feels like. But yeah, definitely Sumail because I felt like he was the sole reason why EG won TI5. He literally carried them.
On Sunday, July 9 we will celebrate 10 years since Dota 2 was officially released. Do you have any special words to say to the community and to Valve for this special anniversary?
Dota 2 is one of those games that are very community-driven. The community has a very powerful voice in Dota and it's been a great 10 years and I hope we have at least 10 more! And please fix Universal, Valve. Thank you!
