May the Road Never Run Out

The annual Dota 2 esports extravaganza, The International (TI), was held in Shanghai, China, from August 20–23 this year. Contrary to expectations, the Chinese esports teams that had dominated the scene some 10–14 years ago performed poorly, failing even to advance from the group stage of a tournament featuring teams from around the world.

Several esports observers noted that the Chinese teams were still relying on virtually the same players who had competed during the 2012–2016 era, when they were champions. Now in their thirties, those players were no longer at their physical and competitive peak, and their fighting spirit had declined sharply.

Uniquely, the Eastern European teams, dominated by players from Russia and Ukraine, are now on fire. For the first time in TI history, this year’s final brought together two Eastern European teams: Team Vision and Team Yandex, both featuring Russian and Ukrainian players.

Team Yandex also included players from several other Eastern European countries, including Kazakhstan and North Macedonia.

Esports enthusiasts, especially Dota 2 fans, have been left in awe of the achievements of the CIS/EEU teams, which were still regarded as underdogs only a few years ago.

Natus Vincere (Na’Vi) of Ukraine was crowned the winner of the inaugural TI, held in 2011. After 2013, however, the performance of Eastern European teams at TI declined dramatically, and they were eventually displaced by the dominance of Chinese teams.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021, when students around the world were required to study from home, was used by veteran Russian and Ukrainian esports players to recruit and train young talent. Those young players are now being celebrated as the new generation of Dota 2 champions. 

Illustration: Sumber Waras, Lawang, Malang.

Ambition is not the only determinant of success

Nothing hurts more than falling from the position of champion and becoming a loser. Unlike prisoners, who know when they will eventually regain their freedom, losers never know for certain how long they will carry that label, whether for a short while or for decades.

Feelings of shame and humiliation often arise not because of comments from the public or the media, but from the voices inside our own heads. From the perspective of Siberian Native Faith, such a situation occurs when a “gap” opens within a person after they have violated customary rules, neglected spiritual practices, or wronged another person.

That “gap” prevents them from seeing a way out when trouble strikes. It is like the Earth being eclipsed: suddenly, everything becomes dark in the middle of a bright day.

A defeat in a situation that should be accepted with grace can instead become a burden that must be removed as quickly as possible, by any means necessary. Rather than finding their way back to a comfort zone, many who feel like losers only sink deeper into the darkness of their own emotional state.

Change takes courage

The first generation of Eastern European teams (Na’Vi and others) became known for a style of play built on the courage to push deep into enemy territory. Yet that style gradually became less effective once their rivals at TI discovered their weaknesses.

Indeed, much like football players, the Eastern European players of the previous generation (2017–2019), particularly the Russians, tended to become emotional when under pressure.

Team Spirit became the first Eastern European esports team to bring in a sports psychologist to help calm its players after intense matches. They also recruited coach Airat Gaziev (Silent), whose calm personality enabled him to keep his players disciplined without unnecessary drama.

Once again, the 2020 pandemic, when activities around the world came to a standstill, became a turning point that inspired the people behind Team Spirit to reflect. They looked back at the past, identified a fatal mistake, and acknowledged it. Only then did the eclipse suddenly end, and the Earth became bright once again.

As a result, the team went on to win TI in 2021 and 2023. (dswas)