Dendi had a difficult year
Author: Hawk Live LLC
Last updated:
On December 30, The International 2011 champion, former Natus Vincere player, and now the founder of Dota 2 team B8, Danil «Dendi» Ishutin celebrated his birthday. He is 31 year old.
2021 was an especially difficult year for Dendi. But despite all the difficulties, a lot of criticism, failures and others, he continues to reform the team and play again and again. And it seems like it will be forever.
Nice start
Valve announced a new Dota Pro Circuit season, which started in January of 2021. In CIS, as in other regions, some teams received a direct invitation and already fought among themselves for a place in the Upper Division. B8 roster was then quite extraordinary:
- Leonardo «RdO-» Fernandes;
- Danil «Dendi» Ishutin;
- Diego «Sexyfat» Barini Santamaria;
- Enis «5up» Elfki;
- Heitor «Duster» Pereira.
But 5up soon left the team, and along with this, many learned about the new nuances of new DPC system. As a result, Sergey «[T]SA» Timchenko came to position 4.
The first DPC season ended in failure for B8 Esports, the team finished last and lost their slot.
DPC comeback
Before the second attempt to qualify for DPC, the team tried at tournaments. But they failed to qualify for EPIC League Season 3, and took 5th-6th place at Snow Sweet Snow #2, but did not earn anything.
After that, it was decided to say goodbye to Brazilian players and assemble a new squad. It was then someone came up with an ingenious solution - to team up with XactJlepbI team.
XactJlepbI was able to save its place in the Lower Division. After that there was a merget, after which B8 Esports took the slot and actually returned to the league with a new roster:
- Alimzhan «watson» Islambekov;
- Danil «Dendi» Ishutin;
- Yaroslav «Limitless» Parshin;
- Sergey «[T]SA» Timchenko;
- Aleksandr «NoFear» Churochkin.
This time B8 played better and finished the season in 6th place and saved the DPC slot.
Danil «Dendi» Ishutin visited The International 2021 as an analyst and participant in one of the best showmatch in TI history, where fought Russian-speaking and English-speaking talents.
Loss and return of a DPC slot
On October 24, the organization moved watson, Limitless and [T]SA to inactive. In fact, this means that they are leaving the team and a new roster will be announced soon.
But, completely unexpected for everyone, Dendi was kicked from the roster. The organization explained that this situation was due to a disagreement with the owner of the DPC slot. Yes, the person who registered the slot for XactJlepbI team earlier this year.
Due to the imperfection of the DPC system, only the person who registered the team is slot owner. And if this is a third party, then you need to negotiate with him. But it was then, during the reshuffle period, that this unpleasant situation arose, where everyone was right in his own way.
This time, Valve intervened, they studied all the materials and decided to return the DPC slot to B8, to the delight of many fans. Conclusions have been made.
And again defeats
On November 23, esports organization B8 announced a new roster for the Dota Pro Circuit 2021/2022, which soon arrived at the bootcamp:
- Alexander «V1olent» Park;
- Danil «Dendi» Ishutin;
- Maksym «pJonn» Netrebsckiy;
- Adam «Lagoona» Chakhaev;
- Azamat «Gatciy» Gattsiev.
At the moment, the team has not been able to win a single match.
At the same time, former Dendi teammates play in Tier 1 teams in Division I. Team Empire, where [T]SA plays, is not doing well. But Watson and Limitless are already fighting for a place at the first major in 2022.
It is logical that many people had a question, which was voiced by the Russian-speaking talent of RuHub studio, Vladimir «Maelstorm» Kuzminov:
The topic is so trivial that I don't even want to talk about it. What conclusion can be drawn if, after changing a bunch of players, except for one, the problem remains? Former Dendi teammates are crushing the first division, and they barely played with it. What am I supposed to say here? To quote Daxak or something new? Everyone understands what the problem is, absolutely everyone
Half of the season has passed, the score is 0-4 and the last place in EEU Division II suggests that Dendi is close to being eliminated from the DPC.
Moreover, the B8 is going to repeat their anti-record, which they showed in May 2020. Danil «Dendi» Ishutin decided to comment on the team's results:
We didn't have victories for two months, but we also didn't have a team. We got together just a few days ago, and before that we tested the players, openly announcing this. If you change at least one player, then in general, the whole game is already completely rebuilt, and it's hard to call the team a team. Basically, we were a mix. So it would be wrong to check losestrick from October.
Well, yes, we were losing, but in fact we were testing the players. The first day when we got together with the current team and played the first official game together without any preparation was November 29th. That is, quite recently. Obviously, we could not immediately show any result in the current state. Our starting point is quite low at the moment. And during the period that we train together, I believe that we are growing. In principle, I am satisfied with how we work and how our work is progressing in a team
B8 sports director, Evgeny «Ugin» Erofeev, shared his opinion on the situation in the club and the results:
This is probably the hardest thing - not to lose motivation, losing everything. In principle, the guys today are losing everything, and during this period they spend a lot of energy in order to stay afloat, not to lose efficiency and a positive attitude. First, let's save the line-up for some time, and then think about what's next.
I would like to tell our fans so that you understand that we are kind of doing everything competently. We are not doing something stupid. We read your comments, see your discontent and worries, and we understand the exactingness of the organization. I just assure you that the guys here are doing what they think is right at this stage of our development. We really want to create a team that will win and get to tier-1 level. Turning to you, I ask for your patience, loyalty and some kind of support - it is very important and valuable to us
Despite everything, the club still has enough optimism to continue and progress no matter what. For this they have a huge respect. We can only hope that 2022 will be more successful for Dendi and B8.
