The long-awaited interview with NAVI.SoNNeikO!

The exclusive interview with NAVI.SoNNeikO!

At last, the captain of NAVI.GG.BET Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev has given us an interview, where he answered a lot of interesting questions!

About rare media-activity:

"Well, first, nobody really asked. And to be honest, it's probably because I do not like cameras a bit. Because of this, everything was delayed a lot. And also given the fact that we are now trying for various qualification and receive invitations to tournaments, then I have a lot of time and desire. And if there is a desire, then I can answer all the questions and get pleasure from it. The management initially asked to participate in all activities, but gradually they either come to terms with it or gave me time to get used to all this media and to the fact that so many people surround me. In the end, of course, I'm giving an interview now. Otherwise, I have a freedom of choice, for which I am thankful".

About the free time:

“Like for many others, half of the time is occupied by Dota 2. As to the rest, sometimes I go watch some movies, I can go somewhere with my brother and my family. I try to walk in the forest for half an hour or an hour to refresh myself, have a stroll, or else after 3-4 hours of playing the head is loaded and it becomes more difficult to focus on something. "

The attitude of the family towards Dota 2 as a job:

"They were negative - that's for sure, but only at first. That is, until I started participating in small tournaments and getting at least some money from that. After several championships, my mother decided that she would give me a couple of years: if I can make a profit out of it, it's good, but if something goes wrong, then I need to do something else. Now after the victories my family always congratulates me, even writes chants. Mom does not watch the game, because it's hard for her to understand the process. "

What would you do, if not Dota 2?

"As a child, I had a dream - to become a president. But not to control the country, but just to appear on the glowing screen, where the whole country is watching me. "

About transfer to NAVI:

"It was spontaneous, because at that time I was a free agent, I was playing public games and not looking for a team. I do not remember if I had any suggestions at that time, but I just wanted to go to the team where I thought I could show myself 100% and prove my level. A manager wrote me with a suggestion to try myself in NAVI - I agreed and after a couple of days I tried my strength in the team. I was very happy about that. "

What went wrong in the previous roster:

"I think, opinions began to diverge: especially when it came to me and Pajkatt. Perhaps it was because I was pulling a blanket over myself. As far as I understood, before my arrival everyone tried to listen exactly to Pajkatt - he was the only one who gave all the calls, and the guys obeyed him. And with my arrival, everyone was divided: whether it started to irritate him, or we started to perform poorly. Each defeat hit on morals. It so happened that at one point Pajkatt came and asked me to take responsibility for the drafts and the game. At the qualification for The International 2017 at first everything was more or less normal, but in the game against Team Spirit the choice of heroes turned out to be spontaneous: the draft could be implemented only in case of fast movements on the map, and in the game itself I was afraid that Biver will not be able to keep track of the flow of my thoughts. As a result, I stopped talking about the game, although after losing Biver told me that he could do a few more things. The "4 + 1" approach, where I was in charge of the drafts and the match, failed: the lack of experience and the lack of a variety of strategies took their toll".

About picking up Crystallize and RodjER:

"That was not anyone’s advice. Crystallize was considered for a long time, since before that we tested several guys who failed on the whole. In the end, we came to the fact that we needed someone at least, and concluded that Crystallize could fit in. After a couple of days we saw that everything is not so bad and surely better than the previous candidates. Doubts were for the reason that I played a couple of times with him before NAVI, and he seemed to me not too proactive. Although later it turned out that this is far from the case. He is progressing very fast - this I did not expect.

RodjER was the one who gave me the key to Dota 2. We met in a pub: I was Io, he was an Alchemist. I made him a bunch of stacks: because not is my friend, why not do it? He noticed me, we started to scrim together. I remember he gave me a test, where I had to last hit 80 creeps in 10 minutes, but I failed it (laughs). As a result, they decided not to take me to the carry role: it was a little offensive, but I left and wanted to prove that I can do more. I began playing mids, and then switched to the role of support. As a result, we met on the same roster. Later, I begged him to come to NAVI, and he agreed (laughs). "