“I think the next World Championship will be worth $1 million." VP Paladins team captain's interview
Lev "eLvenpath" Strokov shares some insight on what Virtus.pro means for him, why his Norwegian teammate got his contract delivered via carrier pigeon and how he rooted for VP during the TI7.
About a transfer to Virtus.pro
– Personally, Virtus.pro is the best option possible. I'm the only representative of Russia on this skill level in Paladins, and playing under this tag is simply the top, the highest level. I'm going to call all my subscribers teddy bears from now on. Before, I called them Pokemon and lion cubs. But now they're all teddy bears!
About Paladins and his team
– If I were to describe Paladins in three words, I'd say fast, cartoonish, free. Unlike Overwatch, the game is more intuitive. My team consists of two Swedes, one Norwegian and one German. Everyone – except the German from Berlin – lives in a middle of nowhere. On of the Swedes – on an island, the Norwegian – actually in a village with a population of 1500. When I got my contract delivered to Saint Petersburg, I instantly messaged my guys that they should expect the same. Although I did warn the Norwegian about the possible problems – carrier pigeons would have taken longer than two days to reach his village.
About Paladins' prize pools
– I reckon the upcoming World Championship – that will be held in January – will be worth $300-500 thousand. But the following year, I think the game will pick up the pace, and the next Worlds should have a $1 million prize pool.
About Dota 2
– Every time I'm asked what I think about Dota, I always answer that it's the best game ever. Half of the listeners agree while the other one doesn't. So I explain that Dota has an infinite replay– ability, and in this game, you generate a never-ending number of unique, once-in-a-lifetime moments, and thanks to that moment generation, every event, every element connects and interacts with each other, creating a spectacular display of button pressing.
On Virtus.pro on TI7
– Of course, I watched The International 2017. At first, I didn't root for VP because I thought that it's kind of unfair for CIS dudes to make such a bank. Although, they were actually worthy of greater, in my opinion. They were ready to at least advance to the finals if not outright win The International. So I changed my mind – after all, the guys were clearly working so hard that it was impossible to resist cheering for CIS. So I thought: "Guys, sorry – I was wrong! Bear is strongest of them all – to our victory, let's go!". And I think they have everything ahead of them – it's great that these guys appeared out of nowhere and, in only one year, achieved a form that allows them to compete with the world's strongest teams.