Russian esports player Vladimir `RodjER` Nikogosyan has been competing professionally in Dota 2 for over a decade and isn`t planning to retire anytime soon. Nikogosyan discussed whether a return to the tier-1 scene is likely, shared his thoughts on streaming, and gave his opinion on the current state of Valve`s MOBA. Additionally, RodjER commented on recent roster shuffles and provided a tier list of the best support heroes in patch 7.38c.
— You recently came back from vacation. Could you tell us where you went and how your break was?
— We had planned a trip to Bali and had a really great rest, perhaps even more than we needed. We initially thought the time would be too short as we both wanted a good break, but 21 days turned out to be quite long – after two weeks, we were already ready to head home. For the final three days, we visited Singapore, which was also a fantastic experience.
— I occasionally check your Telegram channel and often see photos or short videos with incredibly beautiful views. Do you generally enjoy traveling?
— Yes, I do, but I don`t like it when it`s too much. Like most Dota players, I prefer being at home behind my computer. So, I don`t want to travel just for the sake of traveling. When you feel like going, you go. When the desire fades, you just chill at home, maybe watching streams.
— You`ve certainly been to many places both as an esports player and a traveler. Where did you like it most, in which country or city?
— Everyone thinks that because you travel for tournaments, you`ve seen the country. That`s not the case. When we arrive, firstly, if it`s America, China, Asia, you need a couple of days to acclimatize and set your schedule. Very often, on the day of arrival, there`s media work, and you have to give interviews and take photos with a tired, sleepy face, and the games start the next day.
With us in VP, for example, we often reached the finals, which meant there was no chance at all to see the city or country. If you get knocked out of the tournament early, then yes, you have a few days to walk around. And even then, you`re often sent home earlier after, say, the group stage. At The International, you might be sent home after groups.
But if I had to choose where I liked it most… I like Singapore, but it`s a very expensive city. Spain, Barcelona. Macau, I remember, was a cool city – just for three days, a casino city like that. A bit of everything, everywhere has its pros and cons, let`s say. Shanghai is also cool in the center.
— You listed so many places. Was there any particular moment during a trip that especially surprised you or simply stuck with you? What can you recall?
— That was probably my first trips, when I went abroad for the first time – America, Los Angeles. I`ve talked about these trips many times in interviews, how it was just a different world, different people, everything was different. I paid attention to all of that. So, it was perhaps the first impression, when you leave familiar Russia – that`s when the feelings are particularly intense. But when there`s too much of it, it becomes difficult in general. It`s also important who you`re traveling with and where you`re going. The vibes matter, the mood. I always tried to find positive moments, even if things were bad in the team. To go somewhere, do something, see something, some sights. So, perhaps the first impressions are the most interesting.
— Let`s talk about your career. At the end of 2024, you said you had no immediate plans but “haven`t hung up the mouse yet.” What is the current status of your esports career?
— Let`s say it`s just on pause. I don`t make any decisions myself; I`m a person driven by the moment or by my mood, you know? If I wake up and decide I want to – I`ll try. If I have the drive, the impulse – I`ll start working, trying. For now, there aren`t really any preconditions. Because playing Dota 2 now, I see that the situation in terms of public games, let`s say, is dismal. The gameplay itself isn`t exactly enjoyable. I think we`ll talk about Streamers Battle later – in general, it`s much more pleasant to play there, because it`s still a team game, you want to interact with people in it. In public games, there are fewer and fewer adequate people every day, and that`s sad. The desire to play solo ranked in Dota 2 disappears. And if you don`t play solo ranked, the chances of joining a team are almost zero – you don`t even need to think about it much. There are different leagues like Resolut1on`s and so on, but for now, that`s a test thing.
— Everyone knows that the Dota 2 community is toxic, quite unfriendly. Do you think this severely harms the game itself?
— Yes, it severely harms it. It`s a game about communication in general. If you look at it that way, public games and competitive Dota 2 have always been two different games. Of course, everyone, especially now, draws knowledge from public games, practices things. You can`t really scout much now. But sooner or later, you interact with teammates, press buttons together, and so on.
Personally, there are situations where I understand that a person is very unpleasant, and I need to come up with some move with them, and I decide I won`t come up with anything. I`m sure I`m not the only one who thinks this way, because it`s simply the human factor – it`s unpleasant. You have to step over yourself. I used to do that earlier when I was nobody in Dota. I had to sacrifice my ego and all that sometimes. But now, why should I do that? I don`t see the point.
— We won`t blame everything on Dota 2, because there are other games with toxicity and so on. But it seems that in Dota 2, it manifests most strongly. Why do you think it turned out this way in Dota?
— I don`t know, everyone thinks they are smarter, more skilled, or a better person. I don`t have an answer to this question, because I often don`t understand the new generation of Dota players – how they think, what they watch… People are different, of course, but I notice a tendency that there`s no trace of adequacy; you can`t even talk to them at all. I tried, but it doesn`t work. The first thing I hear about myself, for example, is: “Dude, you`re old! Who even are you?” How can you talk? I don`t understand.
— And what do you think, can anything be done about it? For the community, so to speak, to cleanse itself over time? The only thing that comes to mind is doing it like in League of Legends, where the developer handles everything. Because in LoL, it`s very strict: when you write something toxic, they just ban you, and that`s it.
— Of course, I`d like that, but Valve won`t do it. If they wanted to, they would have done it long ago. Dota 2`s online player count drops every month. At some point, it increased, yes – when a patch comes out, online always grows, everyone goes to see what`s new. But then it drops again. So it`s not profitable for Valve to ban people now – it`s profitable for them to keep all these people stewing together. It doesn`t matter how they interact with each other, the main thing is that they are there. That`s apparently their policy. And this greatly reduces the quality of our community. People have to tolerate this. But yes, if they somehow toughened the punishment…
There are people, for example, us – pro players, who have dedicated decades to this game. Don`t we deserve some trust from the developers? At least to have more influence in the game. For example, if you see that a person is truly inadequate, you give them a strike so that more attention is paid to it. But as it is, everyone is equal, so guys who allow themselves anything – to grief, say whatever – no one punishes them, because no one pays attention to them except those who were in that situation. So nothing happens.
— This is generally a problem with Valve – that they don`t address current issues in a timely manner. Remember MMR boosters, cheaters, and so on: everyone complains, but it seems nothing really changes.
We discussed your career and got a bit off track, let`s go back to it. You explained that your career is on pause for now. Are there players you would return to the pro scene for if they invited you to a team?
— I think so. In general, I want to get into a tier-1 team. It`s not even about players to play with, but… I always want to feel that the people I play with in a team are, first and foremost, promising. And a not insignificant factor is the ability to simply talk to them. Let`s say, my red flag is this: if it`s impossible to build any kind of dialogue with a person, there`s nothing for me to do in a team with them. Because I`ve had many situations in my career when you ask a person what the problem is, and they just stay silent. And that`s very demoralizing, because you feel like you`re hitting a wall. The main factor is dedication, interest, and that I personally see that the person is promising and shows a high level of play.
— You said communication is important to you. Who among players would you name as the most pleasant to communicate with?
— That would be Lyokha Solo, and Akbar SoNNeikO. Among coaches, I can single out XBOCT and Mag.
— What would you say about reuniting with Solo or RAMZES666, for example? They are currently free agents. Have you considered gathering the old guard?
— Yes, I have considered it, but I think Lyokha Solo and I are unlikely to play in the same team again, because I`m leaning more towards the fifth position, unless he wants to play on position four. I don`t like playing position four in the current Dota 2. And the hero pool there is specific – Ringmaster and Muerta, which I don`t play. I`m comfortable playing position five, and I have a good hero pool. As for Roma [RAMZES666 – ed. note] – yes, why not? Maybe we`ll even team up for qualifiers and show something.
— Roma recently said he`s forming a roster for Riyadh Masters and The International. As I understand it, there`s a chance we might see you in his team?
— Yes, there is a chance.
— There are few good coaches on the pro scene. You have extensive experience, understanding of the game, and so on. Have you considered trying yourself as a coach? How do you feel about it?
— I`m not interested in that yet. If I were to take it up, I`d want results. But for now, I`m leaning towards streaming, as you can earn more from it. And in general, I should have developed myself personally in terms of media a long time ago, because when I was a player, I was fully focused on the game. That wasn`t entirely right; I should have developed my media presence, it`s still experience.
In terms of coaching – I would actually be a good coach because I can be very invested in the game. And there are very few like that; there are just coaches, like Boolk, for example, who just watch a lot of Dota. Playing coaches have a certain advantage because you have practical experience. If I were to get into coaching, I might even try it for a short period, like helping a team achieve a result at a tournament. For example, at The International, Riyadh Masters, or something else. Just observe, and if people are genuinely interested in your opinion, you could help in some way.
— Have you tried coaching in a non-public capacity?
— No, I haven`t. Only once at the Streamers Battle was I asked to coach Big Baby Tape`s team. It was tough there, not what I was looking for in coaching overall.
— You just mentioned yourself that you are primarily focused on streaming now. How do you like this field of activity in general, what do you like and dislike about it?
— I like that I interact with my audience. I already have a certain audience, there are people, my regular viewers. Roughly speaking, my own community is created, where you spend time with people, discuss topics, laugh together. Sometimes we play custom games together, or something else. That`s the pleasant part.
Overall, streams can be very exhausting, especially when playing Dota 2. I often give Dota a chance so the content looks normal, but it`s difficult right now. Again, with this new patch, it feels like I need to find other options – think about streaming other games, or something else. In other words, diversify. First and foremost, streams should bring some entertainment and good mood, but when I play Dota 2, I personally don`t feel these emotions. And I think the viewer doesn`t either.
— What about single-player games? Do you like them?
— When I was actively playing Dota 2, when I had a career, I didn`t really play other games, only CS sometimes to warm up, and that was it. So I dedicated all my time to Dota. Now I`m thinking – I`ve already bought some games. It`s just that I have an unclear situation with my computer: I`ve wanted to get a new one since the New Year, but there are some difficulties with hardware in Russia right now. I`d like to play some games on a new computer with pleasure. So yes, I`m considering various single-player games. Right now, I`m actively interested in Heroes of Might and Magic III. I really like it. Do you know that game?
— Yes, of course.
— It`s just that not everyone gets it. In my free time, I play it, watch videos, and it`s somehow interesting.
— I`m not very good at playing Heroes – I played through it as a kid. But I love watching VooDooSh play it. It`s a very atmospheric and cozy game. Even if you don`t quite understand, it`s interesting to watch.
Speaking of media: have you considered seriously getting into community casting? It`s a bit of a trend now.
— I`ve already commented on three or four tournaments by myself. So yes, I`m looking in that direction, I`m interested in it. It`s just difficult when you don`t have rights for some tournaments. I remember I fully commented on Riyadh Masters. It was the first tournament that was so long – two weeks, I commented on almost all games. I missed one day because I wasn`t feeling well. It`s exhausting, of course, but overall, especially if the tournament is interesting and the teams give their all, I`ll cast with pleasure. PGL Wallachia Season 4 will be at the end of April – I`ll be casting that tournament too [the interview was recorded on April 9, before PGL Wallachia Season 4 started – ed. note].
— Do you think the future lies with community casting? Or will studio broadcasts also be in demand among viewers?
— I think both are in demand. Community casting is the development of your own stream. In my understanding, it`s more promising than working for a studio. There, everything is likely fixed, and not much depends on you. I don`t like working in studios because there are restrictions. You can`t express the emotions you feel. There`s more professionalism, censorship, and all that. We all know that Dota isn`t about that. Dota is first and foremost about what you feel. So community casting gives you more freedom: you choose what you want to watch and what kind of content to show in general. But if I`m invited to work at The International again, I`ll gladly accept, because The International is The International.
— Lately, you`ve been playing frequently in media tournaments like Streamers Battle. What attracts you to these events?
— First of all, it`s fun, plus there`s a decent prize pool. Secondly, I didn`t play in every Streamers Battle I was invited to, because it`s important to me that the team composition is to my liking. You`ll be communicating with those people.
What attracts me is that it`s a change of pace. I`d rather play Streamers Battle than sit and stream public games. It`s also content, in a way. You show the internal dynamics, how we talk, how we communicate – viewers find that interesting. Discussions and so on. There`s a lack of that on the pro scene generally; there`s not much content.
— You mentioned that on one hand, it`s fun, but on the other hand, these tournaments have a solid prize pool. It seems like championships like Streamers Battle were initially conceived as show tournaments with streamers, but ultimately became events for semi-pros. Doesn`t it seem that way to you?
— Yes, there`s something to that… People sweat there, prepare, play scrims. Let`s say, there are former pro players who already have experience – for example, me, 9pasha, Cooman. And we won`t want to prepare as much for these tournaments; we gathered more for fun. But people who have never competed in tournaments – for them, it`s the first time, they are charged up, they are interested. You can understand them. And they also invite some semi-pros who have never been to a LAN but are known in streaming. So everyone is gathered together, and some try harder, some less.
— And what do you think, does anything need to be changed at Streamers Battle to make it more of a media show?
— I think you could come up with some conditions for playing or create some mods. But that would probably be too much hassle. What else can you do besides just sit and play Dota 2? To make it some kind of show…
At Fonbet Media Eleague Season 2, they came up with something, they thought in that direction. There were challenges, for example. They paid ₽100,000 for each challenge: kill three Roshans, buy five Dagon and hit one hero each, something else there, finish the game 10:0. Something similar, yes. But it wasn`t mandatory. You could come up with something to make it an actual condition for winning.
— Everything is basically clear with Streamers Battle. I want to talk to you about patch 7.38. You commented on it publicly, but not extensively. Even from this interview, talking to you, I understand that you weren`t particularly happy with all these changes. How do you feel about the patch in general, is there anything that brought back the joy of playing?
— Is there anything that brought back the joy? I don`t see much positive, honestly. The game has become much harder to play because the map is bigger. Everything now boils down to needing to communicate. Because in public games, everyone just hits creeps – no matter what happens, everyone hits creeps, and come what may. They don`t think in the game. Before, the map was smaller, there were portals, you`d fly back and forth, you could fly to outposts… Now no one understands anything, but there are very strong heroes in public games. You can pick certain heroes like Tinker, Night Stalker, Nature`s Prophet, and that`s it, you won`t win against them because they split push lanes, and you don`t know what to do about it. You just run around the map, hitting creeps. So yes, personally, I don`t get any pleasure playing Dota 2, honestly. Because it`s hard, playing support, to win in Dota 2 right now, really. If your cores are completely clueless guys, let`s say.
— You mentioned in a recent stream that you even feel sad for Dota 2. What in the game, in your opinion, is most in need of an update right now? What should developers focus on?
— I would bring back the dodge list, that`s the first thing. Why should I be forced to play with people I don`t want to play with? It`s illogical. But, of course, they won`t do that, as they want more people to play Dota 2. So, if I know that a person is genuinely griefing, if they were very rude to me… Gabe thinks it`s normal that I`ll play with them again. This strongly disappoints me. What else?
— You mentioned the map size. Should they bring back…
— Make fewer camps, yes. Dota 2 is turning into everyone just hitting creeps – carries and non-carries… Position three is now also more like a carry. In short, everything has changed a lot in this regard. You can accept that, okay, but again, it all comes down to needing to enjoy the gameplay itself in Dota 2. I don`t have that. There are too many strong heroes there. If it`s clear in the first days of a patch that a hero is simply broken, I`d like them to fix it. I don`t understand why they fix heroes that were never picked, like Skywrath Mage, for example, or some others. To me, that`s completely illogical.
— You mentioned that everyone is hitting creeps now – to a greater extent, this happens because the game is designed that way. It`s like you need to farm a lot to finish the map. Before patch 7.38 came out, many in the community expressed that the formulas should be changed. Do you think that`s needed now?
— With the formulas, I think everything is fine. On the pro scene, games generally end quite quickly, and in public games too. Because with this experience rune, if they take it at the seventh minute, it`s practically impossible to play anymore. Because it`s very hard to come back; you just get pressured. If they take your T2 towers, then… (laughs) You`re cornered on the map, you can`t split push, or do anything else.
Again, everything is very much tied to drafts, let`s say. Public games are really a lottery, lucky or unlucky. If a person is in a good mood, you`re lucky. In a bad mood – they`ll die once, buy back, and start griefing. This is not regulated in any way; it`s really just luck.
— And what about Chen and the new `creep-hero` feature? Should we expect the hero to return to the meta?
— In public games, I don`t think so. On the pro scene, he appears sometimes anyway; it mostly depends on the team – whether they want to play with this hero. I think you can still come up with strategies with him. But there are simply better heroes for position five right now, like Jakiro, Ancient Apparition, Warlock, who lane very well, contribute a lot of impact – they are simply stronger heroes. In public games, only I am crazy enough to want to play Chen and suffer. Because, again, it all comes down to Chen being a team hero; he can`t do anything alone. You have to call people to gather with Chen and go make a play, and that`s practically impossible.
— In late March, Valve also changed the Immortal Draft mode. You mentioned you might return to Dota 2 if the developers fix matchmaking. Are the changes to Immortal Draft what you expected?
— Official nicknames didn`t change anything for me, because if I got matched with idiots, I just noted their names, and when they got matched with me next time, I saw it. It`s a decent change, but not practical, because people can still have multiple accounts, log in, and grief. People do that to me on stream. I have to hide my screen so the guy doesn`t snipe me. He deliberately snipes me – he`s already done it from four or five accounts. So it didn`t change much at all.
The fact that you can`t queue in parties now – yes, that`s okay in some ways, but… Just yesterday on stream, for example, you get matched, and guys write: “We`re in a party.” They just press search together and get into the same game. So practically nothing has changed.
— What about closed statistics, if we talk about it from an esports player`s perspective? Is this a normal change for the pro scene, or not so good?
— Both yes and no. It`s cool that there will be an element of surprise – players will prepare better for tournaments, come up with some strategies, surprise others. Before, it was hard to do that because everyone scouted each other, but now they can`t see what you`re playing. It`s cool that there can be some, so to speak, extraordinary ideas.
The bad part is that I can`t just check what someone in my friends list is playing right now, just to watch their game. That`s a bit tedious. Okay, you could close it off to people who aren`t friends, but it could have been left open for friends. In that case, you at least choose who you allow to watch your games and who you don`t. It would be great if there was some choice in that regard.
— But for regular players and, in my opinion, for Dota in general, this isn`t very good. Because the new generation of Dota players learns by watching esports players. And now there are only tournament games and streams left. And not all pro players stream.
— By the way, yes, that`s a plus for streamers. If you stream Dota 2, play the game, people who want to watch gameplay – they will come to the stream and watch. So for streamers, it`s a plus.
— And as a streamer, did you see any growth in online viewership on your broadcasts after the Immortal Draft changes?
— Not yet, because I recently returned from vacation. Now I need to get the online viewership back – it`s currently small because consistency is needed.
— Let`s move on to the topic of reshuffles. Recently, Virtus.pro signed the former Chimera Esports roster with Daxak, only with…
Finley Holt