Danil " Dendi"Ishutin is a talented player who can undoubtedly be called gifted. He is one of the best solo mid players on the planet, if not the best. He has always played his roles perfectly, no matter what position he is in. Everyone knows him for his epic hooks on Pudge and multi-button Invoker. He can be considered an innovator, a discoverer, and he is also just a great guy with plenty of charm.

I decided to write a kind of biography about Danil, but I will present it to you as a story about him and the teams in which he played.

The city of Lviv is a city of regional subordination in Ukraine, the regional center of the Lviv region, the national-cultural, educational-scientific center of the country, a large industrial center and... so wait, something took me in the wrong direction.

So, Danil lived with his parents, grandmother, brother and sister. He got his first computer early and, like all children, he loved to play everything. For hours with my brother, they killed time at the monitor and played popular games of that time ( Quake, DOOM, WC2). In addition to games that he could play forever, he went to music school. He studied there for 5 years and received a musical education. In general, speaking about this part, we can say that Danil’s entire family had a musical education. He played the piano very well, which undoubtedly helped him with you know what. After music school, Danil took up acrobatics, like his brother and sister. Afterwards there was dancing. Are there too many hobbies for an ordinary eSports player? Of course not, because Danil is not an ordinary eSports player. After release WarCraft 3 Dendi I devoted all my free time to this game and the endless variety of cards. There were also problems, namely with the Internet. The speed was terrible and due to lags it was not possible to show what he was fully capable of, although Danil managed to win a couple of tournaments.

Yes, I had a computer, but I didn’t have money for proper Internet. And I started playing on cheap night Internet, using a modem that gave terrible speed. It's difficult to play at 32kB per second. I even won several Ukrainian championships[...] But after a while, it began to get boring. Then I discovered DotA Dendi

And then DotA appeared, which would forever capture his heart. He had no idea that he would be paid for his hobby.
In DotA, he was able to show all his talents. Already at the age of 17 he could be considered a professional player with enormous potential. He plays any role in the team: from support to solo midlaner, which is what he liked most. Of course, he played support because other roles did not trust him at that time. But in 2007 he showed himself excellently as part of the Ukrainian national team at MYM PriDe and took 3rd place.

It's 2008 and eighteen-year-old Dendi is already in the lineup Walk3r Gaming. Owned and sponsored by Walker respectively. The team was led by the best player in Ukraine at that time Travka. In addition to him, there were DKPhobos, Axypa And Goblak and Vitaly Volochai as manager. The team performed successfully and gained momentum very quickly.
Danil in the lineup W.G. took part in MYM PriDe#9, MYM PriDe#10, DTS LAN CUP And ASUS Spring 2008. W.G. were on par with the TOP of that period: Virtus Pro, Meet You Makers And Schroet Kommando - gaming
Due to their own problems, the team Virtus Pro couldn't take part in MYM PriDe#9 and met in the final W.G. And MYM. All Dota games were played in the best-of-one format. In the decisive fight Loda on Sand King was able to undermine four players from Ukraine and make a minus five as a result. And the team in general MYM made few mistakes in the meeting - the result was defeat W.G. and silver medals. The performance cannot be called a failure, because for Dendi it was a big victory.

On April 7 there was a regular DTS LAN CUP, which became the finest hour W.G. together with Dendi. In the finale they moved updated V.P., who were going through a difficult period at that time and took first place.

Next, on MYM PriDe#10 team W.G. again took 2nd place. In the semi-finals they faced the dark horse of the tournament SGC. SGC used the four protect one scheme, just like W.G. who defended Travk"y, his main carry. They beat the Slovaks, but in the final they met with SK-gaming and lost by a score 0:2 .

On ASUS Spring, which took place in mid-May W.G. in the final they played against V.P.. Unfortunately for the guys, they took 2nd place, as the stronger Virtus killed their opponents to zero.

Thus Dendi as part of W.G. achieved recognition as a professional player. Participation in this team helped him to make up his mind and not doubt his abilities. Still a rising star in the DotA world. The team could have continued to push through, but on June 28 Travka, who has repeatedly announced his retirement from Dota, left the team. They took his place ArtStyle.

Danil's further fate, after the partial merger of WG and KS.int, forced him to rush between KS.int and DTS.

The period of Ukrainian King Surf.International and the first DTS.Dota

Team captain KS.int became a former player V.P. Jolie. In addition to Dendi, the lineup included Puppey, GoBlin And Axypa. Among the tournaments I can only highlight ASUS Summer, where the team took 2nd place, losing to the team Rush3D. If you don’t go into analytics, then Rush3D I was just Lost And N.S.. Lost farmed like crazy KS.int couldn't stop him because N.S.- This N.S.. The welded map was completely under their control. KS.int didn't carry out a single successful gank.

Several events occurred in October that resulted in Dendi moved to DTS-Gaming, among which: leaving DTS Vigoss And Vein. KS.int As many as 3 players left. Axypa also followed in DTS. The composition in 2008 was extremely unstable, but it was officially announced: Dendi, DKPhobos, Axypa, Moelie, Aidar, Well v1lat as a manager. The team played classic Dota. Danil himself called his style “turtle”. He did not achieve any special results, but this probably served for further reshuffles and strengthening of the composition for the upcoming DTS LAN CUP, well, myself Dendi has already become truly international KS.int. The teams prepared thoroughly for the tournament. Unfortunately for him, KS.int it didn't work out for him. Perhaps the factor of the multinationality of the composition played a role, because it featured: Puppey, Miracle, Kuroky, H4nn1, Levent. On the other hand, the rhythm of the game KS.int was too fast for Dendi and he fell behind from constant ganks. This was the reason for the return Dendi V DTS.Chatrix in June 2009, for which he competed for a year and a half. DTS became the most successful project in Europe in the period 2009-10. This composition served as a standard for many.

DTS.Chatrix is ​​a dream team!

Dendi in DTS.Chatrix

Original composition DTS looked like this: Dendi, Travka, DKPhobos, Light, GoBlin, but we all know very well that star cast DTS-Chatrix, who crushed everyone in his path, only occasionally retreating in order to defeat his opponents with renewed vigor.
Since on ASUS Summer DotA was not declared as a gaming discipline, the first test for Dendi, in already his DTS became a tournament OSPL Autumn. The guys fought to the last and managed to reach the final. In the final the opponent was the team PGG The Retry. Serious battles broke out. Based on the outcome of the battle DTS lost 3 sides, but fought against mega-creeps until the last HP of the throne. They inspired the fans and the hall exploded with a storm of applause. And this despite their defeat. Even after they wrote GG, it was clear that although it was second place, it was a victory! Damn PGG continued, and now ASUS Autumn enemy DTS the team became the finalist AEON.ru (ex-TR), who won again. Based on the results of the year, we can say that the team performed well, but this was not what was expected from them. In December, at the end of 2009 DTS radically changed the composition, which allowed Dendi become team captain.

DTS-Chatrix.dota

Dendi- captain
ArtStyle
Butcha
N.S.
LightOfHeaven
Dread
v1lat- manager

And then 2010 comes. Nearest Lan - ASUS Spring 2010. On May 22nd it's time for DTS to show what they can do and break the curse PGG. The tournament did not start very well, as due to problems with WarCraft the team goes to the losers' bracket. But as a result of lively debate DTS still replay the match against the team Chekuda2. I think it’s clear who won. Next they destroyed Krolik-team, Int.exl. Quite expectedly, we met in the final DTS And TeamHome in which they played PGG, Kuroky And Puppey. The team was principled, because the winner receives a paid trip to ESWC in Paris. Dendi stood hard on Mirana With ES. As the saying goes Mirana dragged, in total Dendi made 21 kills and had no deaths. Paris welcomes guests from the CIS.

Video report from ASUS Spring 2010

Now DTS, with courage and confidence in their abilities, participate in all possible tournaments, taking prizes: Farm4Fame, PickLeague, Storm the Front, Intel Challenge Super Cup.

The final took place on June 3 PickLeague XIII - DTS vs Blight-Gaming. The league lasted for several months and the long-awaited final was here. Essentially it was a league, and the teams scored the same number of points, which is why the final game had to be played between DTS And Ducky with a company. It was held in the best-of-three format. Blight at that time they were in the TOP and also had an invitation to Paris. Included B.G. there were players like Misery, Loda, Miracle, Twisted And Pajkatt. In the first game Dendi played on the forest W.D., in the second also on W.D. in double mid he supported ArtStyle on SF. Unfortunately they lost both games. Accordingly, they took second place.

The next tournament was Storm The Front #3. DTS destroyed without a chance Unique And MYM. In the final, their opponents were the Nirvana.int team. The final was held in a best-of-five format. They lost the first game, which forced them to gather their strength. And in the hardest battles DTS took a strong-willed victory over the enemy with a score of 3:2.

Summer was in full swing, the most anticipated summer event of this year was ahead ESWC in Paris. Among the invited teams: DTS, MYM, AEON-Sports, nirvana.US, Online Kingdom, LOST, EHOME, Nirvana.My. Based on the results of the group stage DTS took second place behind the team Nirvana.US. In the playoff stage DTS thrown into the losers' net MYM, and then they themselves flew there from EHOME. I had to knock it out MYM-ov from the tournament completely. The final was made up EHOME And DTS. ArtStyle made a noise Dendi SF in the middle The picks resulted in 2 carries on both sides, and mirror strategies. A duel broke out in the mid lane between Dendi And X!!! on Lion. It also turned out to be triple in complex ones and thereby turned easy lines into complex ones. The heroes were rotted on their lungs as best they could. But FB was still taken by the Chinese, and at Razor Artstyle. For Dendi in the mid lane everything was going well, but X went to easy and helped kill triple. Dendi continued to farm. EHOME slowly and surely they gained an advantage in gold and experience and took Roshan in the 27th minute. Then, having made minus 5, they go to finish the game. Dendi was only able to farm BKB, which was useless and in the 29th minute they demolished the side, the second and DTS write GG. As a result - 2nd place. Not bad at all, considering that they were able to make their way through the world tops. After the tournament, Danil called the Chinese robots, justifying their victory.

In August there is a traditional ASUS Summer, but there were some changes. Namely: now the tournament will be held in the recently opened Kyiv CyberSport Arena. At the same time, the scale of the tournament increased and interest in it grew. In principle, it was clear in advance who would win the tournament. But everyone expected at least some resistance. A DTS Meanwhile, they effortlessly defeated all opponents and took 1st place.

DotA made from Dendi a celebrity, people are already taking autographs from him, taking pictures with him. After the tournament MYM PriDe#12 Dendi will say hello EHOME- said that I will see you in the next life. How he felt that revenge awaited him. Dendi will destroy EHOME from now on. Well, in the meantime in Europe tournaments are held one after another and DTS continue to win without respite.

Last MYM PriDe#12 took place in mid-September. Not only European squads took part in it, but also teams from China, Australia and Singapore. DTS beat first AEON, the games with which turned out to be the most spectacular in the tournament, especially the first one. In the semi-final games they defeated LOST.eu And MCiTY. In the final, the Winners won 2:1 over the Chinese LGD.SGty. After the defeat from the Ukrainians, they did not even think of giving up and still made it through the losers’ bracket to the Grand Final. As for DTS, they were unstoppable and the Chinese were eliminated with a score of 3:0. The team proved the right to be called TOP-2 in the world.

Mid November 2010. The most anticipated championship for any dota player took place in the city of Wuhan. World Dota Championship 2010. The DotA Allstars World Championship is a test of strength, the main indicator of professionalism.

I like it in China, I like the mentality here. Passersby recognize us, they take pictures with us and take autographs Dendi

Over the course of five days, the best teams not only from China, but also from Southeast Asia and Europe will compete for the title of world champion. Participants in the championship were: DTS, The Retry, - Nirvana.My, - AEON.MUFC, Roccat.trust, MYM. China was represented by: Nirvana.Cherry.China, UESTC, Dream, Deity, SNU, DK, XFAC, TYJ.LGD, WU.
In the very first game, DTS met their offenders on ESWC in Paris, by the guys from EHOME. DTS They gave them such heat that the Chinese did not know which corner to hide in. This match will go down in history DotA. Their performance was incredible. Triple humiliated the Chinese WR in a difficult situation and pushed the tavern. Himself Dendi stood on Dazzle against AAA on SF. From time to time his teammates came to mid and killed the frightened one SF and everyone who tried to save him. Dazzle from Dendi was not imitable, he walked all over the map and killed those he hated EHOME. The game was going as if DTS We wrote the script in advance. Already at the 18th minute DTS they go to the Chinese base and arrange a disco (lights, lightning, kicks, dismemberment). 2 minutes later Roshan is taken away and there is more fun at the base EHOME. ArtStyle on Enchantress It doesn't deal like a child, enemies fall with three or four hits. At the 38th minute the last barracks fall and the Chinese write gg. WP DTS- this victory became the most important for Dendi and Co in their history. Overall for the tournament, DTS beat TYJ.LGD, AEON.MUFC And XFAC and took 3rd place, losing only Nirvana.Cherry.China. Anyway DTS proved that European Dota can compete on par with Chinese Dota, from that moment on everyone believed that China was possible, and even necessary, to win in China.
Replay against EHOME

Here they are, the simple heroes of 2010.

DotA slowed down, many already think that its time is passing. Dendi I believed it too. But an important event happened: Valve announced that now together with iceFrog-om is going to make his own game based on WC3 DotA.

I think Dota 2 will be exactly the same as everyone imagines it to be. I hope it will be good old DotA with slightly adjusted graphics, the same heroes, game mechanics and balance, but it will be on a new engine, with a new connection, hotkeys, etc. Dendi

ASUS Autumn 2010 held on November 28 will seem boring, because it is clear in advance who will win. But that's it ASUS will perform for the first time Na'Vi- a new Ukrainian team with a purely Ukrainian composition of former teammates Dendi. ArtStyle did not take part in the tournament, but this did not affect the game in any way DTS, Smile did a good job as a stand-up. Was in the final again PGG already on the team max1, it ended dry 2:0 in favor DTS.

Now the time of troubles has come, DTS faltered. Their constancy and consistency of composition was under threat. Hopes melted like oil in a hot frying pan. U AtrStyle Personal reasons arose as a result of which he left the team. ArtStyle noticed for Na'Vi during ICSC8 will join the team Na"Vi in early December - although the information was not confirmed for a long time. It seems that everything is not so terrible at first glance. DTS accept Smile, who took part in the Autumn Asus, but the team is starting to crumble. December 25, 2010 Dendi goes into Natus Vincere. Remaining players DTS-will become Moscow Five.garaj-gaming

Na'Vi- this is a new period of life for Dendi. Thanks to Na'Vi his life can be divided into before... and after Na'Vi. He's already played with Axypa And Goblin before, but the relationship cooled down a little over such a period of time. WITH TAIL he had never played before. Before I came Dendi Deff- and Mag played for the team. After their departure, 2 places became available. Taking advantage of all this leapfrog PGG still took its toll on ASUS Winter 2011. Na'Vi took 3rd place.

Dendi as part of Na'Vi visited OSPL Spring in Almaty. The tournament did not seem easy then, but the level of the team was not yet the same. In the semi-finals they lost to the team M5, whose composition was 80% former players DTS. According to the results Na'Vi took 3rd place, beating the team RUSH.

Then the final took place Intel Challenge Super Cup#7. The confrontation that later became a “Classic” Na'Vi And MYM in many other events. The confrontations between them have always been very spectacular and exciting. The team from Ukraine will defeat the Danes in the semi-finals of the Wieners, but will not be able to qualify for the Grand Final, because will run into GG.net. Unfortunately, having been eliminated from the state gamers team in the big final of losers Na'Vi will be knocked out MYM. And the next tournament ends for them with 3rd place.

And now the victorious march of Natus Vincere will begin, which will continue to this day. May 29, final ASUS Spring 2011. (By the way, the French Virus took part in this tournament, taking 4th place). As expected Na'Vi did not lose a single game in the group stage. The final four were: M5, Na'Vi, TR, Virus. Made it to the finals M5 And Na'Vi. I really remember the chant “Fuck-garage!!!” I will not describe the events that take place in the matches, because... there are waters, and whoever wants to, will look. (Water No., ,). I don’t think there will be anyone who hasn’t watched this tournament. So here it is Na'Vi win with a score of 2:1 and receive their first gold medal.

Right after ASUS leaving the team Axypa And Goblak. We have to look for a replacement very quickly. The new players will be Puppey And LightTofHeaveN, for the transition of which the organization will pay $2000. Valve have already made an official announcement about the million dollar tournament, no doubt Na'Vi need a good team.

And Danil, in addition to DotA- there is also real life. And sometimes you have to learn from it. In June he graduates from the Ukrainian Academy as a computer scientist. Now Danil Ishutin officially has a higher education, and he no longer has to waste time combining gaming with studies. And this is only a plus for his skill.

On August 1, the best tournament in DotA Allstars Farm4Fame#3. Na'Vi have already fallen into the losers' net. It turns out that MYM there will be an advantage in the grand final. Na'Vi defeated the team OK.Nirvana.int in the grand final of the losers and reached the final. Then 2 incredible games from MYM, and a dry victory. Na'Vi second. But online is online, but on-line Na'Vi will be much stronger. And so easy winners Maelk and the company will not be able to oppose anything to the Ukrainians.

August 13-14, took place ASUS Summer. There were quite a few good teams. Na’Vi could only compete with max1 (PGG&Co). Yes, there were a couple of foreign teams at the tournament: Virus. NE.Pentia, 4GL. (It is noteworthy that the team v1lat"a took part in the qualifications; for those who haven’t seen it, I advise you to watch: Natus Vincere,

why drag out the game until late if you can win in 20 minutes Dendi

It consisted of the methodical demolition of towers, therefore the team at an early stage had an advantage in gold and a slight overpack in clothes. This stratum Na'Vi have been using it for the last 3 months, but not a single team could figure out how to counter it. It was called “Strata NAVI”. Thanks to her, they made it to the finals without a single defeat. ArtStyle I was just doing my job and Dendi He fulfilled his role very clearly. In the final they met with EHOME. The Chinese will remember this day. VOD 1, VOD 2, VOD 3. The games were Must See, v1lat screamed until the headphones failed. With this victory and this million, Danil Ishutin will become the most famous millionaire doter. Although the winnings were divided into 6 parts, everything was exactly at the Ukrainian exchange rate Dendi- Millionaire!

After such a result, it’s time to quit professional Dota, or vice versa - earn the maximum number of awards, since fate gives such a chance. Also after the championship on October 3 ArtStyle left the team. DTS fell apart just the same. But Na"Vi another fate.

Now upcoming TECHLABS CUP Ukraine looked faded, but still Na'Vi took part in it. Instead of Artstyle standing again Match. In the final there were M5. That's probably all that can be said about this tournament. Although I admit, the competitions were fun:

Even WDC. Which, as it were, the World Cup is no longer so attractive. Moreover, it was necessary to go to China. And there were more teams from China than usual. And the team was not at full strength, instead ArtStyle God. For that Dendi had a blast in China. The tournament turned out to be quite good. But Na'Vi did not achieve as much success as last year DTS. Although they were the only team that managed to win, they were still undefeated DK, which swept away everyone in their path. Dendi after the end of the tournament he gave a short interview

He talked about the differences between DotA.Allstars And DOTA2. For those interested, HERE is the interview.
ALL VOD"s Na'Vi With WDC.

ESWC 2011. Dendi in Paris, take 2.

The time has come to take away from EHOME title of champions. This will be a very cruel reprisal, just like on The International will be selected as a gaming discipline DOTA2. It will be quite interesting to watch games in a group, because... Serbs using their dome tactics Void, ults Aparation And Lich Won for the 3rd time in a row Na"Vi. They still have the audacity to take away from Dendi Pudge Vod. But what is the team 4 Gamers League will come out in first place, they will all fly away during the playoffs. A Na"Vi on the contrary, they will easily reach the Grand Final with a one-game advantage. Na"Vi EHOME- this is the taste of revenge. They will cry and hide from Pudge from Dendi. Who got into a frenzy and had no intention of stopping. It was for this match that Dendi will add the option “ CPM"Chinese per minute." VOD1, VOD2. China - home Na"Vi champions according to ESWC.

The whole tournament was difficult for us, but the final was very easy. All I want is to win, win and win again! Ivan's absence made the games more difficult; we had to adapt to the new style. Now we play more carefully and cannot afford to do what we did before. All the players are very good, they are all experienced, but ArtStyle united us and made us a Dendi team

This is an interview with Dendi.

Ars-Art(Smile) replaced Ivan in the team on a permanent basis. Smile fit into the team very well, because as a player he was a universal player.

Dota2StarChampionship became a real nightmare for Na"Vi- for the first time they were defeated. PGG on Lan" e distributes again. Everything went wrong in the finale. nothing worked, everything did not go according to plan. The game didn't go well from the very beginning. Dendi played surprisingly poorly. Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Award. As the saying goes Pudge Dend I didn't drag it. But nothing. Even the best people have punctures.

On ASUS Cup 2011 “Final Battle of the Year”, Na"Vi will recoup on PGG and companies. The tournament took place on December 18, and from now on became the only one of the year, as a summing up of ASUS. In the semi-finals Na"Vi will overcome without difficulty eSahara. And in the final The Retry with the score 1:0. Yes, on ASUS there were no commands at all except TR And eSahara.

I think that’s enough. Everyone knows exactly what happened in 2012 (both about the antics from Starladder and about the fun at tournaments), but I’ve already written the story. Danil is an example of how such a gifted and capable person can fulfill his dream. A millionaire from the world of Dota named Danil" Dendi"Ishutin.

It was necessary to choose the face of the game, then Danil Dendi Ishutin would become one of the main contenders. Gabe Newell once called him the most charismatic player in the world. The ever-smiling Lviv guy with tousled hair and delicate features grew up with this game. During his ten-year career, Danil was both a world champion and the main outsider of the tournament, but he never allowed himself to give up.

How to raise an esports athlete

It’s unlikely that Dendi’s family could have imagined that they had always raised him as an esports athlete. His father, who took Danil fishing, showed him the importance of perseverance and endurance. Her mother, a musician, sat her down at the piano and gave the Dota world one of the fastest and most gifted players. Dancing classes helped Danil feel free on stage in front of an audience of thousands. And my grandmother bought a computer.

Like all younger children, Dendi saw his first games from behind his brother. With him they played Quake and Doom, opened the second WarCraft. But after the wedding, my brother moved and took the computer with him. Then Danil made a second discovery for himself - there was an Internet cafe next to the house.

Dendi liked computer games, but it is unlikely that he would have devoted his life to them if not for a tragedy in the family. His father, who was Danil’s best friend, was taken by cancer. The boy tried to hide from the pain of loss and found nothing better than to immerse himself in games.

“I really started spending more time on the computer. It's like trying to distract yourself. This was probably the beginning. What motivated me to play even more. Maybe I wouldn’t have played at all if it weren’t for this,” Danil said in the film Free to Play.

Dendi followed the usual path for many e-sportsmen. First Counter Strike, then WarCraft 3 with many maps, among which DotA stood out. In WC3, he managed to become a champion in several local tournaments, although he had to play at night, when the Internet speed was 32 kB/s.

Danil assembled his first team in DotA himself - he simply wrote a long post on the forum, being surprised that there was no Ukrainian team among the participants in international tournaments. Now Dendi believes that it was a bit of a stupid teenage act. But then he got a support position in the Ukrainian squad, met other players and took his first step into e-sports.

First champion

Danil’s career is a road map by which you can study the development of the Dota scene in the CIS and in the world. The best players, the first organizations and tournaments from local to global. He traveled around Ukraine, went to Moscow, flew to conquer China and Paris. Having started his playing career at the age of 17, a year later Dendi stormed the championships one after another, staying in the top three.

“I'm taking it step by step. If I see that the chosen style of play gives results, I continue in the same spirit. I like to take risks, but, as always, I first calculate whether the result is worth the risk. Simple mathematics,” Danil explained his aggressive playing style.

He became a player who could do everything: go into a difficult lane with Mirana, farm the jungle with Witch Doctor, or conquer the mid lane with Shadow Fiend or Dazzle. He himself will no longer be able to immediately remember all the championships and stops that he has completed over the past few years.

The DTS team, in which Dendi performed, fully justified the title of one of the main forces of the European scene. But their main rivals were not the Swedes, Americans or guys from Russia, but the Chinese from EHOME, who were deservedly called “robots”. The rivalry began at ESWC 2010, where DTS lost to the representatives of the Celestial Empire in the finals, having practically nothing to do in the 29-minute map.

“We’ll meet in the next life,” Dendi said hello to them.

They managed to take revenge a few months later, in November 2010. Then the best teams in the world gathered for the most prestigious tournament of the season - World Dota Championship 2010. A real world championship. No, the Hollywood meeting in the final did not work out - the teams clashed in the first match. A crazy game that went down in the history of the world DotA scene. How Dendi rushed around the map on Dazzle, how the Ukrainians frolicked at someone else’s base 20 minutes later, and how the Chinese had nothing to answer. It was not possible to take the championship at that tournament, but the principle opponent was broken. And on the home stage. However, another important meeting awaits them later.

Danil’s esports life can be easily divided into two parts: without and with. Dendi joined the young Ukrainian organization on December 25, 2010 and since then has not taken off the black and yellow “born to win” T-shirt. No one on the professional Dota scene can boast of such consistency.

But the end of 2010 and 2011 became a turning point not only for Danil, but also for the entire history of DotA. First, Valve announces that they are taking the famous competitive map under their wing, turning it into a separate game. Then the company makes an announcement that neither players nor ordinary viewers believed in for months. To show the world their new creation, Valve is planning to hold a tournament, the winner of which will receive $1 million. Just a couple of years ago, players participated in championships just for fun, but now they were offered to become millionaires in a few days.

We received an invitation to the tournament as one of the best teams in the world. They were given the keys to the game, there was no one to train with, and there were only 46 heroes in the game. During preparation, Na’Vi developed two main principles: take characters with simple animations and demolish towers.

“Why wait until late in the game when you can win in 20 minutes?” - Dendi noted reasonably.

Don’t lose a single map in the group stage, it’s easy to go through the playoffs, only to face them again in the finals - the “Chinese robots” from EHOME. As Dendi promised, he met them again in a “new life”, for himself and for the game. To the screams of commentators, Western fans and the players themselves, they became the first champions of The International, winning the match with a score of 3:1. Danil earned the first eSports million, dollars for the team and hryvnia for himself.

Yes, at some point you start looking at the numbers, because you can win a whole million! This has never happened in eSports. But at the end of the day, it's the same tournament that you just want to win, no matter what. Money is a motivation, but only an additional one. I don't feel any pressure from this. I only care about the people who will follow me and the opponents who need to be beaten.

Over the next six years, Danil will play in hundreds of championships and qualifications. He would reach the finals of The International two more times, and in 2013 he would be literally a few minutes away from his second championship title - Na’Vi lost to the Swedes from Alliance in the grandest final in the history of the Dota scene. Dendi will set a KDA record for Valve championships and will become the only player who attended the world championships as part of the same team. Viewers will not forget the famous Pudge and “Chinese per minute” against EHOME, and fountain hooks against TongFu with the support of Chen from Puppey. But no matter how many victories and defeats there are after this, he will remain in history as the first champion of The International.

Ship part

Over the course of six years at Na’Vi, Danil went through a dozen roster changes and played side by side with 20 players from different countries. They left and returned, but Dendi remained, as if merged with the Na’Vi prefix.

“I try to be faithful. I feel how much the organization has done for me, how it has changed my life for the better, and therefore I feel like I am indebted to it. I'm comfortable here, I'm indebted to the people who invited me here, so there's no reason to leave. I just want to play, work on something if I can help it, or just wait if my help isn't needed. It’s a pity that now no one respects such loyalty,” Dendi shared.

When players join the team, Danil is always asked about the newcomers. And about each of them he will say something that will inspire hope even to desperate fans: “ArtStyle is back with shining eyes and new motivation”, “Sonneiko plays so well that you can hardly imagine it” and, yes, “Vitya - car!". Dendi does not avoid discussing problems, but he is always confident that any of them can be overcome if we stick together. That makes it harder every time to watch him have to say goodbye to his teammates.

Sometimes it seems that behind all these changes, Na’Vi fans have already reclassified themselves as Dendi fans, but Danil himself does not agree with this. He is no more than 20% of the team, regardless of statistics, prize money won or career history.

“You can't win the line now. It all depends on the choice of heroes and strategy. You just get the job done or you don't. It's high time people started praising teams rather than players. The best players will be those who know how to work with their teammates. Each of us is only 20%, no more and no less.”

At the major in Manila in mid-2016 we met with Alliance. El Clasico, no matter how many years have passed since that final. The Ukrainians emerged victorious in another brilliant match.

“Dendi! Dendi! Dendi! - chanted a crowd of Malaysian fans wearing black and yellow T-shirts with painted posters. Because of these screams, the presenter was barely audible.

“If you want to support me, shout: “Na’Vi!” Otherwise I feel a little bad for my teammates. They deserve all this no less than I do,” Danil addressed the audience with a constant smile, pointing towards the players standing on the stage. The name of the Ukrainian team echoed throughout the crowded hall for several minutes, responding to the sincere request of the legendary player.

Heritage

“Hi, I'm Dendi and I'm cool!” - he introduces himself in an interview with a laugh.

If you ask commentators or players what they think of Dendi, you will never hear anything bad: “Great player,” “legend,” “friend,” “life of the party.” And Danil always responds to the community in the same way.

He dances on stage, jokes during filming and laughs at himself. On streams he tries to speak both Russian and English so as not to deprive fans from different countries of attention, and from major tournaments he brings video blogs about behind-the-scenes life. He travels to Moscow and Peru to meet and play with fans, giving interviews even in the middle of the night and answering the same questions with a smile. Dendi is sure that without the support of the public there would be neither the game nor his victories, and therefore he owes no less to the fans than to his native organization.

But Danil’s esports legacy does not end with the list of victories and the name on the trophy Aegis. Thanks to him, those who wrote and are writing its history appeared on the scene. Once in a pub, he noticed the Swede Hernik “AdmiralBulldog” Anberg and offered to play as a replacement for Na’Vi. Six months later, this guy defeated Dendi in the TI finals and became the new world champion.

Danila studied from game recordings Arthur Arteezy Babaev, one of the best e-sportsmen on the American scene:

“I was inspired by a video on YouTube when Dendi was on the lane in the first Dota. I watched it when I was about 14. Then I told myself that I wanted to become the best in the world,” said Arthur after his first major victories at international tournaments.

“I'm afraid of the Russians. And especially Dendi,” shared Singaporean Benedict “hyhy” Kim, talking about preparations for the next championship.

And a dozen, or even more, players of the professional scene from different regions can proudly say: “I studied with Dendi.”

Since the end of 2014, they have not been able to get out of the protracted crisis. Sometimes they manage to raise their heads and straighten their shoulders, but then another heavy defeat follows. Na’Vi missed the last majors, and at The Interantional you may have to fight your way through unpredictable CIS qualifiers.

During this time, Danil heard more than once that it was time for him to end his esports career and give way to young talents. But Dendi has not achieved everything. His dream is not just to win another The International, but to defend the title next year. “Just winning TI is too easy,” Danil jokes.

At 28 years old, he has not yet grown out of gaming age. In Dendi's life there is a family, which he loves endlessly, and a game to which he is endlessly devoted.

Dota is an amazing game. This is not visible from the outside, but inside the team, when you communicate, come up with ideas and manage to implement it, it’s an unreal pleasure. I could have chosen any other path in life, but I enjoy what I do. And I want to go this way again, to rise from the very bottom.”

After eight years in Na"Vi, it seems that the organization and the legendary player will go their separate ways. It is all the more interesting how their future fate will turn out.

Winning a million dollars at twenty-one is success for anyone. But in a country where people live on $300 a month, that's not just a fortune, it's money that can change lives. This is the story that happened to Danil “Dendi” Ishutin, who, as part of the Natus Vincere team, won the “The International” Dota 2 tournament and brought home the largest winnings in the history of eSports - a million dollars.

Player information:

• Name: Danil Ishutin
• Age: 22
• Nationality: Ukrainian
• Place of residence: Lviv
• Profession: DOTA 2 player

Information - equipment:

• Mouse:
• Keyboard:
• Headset:
• Rug:

Information - international awards:

• Gold medals: 5
• Silver medals: 1
• Bronze medals: 1
• Winning amount: $203,712

Modest, shaggy, brown-haired Danil Ishutin does not look like a typical millionaire student. And in general, there is little that is typical about him. Danil spent his childhood in a music school, and later in acrobatics training.

“My childhood was eventful,” Danil says about how he grew up.

I lived with my parents, two grandmothers, brother and sister. Since childhood, he studied music, then acrobatics. Later he became interested in dancing, basketball and other sports.

Music, acrobatics and dancing are strange hobbies for a gamer, but Danil grew up in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, which is often called “little Ukrainian Paris.”

Lviv has a 750-year history and a rich cultural heritage. The buildings of the Lviv Opera and Philharmonic are known all over the world.

Danil’s parents forced him to go to music school, although the guy would have been much more happy to play computer games with his brother all day. But there was no choice, since Danil was born into a “musical family.”

I studied at a music school for five years. At that time, I did not choose how to spend my free time. My parents just sent me to music school and that’s it. I have a "musical family". My mother, brother and sister have been playing music for a long time. By the way, my brother and sister have also been involved in acrobatics since childhood.

But still, Danil found time for gaming.

We got a computer quite early. I kept a close eye on everything my brother played. And sometimes I myself played everything that was there.

It would not be an understatement to say that the guy has truly played every game possible. When the family got a computer, there weren’t many games. But soon Danil began installing everything he could find.

I played everything that came on the computer. And there were a lot of games there,” Danil recalls, and lists his favorite games. - The most famous are Warcraft 2000, StarCraft, Need For Speed, Worms 1 and 2, Heroes of Might and Magic 1 and 2, DOOM, Quake and so on. I remember that I really liked Heroes of Might and Magic 2.

But it was not Heroes of Might and Magic that finally glued the young Ukrainian to the monitor and subsequently made him a millionaire. "Dendi"'s attention was attracted by the game Warcraft universe with billions of map mods. These cards will make Danil part of the history of esports. Thanks to WarCraft III, he learned about the "Defense of The Ancients" map. In it, two teams of five try to destroy each other's bases. Danil was immediately attracted to the game due to the clarity of the scheme, the variety of characters and the necessary skills.

Dota 2 and life upside down

Danil quickly got used to the game, the guy developed by leaps and bounds and soon became one of the best players in Ukraine. In 2007, as part of the national team, he entered the TOP 3 of the MYM Prime Nations tournament, which is close to the global online Dota tournament (World Cup Dota). And after a couple of months, Danil’s own team Wolker.Gaming entered the finals of the most prestigious online Dota tournament - MYM Prime Defending.

Just a few months after entering the international arena, Danil began to frequently impress with his achievements. In a community where players change teams like gloves, he always managed to get into the best lineups. In 2010, playing for DTS, he won the ASUS Spring tournament, beating a couple of world-class teams in Moscow. It was a real feat, but after a couple of months the guy surpassed it, literally defeating the Chinese favorites EHOME in the finals of the ESWC tournament. Nobody has played against EHOME like this before.

When Dota began to gradually die and be forced out of tournaments, Danil thought that soon his career in eSports could be put to rest. But in October 2010, game developer Valve announced its intentions to release a popular map modification, quite close to the original, but at the same time running on a separate platform, with its own heroes and abilities. Valve invited Icefrog, the main ideologist of the Dota game, to lead the development of the game.

In an interview, Danil once stated that he did not expect much from the new game and hoped that it would be close to the original:

I think Dota 2 will be exactly the same as everyone imagines it to be. I hope it will be good old Dota with slightly adjusted graphics, the same heroes, game mechanics and balance, but it will be on a new engine, with a new connection, hotkeys, etc.

It turned out that very soon Danil would be one of the first who would be lucky enough to try out the new game, but at that time he had no idea about it.

At the turn of 2010 and 2011, there was a wave of rumors on the Internet that Valve had grandiose plans related to Dota 2. Having learned about this, the largest Ukrainian esports team Natus Vincere (aka Na 'Vi) decided to take advantage of the moment and create a strong successful team. They invited Dendi to play in their lineup for 2011. In mid-June, Na`Vi bought Dmitry "LighTofHeaveN" Kupriyanov from the Moscow5 team for $2,000 and Estonian ace Klement "Puppey" Ivanov. Kupriyanov's transfer added heat to the fire, and it became clear to everyone that the rumors about the Grand Dota 2 tournament were true. Otherwise, why buy a player for a discipline in which there are no events?

At the time of the announcement of The International tournament, on August 1, 2011, Danil, along with other members of the Natus Vincere team, had already been playing Dota 2 for several weeks. They, like other teams invited to participate in the tournament, received beta access and could train.

Million Dollar Tournament

If you've created a modded Warcraft map that's been downloaded 20 million times, and you want to enter it into the world's first $1,000,000 first place tournament, of course you're going to want to make a lot of noise about it. If you hold a tournament within the framework of the largest Games show championship in Europe with the participation of 16 of the strongest teams on the planet, attention to it will go through the roof. Valve certainly knew what they were getting into when they announced The International and invested $1,600,000 in prize money into it.

Among the invitees were only the best teams in the world. In addition to the cream of the crop from Europe and the USA, there were seven Asian teams. For Valve, which covered all expenses for the tournament, money was not an issue. It’s strange to remember this now, but before the start of the competition, the Natus Vincere team was far from being considered a favorite. Much more bets were placed on the victory of the Danes from MYM or the Asian teams invictus Gaming and EHOME. Danil did not waste time on fear of eminent opponents, he studied them in detail. Before this, the guy played against MYM a couple of times, but he had not yet managed to fight with Chinese opponents. Therefore, Danil was looking forward to the championship.

- [Before the start of the tournament] I felt great. “I think I was ready to play against Chinese teams,” he says and admits that he had high hopes for his team. - I think [before the start of the tournament], our team was also considered one of the favorites.

Flawless performance

If anyone doubted Na`Vi’s strength at The International, the group stage dotted all the i’s. Fighting in a group with a couple of the best European teams - GGnet and nevo - the Ukrainians beat their opponents dry. The Asians were not far behind. As expected, they also played pretty hard in their group. Na`Vi easily dealt with the Singaporean team Scythe.SG, which eventually became third, showing the tactics that they had been developing for six months. Danil told the GosuGamers.net portal about her in the spring of 2011.

The main thing in Dota is to take down towers because they bring the biggest rewards. You gain an advantage by destroying other people's towers. If you have heroes who demolish 6 towers of the enemy and at the same time manage to protect their own towers, then you will still win in the late game - after all, you killed 6 towers, but your opponent did not. Lategame is always very unpredictable. You can lose at any time. One small mistake and it's all over. You play for 60 minutes, someone kills your hero, and you lose. What's the point of late game if you can push and win in 20 minutes?

This rhetorical question set the tone for the Ukrainians' play at the tournament. Having topped their group, they advanced to the playoffs from first place in the group. In the quarterfinals, they handily beat the Russian team Moscow5, and things began to clear up. When Na`Vi beat the million-dollar Chinese team invictus Gaming during the playoffs, everyone finally believed that Danil and his comrades really had aspirations to win The International.

We were 80% confident of victory. Of course, this added strength,” recalls Danil.

In the game, when Natus Vincere literally crushed Scythe.SG, finishing off two maps in the winner's bracket, their skill had no limits. In seven games, the boys did not have a single defeat. Going into the final match, they already had $250,000 in prize money and it seemed that this amount would not change.

Practice makes perfect

Na`Vi's impressive dominance in the playoffs came as a surprise to many. But the fact that Danil and his team have come so far is not just a coincidence. Before the tournament, the guys trained for a couple of weeks in a training camp and listened to advice from the titled Natus Vincere Counter-Strike team. Their comrades gave Dota 2 players their base and took the time to talk about what their opponents might not pay attention to.

The guys [from the Counter-Strike team] helped us a lot, they advised us how to behave during matches and what to focus on during the game,” Danil answers the question about mentors. - They instilled in us the belief that we are stronger than our opponents. I want to thank them for this and for rooting for us. I think it really helped a lot. Well, special thanks for the training base!

Who better than the Na`Vi Counter-Strike team knows everything about performances in international tournaments with a substantial prize fund. That's why their guidance and support was so important to the young Dota 2 team. But even these mastodons of eSports failed to fully prepare their inexperienced teammates for the pressure that would befall them before the finals.

The most important match

If you had one shot, one opportunity to achieve something that you wanted more than anything in the world, one moment - would you take it or leave it to chance? Eminem eloquently sings about this in his 2002 hit song “Lose Yourself.” Likewise, the final of The International was for Danil an opportunity to turn his life around 180 degrees, and the guy turned out to be not one of those who would let everything take its course.

We tried to control ourselves [before the match]. There were two options: win or lose. Of course, we hoped to win,” Danil shares his memories, speaking about the million-dollar match.

Their opponents in the finals were the EHOME team, one of the Asian favorites in the Dota game. Team EHOME won all their games in the group convincingly and until the semi-finals it looked like they were unstoppable. But after the match with Scythe.SG players, the Chinese team went down to the losers' bracket. However, EHOME did not give up and after a brilliant performance in the final of the losers' bracket, they again faced Scythe. S.G. Having defeated them, EHOME finally made it to the finals.

Before the finals of The International, Na`Vi had never faced off against EHOME, so they did not know what to expect from the Chinese team. As a result, the Ukrainians chose a strategy that brought them luck throughout the tournament. They planned to “push” the Chinese towers and at the same time preserve their own. But the strategy didn't work.

She never let Danil down until the final stage, and then she fell apart. For the first time in the entire tournament, Natus Vincere suffered a defeat, and their powerful defense took a huge blow. For Danil, this defeat became an additional incentive to win.

I felt that in the next match I would not leave a single chance to my opponent.

Going into the finals, Na`Vi had a 1-0 lead due to the fact that they were playing in the winner's bracket, but after the first match, EHOME tied the score to 1-1. This meant that the Ukrainians had at least two more games ahead, and they dared to change tactics.

We had a special plan for choosing heroes. To be honest, in the final with EHOME I played Enigma for the first time in Dota 2. I was a little nervous,” Danil explains the strategy of the second game.

This is such euphoria! It was a pleasure! Words cannot describe it! These are the feelings that make you want to play,” he says, adding that hours of training and matches have left the team exhausted. - We are terribly tired - both mentally and physically. Therefore, one of the first desires was to simply lie down and relax in an empty room, enjoying the thoughts of victory.

Danya didn’t show his excitement. His stellar Enigma and the excellent choice of teammate Alexander "XBOCT" Dashkevich - Specter allowed Natus Vincere to take a 2-1 lead. Na`Vi also did not give the decisive game to the opponent and won The International with a score of 3-1. For Danil it all ended as if yesterday.

Future plans

Just a year ago, Danil was a student at the Faculty of Automation and Computer Technology and earned very modest money by playing computer games. Now, after winning The International, by the standards of his country, he is obscenely rich. At first glance, it seems that one-fifth of a million dollars is not that much money. But if after university Danil went to work in his specialty, his salary in his hometown, as he himself admits, would be no more than $300-$400 a month.

Unlike other team members who had already used the prize money, Danil decided to hold off on spending. He doesn't want to make plans for a future in eSports right now because "It [eSports] is at a level where you can't plan for anything and it's really dangerous."

Danil would rather save his money for a rainy day while he decides how to use it more efficiently.

I haven't decided exactly what to do with the money yet. I will most likely invest some of it in real estate.

Danil strives to continue playing and plans to win tournaments in both the original Dota and the sequel. Over the past couple of months, the Na`Vi team won the Dota 2 tournament at the Electronic Sports World Cup in Paris, but did not excel at the World Dota Championship in China.

What is Danil’s motivation? The new status and money did not change his attitude towards esports at all. After winning The International, the guy wants to train and hone his skills even more.

In fact, no matter what I win, I still read in different places that I’m still a noob. So I will improve further.

Content

And we continue to analyze open statistics of public games of representatives of the professional Dota scene. Today we have someone without whom this section could not have happened in any case - Na'Vi.Dendi!

Daniel " Dendi“Ishutin probably doesn’t need an introduction, but we still have to say a few words about him. Lviv guy, winner of The International 2011, grand finalist of the next two The Internationals, millionaire and one of the most talented Dota 2 players - all this is just a small part of what can be said about Dan, and we will leave a detailed description of his biography and his achievements as material for a separate article.

MMR Dendi

Dotabuff Dandy profile analysis

general Statistics

Danya plays a lot, which is not surprising, because achieving such a high level and universal recognition is possible only through long and hard training. More than once or twice, his teammates and many opponents noted his diligence and constant practice. At the same time, journalists and analysts agree that Dendi can be called the Lionel Messi of Dota 2, because they have at least one thing in common - each of them, even years later, plays as if for the first time, like a child , enjoying and feeling every moment of his life.

2504 games won, 1861 - lost and 73 with unrecorded statistics, and don’t forget about training in the lobby and experience in the first Dota - Dendy has already played an incredible amount, and we hope that he will play the same amount more. 🙂

The win rate is 56.42% , which at first glance seems rather meager for a player of this level, but the fact is that Daniil plays most of his games in the public alone, and rather practices playing his role, new and favorite heroes, if he worries about everyone loss or defeat. This trait makes him somewhat closer to ordinary Dota 2 players, which is one of the reasons for his popularity.

Most played heroes

In the TOP 7 we see the most beloved Dendi heroes: Shadow Fiend, Pudge, Invoker, Tinker, Storm Spirit, Queen of Pain, Puck— typical heroes for solo mid, characterized by high mobility, powerful casting and relevance at all stages of the game. These heroes allow you to set the pace of the game, not be so dependent on the success of the rest of the team, and always leave a chance to turn the game around.

Of course, Dandy can play any hero in professional matches, because often the picks depend on the current meta-game, and the most played combinations can be banned by the enemy. But if you compare Dendi to Dragon Knight and Dendimon on the same Puck‘e, then these are completely different personalities, because at the last Danya does not allow the audience to breathe, forcing fights, using the potential of her role at 110%, which is not allowed by most “patient” heroes who require more farm and experience to dominate. Hence all these joyful exclamations at the peak Pudge team Na'Vi. 🙂

Lifetime stats (full statistics)

Radian's light side advantages favor Dendimon, and when fighting against Darkness his win rate is 58.73% And 56.98% when playing as Dire, the difference is slightly less than 2%. It’s not that significant, but it should get you thinking.

Judging by the number of games played on servers in Western Europe - 4788 - against 1081 on other servers it can be judged that they are the most comfortable for Dandy, and all other Lviv guys should shake their heads. 🙂

Otherwise, the statistics look quite normal with their own slight deviations and fluctuations.

Records for Dotabuff Na’Vi.Dendi

Almost all of the records set date back to 2012-2013, and of the latest, only Highest damage to heroes, staged by Dendik on Tinker'e in mid-2014, when he had not yet come out of bano picks on the professional Dota scene, and the public began to lose heart from this hero, who contributed a ton of damage, was able to kill several heroes from the procast while dominating the enemy, leaving him practically no There was no chance other than not to leave your base, and to be honest, this didn’t always work.

Dendi's favorite artifacts

Above are the 15 most commonly used Dandy items. The following artifacts are worth noting:

• Power Threads- playing with PT, as it is popularly called, allows you to give more and live longer if necessary, and in general has a wide variety of hidden capabilities, which, as we see, Dendi tries not to miss.
• Town Portal Scroll— even when finishing the game, and it is from the final artifacts at the end of the game that this rating is formed, Dandy carries the TP scroll with him, allowing him not to drop out of the game, helping the team if possible.
• Blink Dagger- third place in the list of most used items. Gives mobility to any hero, allows you to initiate and avoid the enemy’s initiation with the proper reaction. A game-changing artifact, and Dendi’s favorite on the list.
• Magic Wand- an indispensable artifact for the initial stage of the game and the middle game, allowing you to “live and play.” Low price and many possibilities of use.
• Black King Bar (BKB)— another game-changing artifact,
• Bottle- a standard artifact for a mid player and, probably, it could have taken, if not first, then second place for sure, if it had not been so useless at the end of the game, and had not been sold to free up an extra slot.