Welcome back everyone to another episode of ‘MewMents with Catslayer’. With all the hype built up for the on-going Berlin Major 2019, I got in on the action and had the opportunity to have a chat with the IGL of DreamEaters, Svyatoslav ‘svyat’ Dovbakh.



We spoke about his journey along with that of his team through the CIS Minor Championship, a bit about the challenges he faces as an IGL, and some off-topic questions to end it on a positive note. So, read on and enjoy.





Q. How were you feeling after qualifying for the Majors?



Svyat: I felt like we did a good job preparing for the Minor Championship, but playing against Syman and INTZ was morally hard and I didn’t feel anything special, it was more of an ‘empty’ feeling. I tried to maintain a positive emotion for the camera and my team hahaha. I guess if we would have won against Syman in loser bracket finals and qualified for the Major as top two from the minor, I would have been much happier.





Q. Going back to the team's performance at the CIS Minor Championship - Closed Qualifier what was going through your mind after dropping down to the Lower Bracket?



Svyat: The team was really frustrated after losing to Syman. There were some moments where they got lucky and so many moments where we didn't execute our plan like we should have, especially on our CT-side. We didn’t use our combinations well and reacted very poorly to the opposition.



There was also the factor of being a bit nervous because all my players were playing their very first minor, and as we kept winning, we got a bit relaxed. That was our mistake right there and we paid for it. All of it was like a bad joke on us.





Q. Was there a doubt at any stage within the team about qualifying for the majors?



Svyat: For us, the first match in the group stage against Spirit was the most important one in the minor. After we won it by a score of ‘16-3’, it boosted our confidence and I understood that we can very much qualify for the Major. So yes, we did not have any doubts but nerves still got the better of us.





Q. Being the IGL how do you cope with a pressure situation? How do you keep the team in check?



Svyat: I just have a different perception of the game. I'm playing for fun. What I mean to say is that, I want to show good CounterStrike, give good calls, some good personal moves, etc. It makes me happy while having a lot of fun. I don’t aim to win every time and don’t worry much about the results. Even If we lose but show a good game of CS, I would not be upset. It really helps to cope with a pressure situation (not always). So when I keep calm and believe in my team, it helps everyone relax as well when they hear my calm voice.





Q. What do you think about your local rivals Syman Gaming? Will the outcome be different if the two of you face each other in the Major?



Svyat: I believe that the outcome will definitely be different. I hope we are stronger morally then we were before. I'm sure these hard matches have made us stronger and sharper, giving us the required experience to head into the Major confidently.





Q. How are you utilising the ‘Player Break’? All practice or taking a break from CS?



Svyat: All players have a different opinion when it comes to this. I used to take long breaks from CS and it had a positive effect on me. It cleared my mind and helped me calm down. But nowadays I just can’t have breaks like these anymore because it hurts your individual form which really needs to be kept in shape as there are so many tournaments we have to play in and sloppiness from any individual player is unacceptable. So now even during my breaks, I have to play CS regularly, except for some rare holidays.





Q. With you being the most recent player to join DreamEaters. How did you adjust to the team? What was your initial thought and how has the team grown till now?



Svyat: As soon as I joined the team I brought structure to it. This team became a team who tried to play "proper" CS. We changed some positions and roles to utilise all good traits of the players to its maximum potential. I was brought in as an IGL because they had a problem with calling out the plays before. And now we can see that these changes seemed to have worked for the team.





Q. We have seen the fall of a really big CIS team, Virtus Pro, in recent times. How has this impacted the region?

Svyat: It has had no impact on the region because VP was just a CIS organization, but the players who were part of it were Polish. I am just sad that a CIS organization still doesn’t sign a CIS team.





Q. How is the current team different from all the other rosters that you have been a part of?



Svyat: All my players listen to me and respect me. It makes me more comfortable being an IGL. And all these players show a desire to grow and are ready to put in the time required to do so, this is what is really important at the end of the day.





Q. Getting your very own stickers. How does that feel?



Svyat: I'm a bit upset actually because Valve declined my first version of the sticker that I submitted. It was something like “SVkablYAT” (Russian meme), but now it’s just a simple sticker. Also, I don’t buy any of my stickers actually hahaha.





Q. How does everyone feel going into the Major? What are your expectations from it?



Svyat: Our goal is to just show some good Counter-Strike because I know that we are good at the game. All we need to do now is to show it to others. If everything goes well we can do some damage to the favourites expected to win the tournament.





With our wonderful conversation coming to an end, taking a step back we indulged in some off-topic questions.



Q. If not a professional counter-strike player. What profession would you have taken up?



Svyat: I have a computer science degree, so I would have been a programmer.





Q. Your Dream Counter-Strike team?



Svyat: My dream CS:GO team is DreamEaters hahaha.





Q. What according to you is a ‘Perfect Vacation’?



Svyat: I'm an introvert, so the ‘perfect vacation’ for me would be to stay at home while watching movies, reading books and a walkout in the open among nature. Maybe I will come up with something creative and interesting next time :D.





Q. If you bump into a genie and it is ready to grant you one wish. What would you wish for?



Svyat: I would wish for all the people in the world to become kind and peaceful.





Q. Who do you consider your role model in life?

Svyat: I'm not sure if I have any such role models, but if I had to name a person I would go with Keanu Reeves. He is a really cool guy.





With this, my time with svyat came to an end. It was fantastic having this conversation with him right before the Berlin Major. DreamEaters seem to be doing quite well for themselves till now, standing 9th on the points table currently. Let’s see how far can they go on this journey.



That’s all for now until next time this is Catslayer sighing off!







Check out the previous editions of ‘MewMents with Catslayer’ below.



1-Cove Esports | 2-TNC Pro Team | 3-Team FrostFire | 4-Giang Rambutan | 5-BOOT-d[S] | 6-DickStacy | 7-Global eSports | 8-MVP PK | 9-Intel Corporation | 10-Francisco 'Escudo' Mascarenhas | 11-Nestor ‘LETN1’ Tanic