Before the official launch of APEXNEWS.GG we had the pleasure to speak with Elvira “esdesu” Temirova, the professional player representing the colors of Luminosity Gaming. Temirova talks about her early days of gaming, previous involvement in other competitive titles and her own gaming experiences as a female player. We also go behind the scenes of the creation of “Team 789 (SEX)”, her relation with the teammates and hopes for the future.





How your journey with video games has started? I’m playing video games since I was four years old. My father has introduced me to the world of video games. I remember my first ever PC game was Half-Life 2, and the first online shooter title was, which I think is not that surprising - Counter-Strike Source. Did you play other esports titles before? Why have you decided to play Apex Legends competitively? Yes. I was trying to achieve something in the Counter-Strike scene but I’ve realized it’s way too difficult. I’ve also tried my chances in another FPS game which was Overwatch. But I’ve quit it for a similar reason. When it comes to Apex Legends, after the game has launched one year ago, I knew it was “that” moment. I was feeling this game fits me well, and I’ve set a goal for myself to try my best in the competitive scene of this title once the esports scene is ready. You came to Poland as a team “789” without any organization. Was it difficult to arrange your travel to Poland once you got the invitation to the event? To be honest it was not that difficult and thankfully we didn’t have any problems. Xeon, a good friend of GodspeedNeko who was in our original roster, has helped us with most of the things. Right now he is taking care of our team as a coach.



© Electronic Arts / Respawn

Before the Apex Legends Preseason Invitational, you had issues with one of your players. Alexander "Sanya" Bokuchava (previously known as GodspeedNeko) was unable to participate in the tournament due to personal matters. How did you react to that news and how did it influence your team? I think no words can describe how upset I was at that moment. I was frustrated. I had no idea what to do in this situation and I was thinking it’s simply a very bitter ending of our journey. But then, Xeon has helped us to overcome all of the difficulties. At that time he really did a lot for us. I will be forever grateful for his tremendous help. I’m glad he has joined the organization together with us. You seem to be a good friend with Anton "xaniya" Shkuratov and Maxim "Exens" Dmitruk. How did you get to know each other? I’ve got to know Xaniya when I was playing Overwatch. We were also playing with GodspeedNeko, and after that, we’ve formed a team together. When it comes to Exens, we knew each other from Apex, but we never had a chance to play as a squad. Now when I think about it, it’s quite funny because once we got to know the sad news about GodspeedNeko being unable to travel to Poland, we've decided to call Exens in the middle of the night. We woke him up and simply asked: “Do you want to go to the LAN in Poland together with us?” and he said “Yes!”. Do you think a close relationship is important and is helping you as a team to achieve such good results? Definitely. A good relationship is bringing a good atmosphere. And if this is not present in a team it’s making things worse, like arguments between teammates are starting more often and stuff like that. It’s important to maintain good relations. You and your team became a sensation during Apex Legends Preseason Invitational in Poland. A lot of people cheered for you and hoped for your victory. How did it feel? Honestly speaking, I was very confused and shocked that so many people were rooting for us. I was not expecting it at all. I didn’t even believe that something like this can happen to our team. I’m very thankful for everyone who believed in us. Did you notice growing popularity around you after the event? Yes. It was really hard to not notice that. It came to me out of sudden but I’m very happy that people are interested in what I’m doing and are following now my esports career.



© Apex Legends Preseason Invitational

You joined Luminosity Gaming shortly after the event in Poland. Did you receive other offers as well? After our performance at the LAN event, we’ve received a lot of offers. We’ve picked what we’ve found best for us. You’ve proved yourself as the best team in Europe right now by winning the GLL EMEA tournament in a dominant fashion. What does this victory mean to you and your teammates? This victory didn’t mean anything to us. A lot of good teams were unable to take part in this tournament, so the competition wasn’t at such a high level as it could have been. But I find this situation pretty interesting. The competitive esports scene of Apex is still quite young and it’s just a beginning. We need to keep showing ourselves from the best possible side to be truly considered as the best European team. How did you react to the announcement of the Apex Legends Global Series? What are your hopes and goals for the upcoming qualifiers and major tournament in the US? At first, I couldn’t believe that there will be that many tournaments. I’m very excited about all of this and I hope my team will be able to do well. We will try our best to be among the top five teams in Europe but I’m aware it won’t be that easy. The competition is very high.



© Elvira “esdesu” Temirova / VK