After his return from DAC, where he placed third with Virtus.pro, Pavel “9pasha” Khvastunov gave an extensive interview to Kvint of gameinside. Kvint was kind to share with VPEsports the English translation of his few hours talk with 9pasha who opened up about almost everything in his life.

From Dota career starting days, the life in internet cafes, clubs as he calls them, his most meaningful relationship which soon will turn into a marriage, random jobs, school, military service and good insights into the Virtus.pro behind the scenes, you can read them all below.

You are home now. How difficult it was for you to be away for almost two months? Do you feel exhausted?

I’m tired, of course, very tired in fact. We arrived in China already tired but we had to stay strong and keep on playing. Try to imagine how much we actually played these past few months. We played at a very high level in several tournaments before DAC, and we were also at WESG where we really wanted to win because … well, because we wanted to (laughing).

We could not afford to relax and rest, we needed to continue to keep the bar up, and that had us exhausted in the end. I feel like we slightly started to give up and somewhere in the end we simply couldn’t keep up with everything. But that’s okay, nothing wrong.

If we are to talk about the overall results, how would you rate yourself and the team?

I think we scored exactly like five out of five. Well, what else should we have done? We’ve got almost everything: we won three tournaments in a row, but of course at the DAC we placed poorly…

Do you consider third place a bad result?

Not really but we wanted to play in the grand finals and we felt it was a very possible goal. We were sure of that. I will not go into details and say who is to blame or what didn’t work out, it doesn’t matter now for me, it just happened.

I hope you did not have a big argument after the loss

No, of course not! (Laughing) We weren’t upset even a little. Perhaps after the game ended we were a bit worked up about our performance, etc. We talked about it for 5-10 minutes, then …well; we just went to the hotel.

The only thing that bothered me and made me feel a bit sad if you want, is that after we lost we spent 6 hours at the hotel doing exactly nothing. We had a plan according to which we were ready to leave faster but in that plan, it was necessary to get eliminated earlier, next to EG, or VG. If that would have happened we would have been able to save a lot of time. When you lose in the final day of the tournament, it’s a little upsetting – the day is already spent for nothing, you cannot fly home immediately after, and you end up doing nothing, you are just sitting in your room all day.

DAC 2018 was your first serious defeat. In your first squad with Lil you won a lot, and no one could imagine how VP can lose a single game. How do you feel about the current line-up?

Well, we already had some unpleasant games, something did not work right. We had a moment when we played against Liquid and lost the second game. If I’m not mistaken in Bucharest, we were 1:1 and the third game was also very difficult, we almost threw it and that moment was actually quite a good test for our team. I believe that many of the problems that we had – we already overcame. I say this, of course, due to our obvious results.

What’s the plan now, ahead of EPICENTER, how will you prepare?

For now, we sit for a while at home and rest, then we will go to the EPICENTER which is close to my home, then we take a rest again. We were supposed to play in a Major in China (MDL ) but we refused it because our team could not repeat again all this round-the-world trip, flights, change of time zones etc.. You know, The International is not that far off, and we do not want to take any risks.

By rest I mean that we will have a few days to spend with our families. After the short break, we will regroup in a bootcamp before ESL One Birmingham. These ESL One tournaments we do not want to miss, they give us a Mercedes. Last on the list before TI, we have the Super Major. Even if we really don’t want to fly again to China, because of the long trip and the jet lag, this is the most valuable tournament of the season and we cannot miss it.

Who will receive the next Mercedes?

I have little chances because the English-speaking audience does not like me much. Well… better said, they don’t even notice me. But I am okay with that. But if the Mercedes is mine, it would be cool, if not – so be it. I’ll buy it by myself.

Which model would you choose for yourself?

I am not an expert in cars. What I meant to say is that I’ve played long enough and I’ve been able to save somewhere between dinners and breakfasts to buy myself a Mercedes if I wish so. I don’t even have a driver’s license. Back in the university, I said to myself that I do not want a car and I do not intend to understand much of them. The times when I perhaps could make use of a car is when I want to ride around Korolev, but honestly, I prefer to just walk there.

Anyway, I have Lida, she drives and she is doing it well. If anything happens, I’m asking her to give me a ride somewhere.

Lida is your girlfriend, you recently proposed her, right?

Yes, yes, yes.

I actually have a few questions about her, if you don’t mind, and let’s just start with this one: How did you get to know each other?

Through friends. We just met each other in the same circle of friends. I was familiar with these people due to the fact that I played for a very long time in internet cafés, basically all my life. I had no other place to play. I did not have a computer, but everyone liked me at the internet café I was going. I had many friends there and I always went there. She studied and worked in Moscow, in the suburbs, and one day we crossed paths in the internet café. I just had played an official game, or a scrim with Vega when I met her.

(Linda from the kitchen) – It seems even before Vega

(9pasha) – Maybe even earlier

So, you weren’t so popular back then?

Of course not. As for her, she was playing Dota with friends to chill. The competitive side of the game wasn’t interesting for her. I was quite the same, even when I started to play more seriously, I did not care about pros. I’ve changed of course since then, today I know when and who is playing with whom. But yeah, in general lines this is how we met, and that’s how we got to this point.

You have a busy tournament schedule, you are constantly at international tournaments, how does this affect your relationship, and how does Lida feel about it?

Obviously, it’s hard for both of us. She wants me to be near her, but I basically fly from country to country. We hold on. When I arrive home, I try to give her almost all my attention, about 98% of my whole time.

Do you plan to become parents?

We didn’t even discuss this. For now, we do our best to be close to each other as much as possible. When I can, I take her with me at tournaments.

When you are at a tourney with her and you have all the fans coming to you, do you feel like you show off to her, like “watch Lida – I’m a star”?

No. She doesn’t consider me a star, and I do not consider myself a star. I’m just the guy who cleans the dog poops. Do not make a headline out of what I just said!

Okay, last question about your relationship. Where do you plan to have the wedding?

We have already decided everything, we will … but no, I will not say. I don’t want to make this a public event, I’m more of a quiet person. So f*** you all – I’m for privacy on this! (laughing).

Let’s go back to the EPICENTER. Because of the “hometown team” status of VP at this event, do you guys have a different, special preparation regime?

I want to remind you that last year we lost to Team Liquid, who were in bad shape before they came to Epicenter. After that, they just went on a frenzy and won The International. Just saying. If someone beats us at Epicenter, then maybe this team will win TI8. I’m joking, of course.

In general, we plan to perform well. It’s the hometown tournament for us, we have the home crowd on our side. When I’m at home I meet a lot of fans every time and they tell me that they will come to see Virtus.pro at Epicenter, and that they will cheer for us. And for the sake of such fans, we will try to win, of course. In some way all that we do, we do for fans.

Do you feel more pressure because you’re playing in Moscow and because you know all your fans will be there?

No, I’m not nervous (laughing). But it happens that the tournaments that you want to win most of all, demand more responsibility. Let’s say ESL One Katowice, the Bucharest Major – these are majors, but they will be followed by other tournaments. In some sense, it is routine. For me tournaments like EPICENTER, DAC are tournaments, which must be won at least once in your life.

What lesson did you learn from your defeat last year?

In fact, I would not say that we lost last year’s Epicenter for any unusual reason, from which we must learn a lesson. Probably the last Epicenter was where our internal problems began to appear, problems that we could not solve for more than six months. And yeah maybe that’s why we lost last year … it’s a pity that we lost, but it is not something crucial. I hope, this year we will show the best of Virtus.pro.

WESG. What was the feeling left by this tournament?

Tournaments for several disciplines are my soft spot. I really love DreamLeague, this kind of tournaments. You come to an event like this and there’s everybody there. I like the atmosphere at these events so much so, I’m glad to take a part on them with my team.

There were some problems with the hotels, computers etc. How did you manage?

No, we didn’t have problems with the hotel. All those problems were faced by the CS:GO players, who arrived earlier. They were settled in a hotel that was falling apart right in front of your eyes.

We didn’t have any big issues there, but there was a common problem with the Internet, it is very weak and through VPN. People who are used to open a link in Russia and just watch something will feel very weird in China. You open the link, it takes around 30 seconds to load, roughly speaking, and in the end, it might not load at all.

Regarding Team Ukraine’s decision to withdraw from WESG, v1lat wrote that this is not a national team championship, it’s not the Olympics, but simply a commercial tournament. What do you think about WESG, do you take it as a commercial event or you want to go there for the honor of representing your country?

First of all, let’s be honest, the tournament has a huge prize pool. When there is a tournament with more money than a Major, you want to win it, it’s obvious. But generally speaking, yes it’s about representing your country as we well. When they introduce the teams on stage and you see your country flag carried in front of you, you feel these warm waves in your heart and yes it’s an honor to win for Team Russia.

And let’s be honest once more, Team Ukraine had its own reasons, which have nothing to do with the tournament. They couldn’t find a stand-in, or maybe they could but decided not to do this. I do not see any point in talking about how bad or good the tournament was, although I agree with some of these statements.

If we are to be honest, is this how your future looks like, playing dressed in animal pajamas? It felt weird to me to see you playing in those costumes. Didn’t you have any ambivalent feelings about the fact that on one hand you represent the country, but you do it in Pokemon costumes?

Well, not Pokemon after all, I thought people will understand the message. Let’s just say, the last time we show any form of ourselves – organizers walked us around and told us to change it back to casual. Therefore, we focused more on the fact that we represent the country, rather than we shouldn’t wave the VP flag. This gave us the opportunity to do whatever we wanted. And this is how you saw the pajamas, which represented the fact that anyone can make a dream come true. About defending the honor of the country, I will say that if we did not do this with our costumes, we definitely did it with the result. We showed everyone what we think about the tournament with our victory.

About your media image. You create the impression of such a calm person, extremely down to earth. You don’t seem to act like a super star, how do you do that?

Why should I act like a star? I just understand that I’m playing for The International. Not for Minors, not for Majors, only for the Aegis of Immortal. If we create a conditional pyramid of the importance of esports achievements, then the majors and minors lie somewhere at the base, and TI is the top of it, my main goal, all the rest is not important. I will do everything to win it as soon as possible because everything in my life depends on it.

What will change if you win The International?

There is no point in talking about this yet, but everything depends on The International.

So, these permanent tournaments have already had you bored in some way. How does it impact your performance?

It does not affect me. I can focus and play my A game when needed. I really love those moments when you go on stage and you start playing together with the guys as a unit. It’s a very pleasant feeling when players of this high level play with you and you can do amazing things in Dota. Very beautiful, meaningful for you, but incomprehensible to others – it’s all very cool. But if you forget about it and remember 95% of the rest of the time that you spend in esports, then yeah, everything is a little boring. My performance will never be affected by those boring parts of our life. Because of those moments on the stage, I’m still holding on.

And then there’s a small bonus for all that you do, the prize money

Well, this is obvious (laughs). It would be a sin not to say that.

What has changed in your life since you won all these Majors money, in addition to the new computer?

I can just inspect my room and say what has changed. A new wardrobe, a dog appeared. And I have a small refrigerator near the computer where I just have some water.

I envy you!

Yes, it’s a really cool thing. If you look at everything that the humanity invented, then this mini refrigerator is exactly in the top-10.

How about an apartment?

No, not yet.

But generally speaking, can you even afford it? Let’s say, in the downtown of Moscow?

In the center? No, I think not, we do not have that much yet. But in any case, we do not want an apartment in Moscow. I am not a hater of the capital, but I think it’s much better and more pleasant for me in the suburbs, where I lived my whole life. Lida thinks the same. There are many excellent places, in one of which we want to buy an apartment.

Why not a house?

I thought about it for a long time and we had very good suggestions. But first of all, I think that if something happens in the house, then you have to fix it yourself. And how can I do that if I constantly travel? First of all, I think about the comfort of my girlfriend, while I’m not around. I’m having a hard time imagining her climbing on a ladder with a spanner while I’m at a tournament. This is not what I want for her – so the apartment is the best choice.

I can imagine how you just won a game, get up from the computer, take the adjustable wrench and start repairing something in the bathroom …

Well, things like that already happened. I can repair the bathroom and something in the house, and so on. A few years ago I couldn’t do those things at all, but in the army, you are not asked if you can do it – they just command you what needs to be done. And you learn everything. I was also such a fresh boy: I graduated high school, then a university – and in the end, I’ve come to realize that I don’t really know anything. And then in the army, if a wall leaked you would get a bucket and start plastering, or check the sockets. I learnt a lot in the army, and it didn’t matter if I wanted that or not – I just learnt.

Why did you join the army?

I’ll start from the beginning. I finished the high school, went to the university, where I studied for one and a half year. There was something wrong, I did not like it and I was thrown out. So I was at a crossroad: I could go to work. I always thought that I don’t have a problem with this, my dad often called me to offer me a job. I managed to work in an office, at a construction site, in a factory where I was like an ordinary hard worker. I remember working as a waiter, a barman, an administrator at the internet café, I even worked as a part-time courier for a day or two.

Roughly speaking, life took me places but I did not really come to anything concrete. Because of this uncertainty, I thought that if I cannot decide anything yet and I have like a free year, so why not go to the army and forget about these problems once and for all? At that time I did not know that it was one of the worst ideas I had in my life.

Was it that bad?

No, not really. But here I am, the one who finished the military service. I can say for sure that the time when you really are a soldier, not a cook, not an employee, is limited. Basically, you’re everything else but a soldier. Then all this is summed up and creates the picture of a soldier, because it turns out that all this, is the life of a soldier. A difficult, rather chaotic life where anything can happen on any day.

But I’m not an army hater, it taught me a lot.

What was your form as a player before you went to the army?

I definitely played better before the army. I was a midlaner, the craziest one. And when I returned from the army, I realized that everything was so bad with my shape and began to play on every role. It was hard. Right after the army, I did not know what I would do, there was no certainty again. So I went to the university again, but decided to continue to spend a lot of time in Dota. Every time I did not know what to do, I just played Dota.

Was there a moment of despair, when it seemed that the game is not worth it?

I actually never played Dota to reach the pro level. I never had this desire. I played just for fun.

When I was called for the first time to play in a team, I faced this suggestion with humor. For me, it was like a computer club. With one difference: in the club, you are sitting with the guys next to each other, but in a team you play together from different cities. I thought that it was cool, and I did not even suspect that it would go so far and would result in all this.

I have a nostalgia for clubs (internet cafés). I realized this later, it was not the club itself that was important, but the people who were there. Those 15 people with whom we constantly played. Plus, some of them remained in my life and became real friends.

Why do you think internet cafes have practically died out in Moscow?

Honestly, this is a good question, and I do not have an answer for it. I had my own thoughts, but now I cannot remember them. Maybe the new generation is different? However sad it may sound, now I see children who go not to computer clubs, but go down the street with a bottle of beer and enjoy life. Perhaps the teenagers have changed their life views, priorities. It used to be normal for the boys to go and play Counter-Strike. Now it’s different. I really cannot give you an answer to your question.

Our last opened computer club is Yota Arena.

Do you like Yota Arena?

For me, it’s not a place to go to play with friends, but a place to go and watch the games with friends. As a Dota player, who started in a club, I don’t feel enough of the atmosphere to which I am accustomed. It’s all too bright inside, too formal.

Esports are recognized as an official sport in Russia. Will you be assigned some categories? Master of sports of international class?

We talked about all these things we are going to get, but I do not know at what stage is everything now. I stopped following the news about this topic at some point.

How do you rest from Dota if you’re not with your girlfriend?

I just switch to youtube, or another game. I’m playing WoW, StarCraft. I don’t really like what Warcraft became, when everyone just gathers and burst up the bosses. But I really like what the developers have done with the storylines.

With StarCraft, I nearly killed my Dota 2 pro player career. I liked the game very much and at the same time, I was bored of Dota. If I’m not mistaken, I was playing the carry role in Vega Squadron. My role bored me and I did not even notice how I started playing StarCraft. I played really a lot, but then injustice happened to me.

I went into the top-1 of diamond league, I was a step away from the master league, where professionals play. I was wildly motivated, but then the off-season came and I needed to be re-calibrated. I played the game, beat the opponent in 5 minutes and system threw me down to the very bottom of the platinum league. After that, I closed the game and did not open it again. I got offended.

Let’s return to Dota. There is the CIS region and there is Virtus.pro. It is clear that you do not benefit from this in a certain sense, but don’t you want to train with the CIS teams, so they can learn this tier-1 gameplay from you?

Why don’t we want to? When we were on bootcamp in Moscow, we constantly played with others. I can say for sure that last time in training we played with Vega, or FlyToMoon. Na’Vi refused to play with us, maybe they felt that they did not need it.

Which team can potentially become a tier-1?

I really like Vega. When we crossed in Bucharest, they crushed us in scrims a couple of times. We were shocked by this, in fact. We did not expect it. I clearly remember this.

They just need to polish a bit their game and the team play. They need time. If they gain confidence and stop being nervous, then they will show an excellent performance. A vivid example is how they got to the playoffs at StarLadder. Sometimes they play in an exemplary fashion.

My last question is about The International 2018. What were your first emotions, thoughts when you realized that you were the first team to qualify for TI8?

I didn’t feel any sort of hype or anything like that. Once upon a time, many years ago, I played in the SL ProSeries with friends and we got into the StarSeries. That was exciting, it felt like I was cool, good at it. In the StarSeries we beat the top team and I got the same feeling again. This is how my emotions work.

But now, I have already been at a TI. The first time at TI in 2015, I also felt excited, cool, good at it. And all of this repeated from achievement to achievement. Now, we have won a lot, we got a ton of points and I got used to the feeling.

Well, we will really wrap it up here. Thank you very much for all this time spent doing this interview and for all your answers. Is there anything you want to say at the end, any shout-outs to your fans?

All I want to say to the fans, I’ll say it at EPICENTER, see you there!

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