One day wiser

First and foremost, I would like to apologize to those who have been offended by my stupidity. This obviously includes the Russian community, and more broadly the entire DotA community.







This is not about defending myself or justifying what I have written. I take full responsibility for that. I just want to apologize and say how ashamed I am to have given in to my emotions in this way. I would like to acknowledge my mistake here so that this type of act does not happen again.







Now that I have been able to distance myself a little bit from what happened, here is my reading of things. DotA is a wonderful game, which teaches you to cooperate with people from all over the world. Different cultures, nationalities, ages, sexes, etc. This is what makes our game so beautiful but also sometimes so difficult.



But you must never forget, and that's what I did that time, the passion. Passion before competition. Now, I got caught up in a conflict. I hope that this mistake will allow me, and all of us, to remember that we all share the same passion that drives us and that it is imperative to go beyond this type of events.







I am ashamed of my behaviour for two reasons. First of all because in any case, letting anger and emotions take over is never the right way to manage things. I obviously already knew this very well, because this is probably the first lesson you learn from competitive losses, and I have had many.



Secondly, I have become, whether I like it or not, a public figure. That makes me a role model in many ways. This gives me a responsibility to anyone who can listen to or admire my work. I am aware of this, I have the opportunity to inspire others and set an example. But the other day, not only did I offend many people, but I also let down those who believed in me. I am deeply sorry.







I would now like to turn to the words I used. I had to read them over and over again. Each of these occasions triggers the same shame and pain, really. The truth is that today, the Russian community is probably disappointed and angry at me, and I don't blame them. They react with pride and firmness. I expected nothing less from them. I have always been, not only respectful, but above all admiring the Russian culture. I would like you to know that I have been close to the Russian DotA community throughout my entire career, and I am grateful of all the amazing things I have been able to learn and experience thanks to it.



I am one of the few Western players to have played in tier 1 teams with many different CIS players. My first foreign tournaments were held in the CIS region, and to date I have participated in many competitions in Russia. I have always been very enthusiastic about giving back to the Russian community through interviews or any content creation. Because all I've gotten out of it so far is love, and I've always tried to give them that love back. I have changed my nickname to Cyrillic (OG.Себ), I sometimes promote Russian culture on my streams for those who follow them etc. Russia is one of the largest DotA countries, and as the biggest DotA fan, it has always been a pleasure to compete with or against Russian talent.







What I'm trying to get is that if I had been accused of harming a community or a nationality, I would have been hurt. But this one in particular leaves me devastated. I'm sorry for "betraying" your trust and respect, in a way. I hope that one day or another, with time and effort, I will be able to redeem myself with you and earn your forgiveness.







To do this, the first step for me will be to participate in a question and answer session with the Russian community itself.







It will take place live on the 26th at 12 am CET on RuHub.



It will be distributed at the following address



https://twitch.tv/dota2ruhub

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