Anuxi’s new Clinkz set for OG’s n0tail © Anuxi

The International 6 is approaching rapidly and the prize-pool continues to grow and grow.

As we all know, a bulk of the prize-pool is comprised of money contributed by the community through the purchase of Valve's Battle Pass and Compendiums . Levels for the Battle Pass can be achieved through playing and winning games, or further levels can be purchased. The motivation behind gaining levels is to unlock more and more amazing cosmetics. What's the point in playing an epic Axe without a stunning Axe set to boot?

Valve's team work hard on designing items specifically for these main events, but there are also Collector's Caches that are released with each Major and these feature some of the very best creations from the Steam Workshop .

One of the leading artists to ply her trade on the Steam Workshop is Stephanie 'Anuxinamoon' Everett . We caught up with Anuxi to discuss the past, present and the future of Valve's custom workshop.

Do you exclusively work on Dota 2 workshop content or do you do other jobs as well to make a living?

Since the end of 2012 or start of 2013 I've only been doing Dota 2 things. I've had offers from friends who work in the industry to do some contract work, or to move overseas and work in-house, but I've always said no as I love my lifestyle. I get to make what I want, when I want and still earn pretty much the same amount of money as if I was contracting, or maybe even more if I make a good sale. I've recently started doing a bit of work for a mobile app in my spare time.

Is the Workshop still going strong? How long do you envisage it lasting?

There's three or four of us who, as Workshop artists, have made a pact to ride the gravy boat as far as we can take it. It has slowed down a fair bit in the last twelve months, although a few have moved into CS:GO , which is higher paid and also easier. You only have to make the colours and not the models, whereas I might spend four weeks on a highpoly sculpt which is the initial stage. You only have to make a texture and you're finished in CS:GO.

How much interaction do artists have with Valve?

In 2013 the main artists were actually invited to The International 3 by Valve, and we sat down and discussed the Workshop direction with them. Their desire was for us to talk to the professional players and Valve would create a player shop where they could sell player sets, and thus it was quite exciting.

At first Valve were very good with it and the pro gear would have high assessment priority before being released, but that died steadily over time. A third-party chest will have high priority but Valve no longer prioritise professional's sets. As we give a cut to the player as well, a lot of artists have decided it's not worth it. I don't want to have to give 30 percent of my revenue away for no reason. As with most things Valve, feedback can be quite sparse, so any feedback is good. If a set of ours has been there for 12 months we will send it in and they may give us advice on what to re-work, or what they don't like about it.

Some of the sets that have been released recently step outside of Valve's traditional artistic guidelines for each hero. What are your thoughts on those type of sets?

The thing that people need to understand is that Workshop artists will always try and experiment. It's an artist's nature to push their abilities to the limit. We always try and do something crazy in one way or another. At the end of the day, it's not really the artists fault, Valve still have to accept the sets. Before in 2013 the sets may not have been accepted, as the guidelines were a lot more stringent, but now the guidelines tend to have gone.

Valve have seen how successful over-the-top flashy sets are in the market and have decided that they're obviously worth selling. Valve have data on sales in each region and whilst the Reddit community may have hated the Cat Drow set, for all we know it sold amazingly in China. That said, with the new outrageous sets there needs to be a balance. At the moment a lot of the sets coming out have been super-hardcore, extremely hyped, crazy sets which I think has numbed everyone. People are almost getting bored by the lack of cosmetic variation.

Another collaboration, this time with EternalEnvy © Anuxi

Has the way that the cosmetics are heavily centred around the Battle Pass and Major system changed the way that artists work?

It has, as well as the transition away from single item chests towards bundled set chests. In 2013 and the early parts of 2014 there were two single item chests released a month, each containing ten single items, and five or six full sets released to the store. You would have 30 artists putting things in each month and one a month would be enough.

Now you have six or 12 artist sets being released per Major and that's nearly all that we release. It's now a lot harder to break into the Workshop fray due to the change of system.

Did you prefer the single item set ups or the bundled sets?

I really liked the single market item set up, due to the fact that people could just go in and buy what they wanted as they were individually marketed. I would rather they released single item chests with a rare or ultra-rare chance for a set. Some of the best items ever released into Dota, such as the Faceless Void Battlefury and the Pudge Dragonclaw Hook , were in single item chests.

What's been the favourite player collaboration you've ever worked on?

I recently have completed a Clinkz set for Johan 'n0tail' Sundstein of OG. He asked me about nine months ago if he could have one, but at the time I was too busy so told him I'd get back to him in six months.

When I got back to him I suggested Lone Druid as it's his favourite hero, but he insisted on Clinkz and was adamant he was going to get buffed. When the Blight Stone became part of the Desolator build-up and Bloodthorn was introduced, n0tail asked me to base the bow on a Desolator. We just built the set around that theme. I've always wanted to do a set for Johan as he's been my favourite Dota player from the start.

Valve have added a few new heroes who previously could not equip cosmetics. Is there any you are particularly excited to design a set for?

I really want to do Phoenix so that will be the next one. I did have a concept for Winter Wyvern , but it really wasn't very good so I scrapped it. I've had the concept for Phoenix ready for about two months now, even before it was being picked regularly in professional games!