Virtus.pro - Solo Interview: “I want to make the best out of the time I have left before retiring”

The interview was conducted in Barcelona, Spain, on the second day of the qualifiers group stage, right after AntiHype secured their spot for the WESG Global Grand Finals from March 2018.

How did you find the time to play in WESG considering how many Minors and Majors are out there?

Actually, it wasn’t hard for me or any of my teammates to find the time for this because the WESG qualifiers happen while we have a small break before the DreamLeague Major and playing WESG is a great way to train on the new patch. We already tested a few of our strategies and ideas and I really enjoy my time here in Barcelona.

What do you think of this Olympic format from WESG, is it really fitting the pro scene?

I guess it does for some games. For example look at the CS:GO scene. I really like their way of displaying the country flag of a team, up there, where the score is. So yeah now when I’m here and I see the country flag instead of the team logo at Dota matches I must say I actually really like it.

The WESG Global Grand Finals will be in March 2018, obviously you and Virtus.pro can’t really know exactly what will be your Minors and Majors schedule so here is my question for you: Do AntiHype have a plan in case the VP players need to be at a Major or a Minor when the WESG Grand Finals from China will happen?

No, right now we don’t have any backup plan. We didn’t think that far in time to be honest because, as you said the schedule is very packed for everyone. For example, Virtus.pro will be at the beginning of December in Sweden at the DreamLeague Major, from there we will go to Macau for MDL, then we have to be in Los Angeles for Dota Summit, this is December for us. After Summit we have two weeks of a vacation for the winter holidays then we have again, four tournaments in January. So yeah this is all we know for sure now, and we plan like this, maximum two months ahead.



I see. Did you guys have a different plan for approaching the season when the Dota Pro Circuit was announced, or did you change your mind at some point? I’m asking this in regard to the recent misunderstandings that happened between VP and some tournament organizers who were under the impression that your team is focusing on Majors only.

Well, we had to adapt to the new patch so yeah, we have to, and we want to play in as many tournaments as possible to train on the 7.07 patch.

Now that you mentioned the new patch and the training, I would like to ask you which of the new items do you think is the most overrated?

Hmm… overrated you say… I actually like the new items. I like the new Urn of Shadows a lot, I like the Aeon Disk very much, of course for core heroes, Kaya is another super good item for cores.... Oh I know, I don’t like Meteor Hammer. It’s a weird item for me right now, It’s super cheap so theoretically it should be a support item but then you have so many other options as a support and I don’t think that Meteor Hammer is actually good for cores. Anyways, nobody buys it right now.

Alright. You and VP are super accomplished, by the way, congrats on the ESL One Hamburg MVP prize. So, my question is: what really motivates you to play in the qualifiers for a tournament like WESG, a tournament that doesn't matter at all for the TI8 invites?

Personally, I like to play Dota. I don’t care, I’m not picky what tournament should I play in or not. I like my teammates a lot and I love spending time with them, I like to travel, to see the world. Of course, all these are hard for my wife who is always waiting for me to return home but for these WESG qualifiers, she was able to come with me so it’s all good. I really like to play Dota, and to be honest I’m not that young anymore, I’m not sure how much time I’ll be able to play, one year, maybe two years? I don’t know, so I want to make the best out of the time I have left before retiring.

Well, I wish you best of luck Solo, you’ve always been a great source of inspiration for so many people, and the community loves you, but I guess you know it already. Last question, because the games will resume any moment now and you still have a series to play. If you would have to ban against yourself which hero would you ban?

Ogre Magi

Ok, thanks for taking the time to talk to us, any shout-outs you perhaps want to make?

Shout-out to my teammates, I love you guys!

QUICKPOLL What would you ban against Solo? Bane

Thank you for voting! Ogre Magi

Thank you for voting!