“Roughly speaking, I missed my chance” - an interview with Difference about career, sports approach and Leshrac

Professional player Vladimir 'Difference' Klimontov, in an interview at the Russian Esports Championship 2026, spoke about the current situation in his career, and also shared what he would like to achieve over the next three years.

Vladimir 'Difference' Klimontov is a young mid player who is not yet 20 years old. But he has been on the pro scene for almost 3 years and has already managed to play under such tags as One Move and eSpoiled. In this interview he said:

• How a booster pushed you towards your favorite hero;
• Why haven’t I played anywhere for six months?
• For what reason does he want to play on the same team as the DM?

And much more!

You are very young, you are only 19 years old, and you already have 2.5 seasons behind you. However, we haven't seen you much this year. Why didn’t you appear on the pro stage after the January qualifiers?

It so happened that at the beginning of the year I was playing with eSpoiled. We went to the lans - we won the Volt Energy Cup, we won the tournament from Sberbank. After that I tested in L1GA TEAM. But at that moment, unfortunately, I relaxed and was not in the best shape. Therefore, they decided to leave their mid player. To put it bluntly, I missed my chance.

But I didn’t get a better offer. Mediocre teams with questionable players came to me - I decided to give them up in order to get in shape. Now I’m at my peak, I’ve reached the finals of the Russian Championship and I’m somehow playing somewhere.

A few years ago, during an interview, you said that you have a special approach to training. For example, until you reach 200 creeps on the heroes you plan to play, you will not launch a public. Do you still have that approach?

Well, the fact of the matter is that when I got out of shape, I lost my discipline and missed out on many of the things that used to lead me to success. And now I have brought back the warm-up - I never miss what will lead me to the championship. I am a fan of big sports and methods from there.

So now I’m following everything - and I’m at the peak of my form.

What sport are you a fan of?

In general... I like how things are settled in sports. That there are coaches there who guide young people and show them from the outside how to do things. I've had these myself, so I'm a fan of this approach.

And so - I watch different sports. I used to like basketball, then I followed wrestling a little when I found out about Alexander Karelin. And I really loved arm wrestling. But I’m not very keen on anything in particular or any individuals. So I'm just... keeping an eye on it.

So you are such a competitive person yourself?

Yes, I love some competitive moments.

I dug into your steam account, and there, in addition to 17,000 hours in Dota, another 1,200 hours in CS2 and 800 in Rainbow Six Siege. Was there a moment in your life when the choice of eSports discipline might not have fallen on Dota?

When I had difficult periods in Dota: when there were lose streaks and little rating, and I was not sure that I would play Dota professionally... I had thoughts of leaving. But I understood that I would have to go the same long way, but again. And I thought that I just didn't have enough time.

I understood that this was possible. But there are young people and there is a lot of competition, for example in CS. You can’t get there—you really have to work hard there. I thought about leaving VALORANT at some point. I also played it, I had a high rank, but I realized that Dota was my calling. There is no better or more difficult game for me. That's why I chose her.

According to outdated statistics from Dotabuff, your favorite hero in public is Leshrac. According to official reports, your top 1 hero is Leshrac. Although the hero is obviously a mid laner, in recent years he has often fallen out of the meta. Where does your love for such a hero come from?

This is a very interesting story. To tell it briefly, I had a coach who helped me get into eSports. And once for my birthday he gave me a workout on Anylvl. I was trained by a booster who was the nerd Leshrac. I had about 3-4 thousand MMR then - and he taught me how to play. And it turned out so funny that in the end Leshrac became my signature hero, I really fell in love with him. But then he worked completely differently, planned differently. But he was very strong.

And so, I liked playing on it. I still do this to this day. I have about 1,500 games on it.

During the last Esports World Cup 2026, Leshrac was taken only 3 times, and banned 2 times. And this is for 156 games - a very sad statistic. What's wrong with the hero?

The fact is that the hero has a lot of damage, but very little survivability and not so much mobility. And it so happened that now in the meta, for example, Ember Spirit, which simply runs into heroes - it has very high mobility and survivability due to the shield. And in general, now the game is such that in the mid you have to be either a fat hero or a space hero. The exception is Lina. She also has a lot of damage, but now she works a little differently.

And Leshrac, in my opinion, is easy to push through. Plus, to play actively on it, you need Rod of Atos - to catch heroes. And for mid they usually take heroes who already have some kind of stun that can be used to catch. But Leshrac does not fit all this. Plus, he likes to farm a lot, and without networking he’s not really a worker. Some Storm Spirit or Ember Spirit will give an impact even without such a high network. Therefore, Leshrac does not fit the current meta.

Blitz! What do you like most about the current meta?

I like that because of the big map, every game is a comeback. And if you don’t give up, you can win absolutely any game.

What do you dislike most?

Rich supports.

Qualify for all tournaments except Int, or fail in all qualifiers but qualify for Int?

Go to Int!

Who will you root for at The International 2026?

Probably for PARIVISION.

Why?

Because there are people playing there that I like. For example, I have a good relationship with Satanic. And so, in general, I always support CIS teams. So here, I think, I’ll be with PARIVISION or Team Spirit.

Person who had the greatest influence on you as a player?

The thing is that he doesn't have a nickname. This is a person not from the industry. I had an older brother of my classmate. A classmate got me hooked on Dota. But his older brother had sports experience. And he introduced me to eSports.

By the way, since when have you been playing Dota?

I registered in 2017, but when I was little I abandoned a lot. I started playing seriously around 2020 or 2019.

Who are some pro players you haven't played with yet that you dream of playing on the same team with?

Since I'm not a tier-1 player, I haven't played with anyone from tier-1 yet... But I would really like to play with Satanic and DM.

You have a good relationship with Alan. Why with DM?

I like the way he thinks about matchmaking. And overall I have a feeling that I would get along with him. He could give me a lot in terms of the game, and I would find a common language with him.

Where would you like your career to be in 3 years?

I would like to be a tier 1 player. And within three years, I think I should, if not win TI, then at least get into the top 5 at one of them. And so, I would like to have at least a stable career. Be stable at tier-1 lans and show high performance.

Previously, Difference, as part of the MEGA stack, became the champion of the Russian Esports Championship 2026. The results of the Moscow LAN tournament are in our material.