The guys wanted me, but because of the situation they couldn’t take me - Pure about Team Liquid’s refusal due to reputation

Kerry 1win Team Ivan 'Pure' Moskalenko, in an interview with Maria 'Marple' Ermolina, talked about getting into the first professional team, a below-market salary at BetBoom Team, and also remembered how Team Liquid did not approve his transfer due to reputational risks.

We expected that we were putting together a winning squad that would win tournaments on a regular basis. That's why we signed for $5,000. We had decent scaling in the contract. We had agreements that after a couple of tournaments the salary would increase. There was scaling and agreements, but no tournaments were won. This turned out to be the biggest problem. It was hard at first. Then, at the end of my first coming to BetBoom Team, the salary had already become approximately normal relative to the market, but it was still low, considering that we were top 2 in terms of points, and ranked top 2, and constantly showed a decent game.

I came to Moscow from Asian public pages, where no one knew me, even though I had a high rank. I arrived, I had rank 150, I sat there, just grinding matchmaking. The first invites began to arrive when I had a rank of 30-25, then I upped the top 10. That’s when serious guys started writing, like Virtus.pro and AS Monaco Gambit. Tolya boo1k was then the coach of Virtus.pro, and he scouted the players. I was one of the candidates and he called me for the test. I came and played tests. Then the tests were RAMZES666, Daxak and Kiritych. Then boo1k told me that he made a system where each player and coach evaluates the candidate according to three criteria, and they choose. I was rated higher.

It seems to me that when I arrived, the guys had less motivation to play these DPC leagues. When we started, there were no tournaments, we just played the DPC league. And we even started by losing two or three maps in a row. Initially, boo1k told me not to worry if there are no results at the start, because we are working for the future, in the long term. Then illias rained on us, and we needed to take a new player.

I wouldn’t say that the players’ attitude has changed, because when I communicated personally with anyone, there was no contempt or, conversely, no praise. They talked to me as a player like themselves. In the community, people may have formed some opinion on this matter. It doesn't really matter to me. Because I know who I am, what I want. Incredible *** [nonsense] happened to me. But at the same time, I still play, I want to win. I somehow got through it. Thank God, there are no more stories.

Because of these situations, I was not accepted into one team. European. [ Marple: Which one? ] Well, Team Liquid didn't take me. The guys wanted it, but because of the situation they couldn’t take me. [ Marple: To avoid incurring reputational risks? ] Exactly. Exactly them.

Also during the conversation, Ivan 'Pure' Moskalenko spoke about the departure of Tundra Esports from the discipline, the transition to 1win Team, and also shared his thoughts about the withering of the professional Dota 2 scene.