“Did I expect tests in the autumn when we took Panto? Yes, I expected it" - interview with asdekor_r about Spirit and playing with Resolut1on

No Hoodwink support Vyacheslav 'asdekor_r' Ignatiev in an interview spoke about the game with Roman 'Resolut1on' Fomink, discussed the topic of tests in Team Spirit and remembered his Univer streams.

Vyacheslav 'asdekor_r' Ignatiev is a former player of Yellow Submarine, eSpoiled and AVULUS. At the Russian Championship we talked with the young “five” and found out:

• How and why he ended up in the lineup with Resolut1on in the qualifiers for Int;
• Could asdekor_r get into Team Spirit this season;
• Why was Aurora Gaming's pick on its last EWC map surprising?
• What type of player does he consider himself to be?

And much, much more - in our material!

This year, at the Intu qualifiers, you found yourself in a team with Roman 'Resolut1on' Fominko. How did this even happen?

My career in the context of AVULUS has ended. And I was looking for a team... Well, I was resting! I went south, was on vacation, and the manager of Natus Vincere and PuckChamp wrote to me. She offered to try herself on a roster with dualrazee, Zayac, Resolut1on and Yuragi. And I was surprised.

In general, I wanted to refuse everyone - so that I could relax. But such a famous roster... Let's put it this way: this is my first team where the prize money of my teammates is higher than mine. This was the first time. And I couldn’t refuse: I didn’t want to miss the qualifiers for Int and EWC, so I agreed to play.

As a result, the final composition of the team was different, because Zayac changed his mind and decided to take a vacation. And we played with Norma, and Resolut1on sat on the “four”.

And how would you describe this experience?

100% positive. There is no negativity between us. No matter how we ended up with a bad result, I still enjoyed it with everyone. Especially, probably, with Resolut1on. He is very kind and positive. He tried to introduce a lot of his ideas, but it wasn’t... It wasn’t like he was offering some kind of AI or dietary supplements - that didn’t happen at all. It's about sports as much as possible. Something about upgrade, victory and maximum achievements. There was no point in him doing any bullshit. The motivation was visible in him. And I was charged with his energy! She is probably pushing me now not to give up.

Even with bad results, I liked the way Roma behaved. And it seems to me that Dota loses a lot when players like Roma retire.

Can you give one example of what Resolut1on implemented?

He implemented the OG system, let's put it that way. The same ones that, as they explained to me, were in their prime - the system that N0tail and Ceb pushed.

That is: after each training day we had a conversation with 4-5 topics. And everyone was talking about this topic. So that we all don’t have any questions for each other. And everyone pushed everyone to progress as much as possible. This was not in the context of “You didn’t press the buttons well!” or “You went the wrong way!” No - it was about something else.

We talked about what we liked and what we needed help with. That is, in one training day and this conversation they managed to do more than in a week, when you just got together, looked at something and went your separate ways. There are no misunderstandings or reticence here - everything was resolved openly and quickly. I liked it very much.

How relevant, in your opinion, is Resolut1on as a pro player?

As a pro player, it seems to me that Roma... After the results we achieved this year, Roma is unlikely to be interested in this. Because, as I understand it, Roma realized that it’s very difficult to go to lans now. And Dota takes a lot of time and work.

He spent a lot of energy on this. And it seems to me that he will not be interested in this in the context of a player. But I am sure: Resolut1on will be very good as a trainer! Not even in the context of drafts, although he is not bad in them either. And in the context of encouragement, as a second coach, I see him ideally. It’s about positivity and achieving goals as much as possible.

There are, in fact, a lot of such things. We were even called Team Jazz for a reason. Roma had his own idea - he likes listening to jazz, he wanted to immerse us in it. And he led and motivated us through some kind of structure. You know, even if you play very poorly, it still motivates you very much.

As they say: a herd of rams led by a lion will be stronger than a herd of lions led by a ram. It's something about this story! I definitely don’t see Roma in the context of a player, but in the context of a coach, yes. But is this interesting to him? This is no longer a question for me.

I have a somewhat provocative question, but the essence will become clear a little later. What type of player do you consider yourself to be?

It’s hard to evaluate yourself... It seems to me that it’s definitely tier 2. No more, no less. Why can I say this like this? I can say this because I am always called either as a replacement, or I have offers from exactly the same tier-2 teams. From those who practically reach tier-1, but definitely not tier-3. And they consistently perform in the EPL and tournaments of this level.

When it was announced that the Esports World Cup 2026 would be in Paris, you recommended that all tier-2 and tier-3 players obtain visas in order to go to the event if something happened. Did you apply for the visa yourself?

No, I didn't.

Why?

I wanted to rest. And there was a feeling that I was in no shape to agree - even if I had received an invitation. In short, teams at the EWC level would hardly appreciate my form. And I'm realistic about this. So I didn’t want to waste time or money on all this. Plus I was going on vacation. In short, I didn’t want to waste time...

I just threw this in, realizing that there might be problems with visas. Some thought just came to me - and I wrote it because I wanted to.

Well, in the end, from what is official, PARIVISION asked for a replacement for Dukalis with Tobi. But Dukalis eventually made it. I know that there is another team, but of a weaker level, which also already asked for a replacement for the “four,” but he managed to get a visa. Well, it turns out that L1GA TEAM - she called Zayac instead of sayuw.

At the beginning of the year, Riddys said during an interview that he had the biggest fear of his entire life - to remain a tier-3 player. How does such fear respond to you? Did you have it?

I guess I don’t think in terms of fears of “being someone” or “remaining someone.” Because... It doesn't matter what society or players at a higher level think about me. Or managers. Will I disappoint them or, conversely, please them. I just move as is. I do as I feel.

I have no fears about this. Am I thinking about it? Of course I think so. Does it scare me that I might be delayed and not realize my potential at Tier 1? No, I don't have that. I just go with the flow and do what I like.

When Aurora Gaming was eliminated from the Esports World Cup 2026, you were surprised by the kaori pool. You said that he played Phoenix, Jakiro and Warlock all season, and in the decisive game he rolled out on Oracle. And if you were in his place, what hero would you call?

Obviously, I would push Enchantress for myself! But I'm not there...

I no longer had a question about the kaori pool... Of course, the kaori pool, although small and over-fixed, but the point is that, probably, everyone knows that he plays almost the best in this pool.

And I was surprised not that his pool was small, but why he didn’t use it, although there was an opportunity to take both Warlock and Phoenix. And, in fact, community casters said a lot about this. Everyone was talking about it.

Of course, my question was not directed at kaori - it was more of a joke! What surprised me the most was the selection of cows: Shadow Fiend and Lina. Nobody else did that. The essence of Lina, it seems to me, is in flex. And they took and opened carry, opened mid. And they were closed. And they finished it all off with Oracle.

Rune Eaters Esports are definitely great. They follow a signature strategy. Ekki is known as Batrider all his life, and Aik is known as Lich all his life. And the guys play to their strongest. And here Oracle is taken on the decisive map for kaori. And this, of course, surprised me. I even went and opened Dotabuff. In six months he has 3 games and 0% or 33% victories. In short, definitely not his profile hero. And, as for me, he definitely does not counter Batrider and does not in any way secure the line for Shadow Fiend. In my opinion, he would be better off playing Warlock, Jakiro or Phoenix.

Suddenly we move on to TI12. Because during that Int you were remembered for watching and playing Dota, and at the same time you had “Univer” on your stream. How did you come up with this idea?

Yes, I played in a smurf pool, the skating rinks were as uninteresting as possible. There was everything related to overflows, purchased accounts, and so on. He played out his punishment! Thank God, this is all in the past.

How did this come to my mind? I just broadcast what I did - that's all! I'm already tired of these games, and when you have 200 more games to play, you want to keep yourself busy. And it was so uninteresting to do this that I turned on the series in the background. And it really caught on in the Dota community. Even now some thousand- or five-hundred-man can say something about this. And very often this comes up on streams - it’s funny! But this, I think, is already in the past.

There is, of course, a chance that I will try something similar again. But now I don't think about it at all. I just move as I feel. I wanted it, I did it. That's all.

Last year in an interview you said, quote: “I need Team Spirit. And that’s it.” Did you have a chance to make the team this spring?

I think not. It seemed to me that my chance was in early autumn. But perhaps it was my imagination. Although Korb3n wrote to me, it looked more like a joke. Because he did it at the end of the stream - a day after he burned the correspondence with Panto, where he writes that he sent papers for signing. And he [Korb3n. — Approx. ed. ], maybe he wrote to me as a joke!

Did I expect tests in the fall when they took Panto? Yes, I expected it. Did they give me these tests? No, they didn't. And they could completely be right about this. I don't hold any grudges. And in the spring, as I know, they tested Rein, Aik and took not me, and put rue at “five”. It seems to me that they did nothing better. Did I expect to be called in the spring? No.

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

The fact that everyone can play signatures and show their own style.

What do you dislike most?

Damn, I need to think... I just don't think what I like and what I don't. I do what they give me! I have this adaptive way of thinking.

Let's rephrase that! What would you change?

Let me not complain about the meta. I would make a Compendium! I would do an event like “Aghanim’s Labyrinth.” 100% online will increase if they add this. If only there was more prize money on the Internet... 100%! There will be more attention to the game. Because, judging by the latest events, everyone has such a dim vision that Dota is dying... It’s just everywhere already!

And I would like, on the contrary, for fire to appear in my eyes and for them to stop killing this Dota. And then everyone talks! Here, Korb3n, for example, about the fact that there are 5-6 years left. I don’t want people to think in these terms. I would like it to just go like processes - like chess. Like some world games like football.

So, what else would I change... I would change the integrity system, reset the rating - I would think in this direction.

Damn, these are the moments that are happening now - that you can’t watch high-mmr public... I don’t know how much of a plus this is, to be honest. Because anyway, tier-1 teams definitely have analysts who can climb in and look through them. Pay-to-win happens - Tier 1 organizations have access to something that other people do not have.

And this is not a question for organizations. This is the question: are the developers making the right decisions? Isn't it better to reset the rating? The integrity system is simply nonsense. There may be 9 reports - and nothing happens to the person, he continues to do the things he was doing. And this is what intensifies everything. Especially the number of Smurfs exceeds any common sense. I would probably work in this context.

And meta is what it is. Valve has long announced that it is doing everything for low-MMMR. And that’s probably why Lone Druid is so weakly nerfed. Or Shadow Fiend, or Snapfire. Everything is diminishing a little bit. But, in fact, I don’t really care about it. I'm more concerned about the things that I voiced.

Your teammate at the Russian Championship, Difference, to the question “What don’t you like about the meta?” replied “Rich supports.” As a representative of rich supports, how do you react to the fact that many players do not like your position?

I don't know, this is a Nix mindset. I was just discussing this yesterday with a friend who has been playing Dota for a long time and said the same thing. I watched the EWC finale and said that you can’t kill anyone. I turned on Papich’s old streams, where he kills a support in 3 pokes on Slark...

I don’t know, I don’t judge in such terms.

That's when there were matches with OpenAI - the idea was that they played as 5 solid heroes. There was no such thing as a "position". Everyone was like a cor. They simply distributed the network evenly. It is clear that this is hardly normal in human Dota. But the fact that there are rich supports there - as for me, this is more a way of adaptation than a reason for sadness and grief. And think about it in a bad way...

I also go to Nix’s streams, he is endlessly dissatisfied with this - long games, big supports! Yes, this is bad, but as for me, this is not something critical that is happening to Dota. In my opinion, there are other problems here.

And as a rich support, I don’t have the feeling that I’m a rich support! The gold enchantment probably influenced this. They've already bought everything for it and even started taking it in cash. So... It won't be very fun to play as supports if we fly away when poked.

Who will you root for at The International 2026?

I will root for those who deserve to win. Probably for PARIVISION. Because their communication is very impressive. I watch their vlogs - I really like how Zhenya joined Noticed. Super kind! This is an example to follow for all players on the pro scene. How it flies, how it adapts to the behavior of the players - it takes everything into its own hands as much as possible! And a super-deserved MVP at EWC.

Of course, I like to root for some underdogs, but if I think rationally, I’m all for PARIVISION. I think they deserve it. A lot of work. Every player there deserves to win.

Top 3 best TV series you've watched?

I’ll name the series I’m re-watching - they’re probably my favorites, right?

3. "You";

2. "Escape";

1. "Death Note".

How do you assess your career so far?

What grading system?

Any one you like.

It seems to me that my career should not be assessed by myself. But I would rate it 5/10. She's not the worst, but she's not the best either. I can definitely reach great heights - in any plans, not only in esports, but also in media. It seems to me that I am not yet super-realized in this regard. It seems more aimed at pleasure, but... We need to lead ourselves in the right direction, tryhard. And everything will work out. But only if I try! So for now it's 5/10.

Previously, asdekor_r took first place in the Russian Esports Championship 2026 tournament, the results of which you can find in our material.