“We just want to relax” - CHIRA_JUNIOR about Team Yandex’s decision to skip some tournaments

The mid-leader of Team Yandex Ilya ' CHIRA_JUNIOR ' Chirtsov, in an interview at the Esports World Cup 2026, said whether he considers his team the best in the tournament, and also explained the team’s refusal to participate in some tournaments.

[ Most teams consider your team the best in the tournament. Do you agree with this? ] I can say that, but there are a lot of good teams here. [But you might be the best? ] Yes.

[As far as I know, you refused to participate in some events during the year to take breaks. Is that so? ] Yes. [Why did you do this? ] Maybe some players were burning out, I would say. So we needed a break.

[ Is this your strategy or are you just trying to avoid burnout? ] We just want to relax. [Aren't you afraid that this might leave you behind? ] I don't think it's a bad thing. [ Why is this good? Apart from burnout, what other reasons are there? ] Because it's great to take a break from Dota. [ Doing stuff in real life? ] Yeah, something like that.

Earlier, Ivan 'Pure' Moskalenko spoke about his victory over Virtus.pro, and also called Team Yandex the main rival in his group.