Purge: “I don’t think Dota esports is going to die anytime soon”

Caster Kevin 'Purge' Godek, in an interview for the Hotspawn portal, shared his impressions of the Esports World Cup 2026, discussed the future of competitive Dota, and also assessed the in-game event “Dark Carnival”.

[ There were many unexpected results at this tournament. Does this make the analyst's job easier? ] I think so, because it makes the tournament more exciting. If new teams appear, it makes the competition more fun. I believe that this tournament was not boring from the very beginning - there were about six or maybe even eight teams that could win it. So seeing so many of them get eliminated earlier than expected was fun and exciting. It's good to see the revival. It's great to see Vici Gaming performing better than expected. These things are fun.

I remember sitting in the lobby with Puppey and maybe someone else, and we were discussing with each other one question: “How long will esports survive in Dota?” And we gave the following answer: “Five years, that’s the maximum.” And this was in 2012. So we return to this issue every year. I don't think Dota esports is going to die anytime soon. The only question is whether I can continue to be a part of it in a way that still suits me and makes financial sense. And for now the answer is obviously yes, but someday everything may change.

[ What do you think about the Dark Carnival and the end of the Battle Pass? ] I love Dark Carnival. I'm happy with what Valve has been working on for the last year and a half. There is criticism that this kind of thing doesn't come out often enough, and that's fair. But in my opinion, encouraging people to play Dota is a good approach.

The reduction in the TI prize pool due to Battle Passes has a very negative impact on pro players because their winnings are not that huge. The teams that suffer the most are probably the 10th to 20th best teams in the world. But the best teams, up to the top 8, tend to have fairly high salaries. As long as the game remains popular and Valve continues to create content that encourages people to play Dota 2, I think that's the most important thing right now.

[ Who's your favorite character right now? ] I really like Pugna, and I'm also learning Ringmaster support. I usually wait until a hero is no longer incredibly strong before I want to play him, but I really like Ringmaster. So these are my two favorite characters.

[Who's your least favorite? ] I'm pretty bad at playing Rubick. But I would definitely say boring characters that you have to be careful about the entire game. I don't like them because I prefer to play aggressively and react to everything that happens.

Earlier, Remko 'Crystallis' Arets talked about his pool of heroes, and also shared his opinion about the “Dark Carnival” event.