“I joined the army and realized that esports is what I want to do” - interview with Corrupted (aka Vazya)

L1GA TEAM offlaner Ivan 'Vazya' German, performing under the nickname "Corrupted", in an interview at the "Future Games 2026", spoke about his friendship with Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak, explained what the army taught him, and also shared a method of dealing with stress.

From this interview you will learn:

• How much did Vazya earn at the start of his career?
• Is there an age when it is too late to become a pro player;
• For which Ivan is grateful to Malr1ne;
• How army experience helps in pro-Dota;
• And why does the offlaner chew gum?

All this and more is in our material.

Hello! Nice to meet you. And the first question will be about the nickname. Even now you were introduced to me as “Vazya”, but you have been playing under the nickname “Corrupted” for quite a long time. What caused these changes?

Hello. I don’t know, I just felt like I wanted to change something - I changed it.

It seems to me that when you play under one nickname for so long, it sticks, which makes it very difficult to retrain others to call you differently. How are you doing? Does anyone in public call you “Corrupted”?

Well, some people. More likely Europeans.

You are now 29 years old, but your career at the top level is just beginning. How do you feel when you realize that many years of hard work have finally paid off?

I don't know, it's hard to say. That's all... You know, one card lost is one card won. Here you are going to "Int" - but now you take the last place in the qualification. It's hard to say. Well, apparently some work was done right.

This is largely a personal question for me. One of your first teams was Team Blacer. And at that time I was actively playing Epulze - we had the tag Blacer.Agony, if you remember. So, I wanted to know what you remember about those times? And most importantly: what conditions did the organization offer you?

It was definitely cool, great times. We played - me, Hellscream and Panto - on Epulze. We simply played three “epulzas” a day, and earned 30,000 rubles a month. I had enough for everything and felt great. Don't know. I just played Dota and enjoyed life.

According to the terms of Team Blacer, I think we were paid $100. Well, or $500. I don't remember, honestly.

I remember that we were promised $50...

Maybe $50. Well, I honestly don’t remember. I remember we had a bonus for every Epulze we won. And after one month, when we won about 20 such tournaments in 30 days, the bonus was canceled. There was definitely such a theme.

In general, you started your career quite late - if I’m not mistaken, around 22 years old. What is this connected with? And when did you actually come to Dota?

Well, I've been playing Dota since the first one. It was just that somehow it was all for fun. I never thought about becoming a pro player. I only started to really think about it when I was sixteen.

At first I played the first Dota, then when the second one came out, I immediately had a key. But my computer did not allow me to switch to Dota 2 for another two years. At the age of 16 I entered college. At 18 I was expelled because all I did there was do nothing. I joined the army and realized that esports is what I want to do.

Did your army experience somehow help you in terms of your esports career?

Well, in general I consider myself quite disciplined. But some useful habits still remain from the army.

For example?

Don't know. Cleanliness, punctuality.

In your opinion, when is it definitely too late to start a career as an eSports player?

This is all an individual story. I wouldn't say there's a specific age when you should quit, you know? There is a karrigan, who, I don’t know... How old is he?

36.

36. Everyone has already written him off from FaZe Clan. And he was taken to Team Falcons, and he won a major. It all depends on personal motivation and desire.

Well, let’s say, let’s take my situation. Back in 2020, I was in the top 300. Now I practically don’t play anymore, but I keep the top 4000. If suddenly I suddenly become motivated, is it worth trying to make a comeback at 24?

Well, it depends on how much effort you put in. If you finish in the top 100 or top 50, then why not call you, conditionally, to a tier-2 or tier-3 stack? You can play on some EPL.

Let's talk a little about your "Nemigov" party and about Malr1ne in particular. When he won Int, what did you write to him?

Just congratulations.

How did you feel?

Feelings... Well, I was happy for him. Well, there was a little bit of envy, of course.

Why do you think your Nemiga Gaming crowd remained so strong even after you all went to different teams?

Probably because we assembled the lineup ourselves. Before that, I played with Hellscream for almost a year and a half together. Initially, the line-up was assembled like this: there was me, Hellscream and Munkushi~ without a team. Then we got two more types and went to play D2CL - something like that. Suddenly our mid player fell off, and I just wrote to Stas [Malr1ne. — Approx. ed. ] that he is coming to play with us. I didn’t ask him, I wrote to him: “You are coming to play with us.” He says: “I don’t want to.” I say, “Well, I don’t care.” That's all. We went to play D2CL for KA4KANARSKIE CYXARIKI, remember?

Yes, sure.

Then the “five” just fell off, and so bad appeared. And Munkushi~ was stolen into the first division, and that’s how Kiritych appeared.

I don't know, just the vibe. The vibe is good.

Let’s say, if we right now assemble the same Nemiga Gaming roster, all five of them, and throw them into the pro scene, what results can you achieve?

It’s hard to say, because Vitalya [so bad. — Approx. ed. ] no longer plays - he coaches.

Well, I think we would definitely qualify for the lans. Because Kiritych is now one of the best carries in the world. Stas is the best mid player in the world. I'm moving normally, I think. Hellscream - I consider it a strong four. I think next season he can easily play in the organization’s tier-1 team.

When Malr1ne says about you that these are cool guys, they should be included in teams, what does that mean to you?

Stas's support is very important to me. I believe that if it weren’t for Stas, I wouldn’t be in this place. Because when he called me to stand for Team Falcons, someone definitely took notice. He gave me the opportunity to show myself, I think.

What did the experience in Team Falcons give you, besides the opportunity to prove yourself?

Of course, this is a game with tier 1 players. Understanding how easy it is to play Dota. When you're high-skilled, when you're high-skilled, it's very easy to play Dota. Well, I still noticed all sorts of tricks from them, all sorts of things.

I think I've become more relaxed in Dota. After playing with skiter - well, everyone.

A very big impact, considering that you haven't been playing for that long.

Well, I played five best-of-2 or best-of-3 with them - I don’t even remember what was there, honestly. Maybe more.

And in terms of features from Team Falcons, is it more about micro or macro?

It's more about macro.

Can you name one thing, if it’s not a secret?

There is no need to do anything without timings. I think this is not a direct “Falcon” feature - rather, it’s just the right way to play Dota now. But then not everyone did that.

You played a lot in tournaments like CCT, EPL and so on: is there anyone currently in tier-3 who, in your opinion, already deserves to be promoted to tier-1?

I like Valera 'SSS', who was replaced in PARIVISION.

A few words about Games of the Future 2026. When I watched the broadcast, you were chewing during the drafts. Is this the same “Queens” trick?

This is not a “Queens” trick, but mine. I started it first.

Seriously?

Yes.

So you do this consciously?

I think, by the way, I was at this tournament without chewing gum, but I’m not sure.

I was just really stressed during the time of Nemiga Gaming - when the DPC started, the first seasons. Well, I came up with such a trick for myself - I started chewing gum. Then Ace started. I think it's someone else.

It's kind of distracting. I'm not stressed now. Sometimes it just comes out of habit, you know?

And about the results at Games of the Future 2026. Yes, the last place is so-so. But you had a strong group. Do you think that your performance at this tournament was a plus or a minus for you personally in terms of preparation?

I think it's a minus. Even considering that this group is difficult, yes. That is, it is obvious that there are five teams from Inta at the tournament, and three of them are in our group - it is not particularly clear how the organizers distributed them.

Taking into account the HF, teams that are weaker than us made it to the playoffs. It upsets me that we didn't play on stage. We played at the Esports World Cup 2026 - this, one might say, was preparation for Int. But I still wanted to win on stage.

And last questions about EWC. There you had a forced replacement in the form of Zayac. How did you feel on the line with him? Did the stand-in factor make a big difference?

I think it was a big decision because we have 100% team chemistry. And I think with Oleg [sayuw. — Approx. ed. ] we would have had a better result. Of course, Zayac... Well, first of all, he was pulled out, one might say - the only possible person. He didn’t, as I understand it, play or practice much. He tried, brought in some ideas, but things went wrong.

And I also have to ask: I know that you are a big fan of Xxs. Did you manage to meet him at the Esports World Cup 2026 or Games of the Future 2026?

Yes, we met both there and there.

Were you able to communicate? How are your impressions?

I try not to distract people from their work. We just said hello.

Earlier, L1GA TEAM coach Alexey 'TheChosenOne' Karanevich told how the club's current Dota 2 roster was assembled.