Virtus.pro Player Interviews

“You rarely see ‘benched for mental reasons’ in public statements”: interview with the psychologist of VP Academy
A few years ago, full-time psychologists appeared in many esports teams. We decided to find out what exactly these specialists do and talked to Egor Karasyov, the psychologist of Virtus.pro Academy. In this interview he explains what an esports psychologist does day to day, how players burn out, what leads to success, and whether a “healthy lifestyle” really helps.

Let’s start from the very beginning. What does a psychologist do in esports and why is this role needed?
In general, a psychologist is there to maintain a healthy atmosphere in the team. My job is to make sure everything is fine, no one is at war with anyone, and any issues are solved quickly and calmly — both in-game and outside the game.

How is that different from a psychologist in a regular company, university, or school?
We’re in a sports environment. For example, I’m present at trials when we select new players. I can immediately tell how well a player is likely to fit into the team.

How long have you been working with Virtus.pro?
It’ll be two years in March. Right now I work with the youth rosters — Future and Prodigy.

Tell us more about how your work is structured. Do you attend all tryouts, matches, events? Can any player come to you with a problem and talk it through?
The main part of my work is with the Prodigy roster. I’m with them at officials, practice, bootcamps. I’m basically always there alongside the coach. They can always come and talk to me directly, bring up any topic. The same applies to the Future players — they’re younger, and I’m not with them constantly, but I’m still available.

The bulk of the work is observing the players and correcting communication during the game — resolving issues and misunderstandings together with the coach, dealing with hierarchy and boundaries.

In some Western teams — I think Astralis, for example — there was a “mental health coach”. Is that similar to what you do or something different?
I think the specifics there are a bit different. Most likely they had some kind of educational course for a limited period, not a permanent staff position. Our approach is different.

Can you walk us through a specific example? Say a player is very rude to a teammate in the middle of a game. After the match you come up and say: “You can’t do that”? How does this actually work?
The key is to help the player understand that this brings no benefit and to steer his thinking in the right direction so next time he knows how to behave. Just saying “that wasn’t good” is weird. You need to explain why it’s bad, how it could have been handled differently, so the player really understands and realises that this behaviour doesn’t add anything positive to the game — it creates pure destruction.

How do players usually react to comments like this? Are they okay with it?
If you talk calmly, they’re always fine with it. And we usually don’t do it in the heat of the moment but after the game, when everyone has cooled down a bit. We record almost everything — we save TeamSpeak recordings and then review them together with the players.

As a rule, the player understands, recognises the issue — and gets better.

It does sound a bit like a school psychologist, talking through how you behave with classmates…
That’s fair — we mostly work with kids, so it’s similar.

I originally wanted to talk about burnout, but maybe very young players don’t really have that yet. How often do you run into burnout?
In sports overall it’s a big problem, but with younger players it’s much rarer — we haven’t really had that in our academy. I think in youth sports burnout is less common because kids are very motivated, everything is still new and exciting for them.

What are the main psychological issues young players face?
For example, things related to cognitive specifics. Someone is so focused on crosshair placement that he forgets to give information. Someone else is the opposite — constantly talking and can’t focus on his aim at the right moment. There are many different factors that can hold players back. You just need to identify and work through them, sometimes add extra exercises in their free time.

We analyse these points together with the coach and try to find solutions.

How does getting into a profession at such a young age affect their future life? Can that become a problem?
Professional sports always have a strong impact on a child. They spend more time on sports instead of just hanging out with friends, family, playing football and so on.

But kids are very different. Some just sit at home and only play the game. Others, on a day off, run outside with friends and you can’t drag them back home. It depends on the kid, the parents, the upbringing.

We recommend that in their free time they step away from CS, talk more with people, spend time with relatives, play football. But they’re already grown-up enough to make their own choices about what’s comfortable and important for them in life.

What’s the most dangerous thing for an athlete’s psyche in a professional environment? Pressure to become the best? Early public exposure? The sheer volume of practice?
In traditional sports, injuries are a huge topic. In esports there are fewer of them, but they exist — back, arms, wrists especially. In football the main psychological issues come in the post-injury period: a player is afraid to hit the ball hard again or step fully on a leg after a knee or ankle problem. In CS we don’t really have that.

As for popularity, it’s similar to regular sports: pressure and criticism appear. I think betting has a much stronger impact on the psyche in esports than in traditional sports. People often “write off” losses on players: after a defeat they go to social media to complain that they “lost money because of you” and so on.

We just need to teach the kids not to pay attention to that. It’s written by people who, let’s say, aren’t very smart. A normal person will never message a player because of a lost bet. If they do bet, they stay calm about it. So in that sense it’s very similar to regular sports — you just need to teach players to ignore this kind of criticism.

If criticism comes from a coach or teammate, you need to think about why they’re saying it. But if some random stranger wrote something somewhere, you just ignore it.

How often do players face aggressive criticism on social media?
As soon as a player reaches a decent level and people start recognising him, the number of such messages grows. I’d say it’s proportional: maybe one person out of two hundred will definitely write something nasty. Subscribers in Telegram channels, VK — roughly every two hundredth will “fire off” something. It’s unpleasant, of course.

And then it depends on popularity — the more popular the player, the more of that stuff he gets.

Is there any difference between CS and Dota in terms of how often hate appears and how the games themselves affect players psychologically?
I don’t think there’s a big difference. They’re two different disciplines with their own specifics, but in terms of hate — it’s almost the same. You lost — someone will say something unpleasant. You won — you can still “ruin someone’s bet”, and a person will send you a nasty DM. Even if you played great or your team won, there’ll still be someone who calls you terrible just because they didn’t like something.

It’s the same person writing to both the losing team and the winning team, telling both they “ruined his life”. So you just have to be ready for that — in any sport and any esports. These people show up as your popularity and level grow.

Let’s talk about coaches. What role do they play in maintaining a healthy psychological climate? I assume you work closely with them?
Yes, we always work together. The coach gives players knowledge. Communicating that knowledge is an art in itself — the coach has to understand how to explain things correctly, so it’s not too hard and not too simplistic, to find that balance.

At the same time he has to be personally involved in the process and communicate calmly. Of course there are emotions — when you lose a painful round or something goes wrong. But the main thing is to keep your composure. In youth work that’s super important: to stay calm while explaining and teaching.

Does it happen that a coach notices a player being sad or nervous for a long time and asks you to pay special attention and help?
I won’t go into in-game details, but yes, different situations happen. Sometimes a coach specifically asks me to work through a particular topic with a player. Usually we talk about mindset and certain in-game patterns.

For example, tilt — we talk about why the person tilts, what triggers it, why it’s harmful. If the player becomes aware of it, he gradually learns to overcome it. It takes time — it doesn’t go away with a snap of the fingers. You need a bit of a run-up: first day, second, third, fourth… by the fifth it’s better, by the sixth a little better again. Step by step, over two weeks or a month, a person can come out of that state.

The biggest challenge for any psychologist is to help a person understand their problem. Often they simply don’t realise what is happening to them. And that’s the key: the person must recognise that there is a problem and that it needs work.

If they don’t understand and don’t want to change, then nobody can help.

How about managers or other staff who work closely with players? If a manager, for example, is depressed, can that influence the players’ condition and performance?
Honestly, we haven’t had such cases. Managers mostly communicate with the coach or with management. I think even if a manager had depression, the players might not even notice or understand it. Full-team meetings with a manager are rare.

If a coach, psychologist or analyst is constantly with the team, the manager only sees the whole roster maybe once a month — when there’s an important period or the end of a stage, and something needs to be discussed, results summarised, goals set for the season.

For the most part, day-to-day communication is between coach and players.

There’s still a belief in esports — and in society — that going to a psychologist is shameful. Do you see that? Is it still present among players and fans?
In the CIS we still have this mentality where people are reluctant to go to a psychologist, unlike in Europe. But slowly things are changing — people do seek help, psychologists appear both in esports and in traditional sports.

I don’t think there’s anything bad about it. If you have a problem and it can be solved — and you know a good specialist — why not go?

The only nuance is that some psychologists stretch work across a huge number of sessions — and you overpay for something that could be resolved faster. But overall, if there are real problems, it’s worth reaching out. The key is understanding whether you actually need a psychologist. That’s not always obvious, but most often people realise it thanks to those around them — someone hints, and that’s a reason to think about it.

Have there been cases in esports when players left the pro scene entirely because of burnout, depression, or other mental issues?
I’m sure it’s happened, but probably not much at tier-1 level. Tier-1 teams usually have psychologists, and even if mental issues affect performance, it rarely comes to a complete career stop.

And if such cases do happen, they almost always get hidden from media and fans. If a player is benched or takes a break for psychological reasons, you rarely see that written publicly.

It hurts the reputation of both the organisation and the player himself: even if he recovers, teams will look at him differently on the market. That’s why such stories almost never get officially published.

We mentioned that there’s more burnout in adult esports. Are there any general practices to fight it? Any approaches from sports or examples from Western teams?
If we speak in basic terms, the main thing is to find the cause of burnout. It could be monotony, external factors, overload. When you clearly understand the cause, you can work on it: change your practice approach, add something new.

Some people have been practicing the same way for five years. Sometimes small changes are enough: change your crosshair, your settings, resolution, equip a new skin or knife. It sounds silly, but the game starts to feel different and interest comes back.

In short, you need to change the things that lead to burnout — if you can.

How much does basic “healthy lifestyle” — sleep, water, nutrition — affect performance and mental state?
It matters for both regular people and athletes. If you don’t get enough sleep, your reaction and attention go down. Same with what you eat and how active you are physically — everything has an impact. Maybe not 100%, but 5–10% for sure.

We’ve had cases where we had to work specifically on sleep: players would write down when they went to bed and when they woke up so we could fix their schedule. At bootcamps we try to make sure they sleep 8–9 hours. The ninth hour is for the phone in bed, eight hours is actual sleep.

Like in a summer camp.
Exactly — because they’re still kids. At home the responsibility also lies with parents. We talk to them about how routine, sleep and nutrition influence results — not 100%, but significantly.

Is it possible to build a career in esports without ever burning out?
It depends on the person. Some players are extremely motivated and genuinely love the process. Everyone has moments of fatigue, but that’s not burnout. You rest, eat, go for a walk — and the desire comes back. Real burnout only happens when negative factors last for a long time.

I think most professional players have never reached true burnout.

How can you tell burnout from a situation where a life stage simply ended and it’s time to move on?
After burnout, people often change spheres — but it depends on the root cause. If the issue lies in the process itself (constant practice, competition), then maybe it’s worth changing careers. If it’s about some specific part of practice that can be changed, adjustments are enough.

What would you say to a 13-year-old who dreams of joining an academy and says they’re going to practice 24/7?
Around 90% of kids say that. All I can advise is: train, get better. If your results are high enough, we’ll take a look and test you.

And if he says: “I don’t go out, don’t play sports, don’t study — I only play.” Is that okay?
In reasonable amounts — yes. Many are truly passionate about the game and ready to work a lot. To reach at least academy level, you have to put in time. But no one says “don’t eat, don’t drink”. There’s common sense.

The problem is that today he’s on fire, tomorrow he’s on fire, and in a month things don’t work out — and he quits. That happens a lot.

I’m more about balance — when a person doesn’t understand that life is bigger than a single goal.
Sport and esports are always a risk. Only a few make it to the top. Both the player and the parents need to understand that. Sometimes a person sits at the same level for two years — that means there’s not enough work ethic or not enough talent.

To reach a high level, you need a lot of things to line up: luck, hard work, natural skill, a good coach, a strong team around you. There are many factors. And very often a talented 16-year-old is standing in the same place at 20. That’s common in both sports and esports.

And finally: what would you change in esports or organisations to make life psychologically easier for players?
It’s a tough question. Esports has many structures: organisations, federations, different tournament formats, different approaches to building teams and coaching staffs. It’s hard to answer globally — you’d have to discuss each area separately.

Speaking about organisations, ideally there should be a psychologist. But there are also mix teams that get players from a region together for a week to play a Cup or National Championship. How can a psychologist do much in a week? In that time he can only really get to know the players.

These short-cycle teams are the majority. So there is no universal solution.

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I think since Spirit won TI, I think it motivated the region quite a bit, and there just have been so many new, all the really, really top talents the last years have been from CIS, and their area has been CIS. And I also really like CIS players. I think if they have a good structure and they have an environment where it’s disciplined, they can thrive. They just need that. Because their talent is very high, and they have a lot of passion towards the game. So it was a natural fit.

As you said, and you stated it several times before, you like players from the CIS region. Now you are in this region yourself. Has anything changed for you in terms of work, maybe? Going to a new region with new players, new qualifications, a new organization, stuff like that.

I mean, it’s definitely way harder. All the teams are pretty decent, so if you’re not really ready and focused, you can lose to anybody. So it definitely keeps the team’s brain at a higher threshold. It’s definitely harder, which I think is good. There are just a lot of teams, there are a lot of CIS teams and so many players. It’s nice because it feels like Dota is very alive in this sense. The game is far from falling apart, because there are just so many players, so many teams, and so many tournaments. I think that part is nice.

Now you’re working with Daxak, and he is generally known as a demanding and sometimes difficult teammate. Have you noticed anything like that? Or is everything comfortable for you?

I think in my experience coaching nobody is perfect, everyone will have pros and cons, right? So there was a time where I felt like I probably did not react best to people’s negatives, and I feel like I’ve gotten more patient. I feel like Nikita has a lot of pros, and I think he’s disciplined, and the things that he wanted for his past teams were very good things. Like he really cares about the game, he really wants to win, he’s not a lazy person. He’s disciplined, he wakes up every morning, he goes to the gym. You can tell he’s someone who’s very professional.

And I think probably some of the criticisms have been from players that he probably pushed or who have complained about how they were not professional or how they were not trying. I saw some, it’s been a long time ago, it was like he was upset with some of the players and how they went out partying, and it’s not like the things he was saying were wrong. He wants a professional atmosphere, he wants a professional team. Yes, sometimes he can be very demanding… not demanding necessarily, but holding to standard and very caring, and I can tell maybe for some players that’s too much. It’s not even about the CIS players, I think just in general. But I feel like his mentality is very good. It’s a very professional atmosphere.

Look at him, he’s a guy that is built well, he goes to the gym. You know, someone who has discipline in their life, which I think is very good.

You are a very experienced coach, and now in Virtus.pro you have many experienced players. How do you maintain a balance of opinions and voices? Who takes on more responsibility for now?

One of the reasons I really wanted to work with Fly again is that he’s a very good person that can help with a lot of things. He has a very calming voice, he’s very objective, he’s just a really good person to have around, and he helps a lot. He’s like one of the main leaders in the game, so for all the players I think he does a lot of work.

I mean everyone has their own things that they need to do, it’s like any team, it’s like a combination, and usually Fly and I will help schedule the day out, plan the stuff. We haven’t really been playing together that long, it’s been two weeks in Serbia before and then now, this tourney. So we’ve only been playing together for 3–4 weeks, so that’s kind of how it is. Now me and him help schedule the day out, help with things, help to organize stuff. And then people will contribute.

Also on a team you need to have one idea and one opinion. Not one opinion, but like you want the team on the same page, so usually you want to have discussions and you want to have talks, but you don’t want it to be endless arguments and stuff that don’t go anywhere. So my job is sometimes to mediate those, and yeah, it’s a combination, basically.

I interviewed Fly before you, and If I'm not mistaken, he said that now you have an assistant coach. Is that right?

Yeah.

Can you tell us who it is and how you divide responsibilities?

It’s Fng. I’ve known him for so long, he’s always someone I used to speak to at tournaments and LANs. Very chill person. Basically, he was coaching VP before, I think he was coaching the CIS team, and they ended up disbanding. Me and him were talking, and I asked him to come out to this tournament and DreamLeague. A lot of other games or just in sports they have several coaches, right? I think in Dota not many teams have it. They have an analyst and a coach.

So there’s no real negative. I think he’s a very chill, calm person, he’s obviously super experienced about the game, and I think initially we both weren’t fully sure how to organize it, but I think this last time we’ve found the things that he’s really good and strong at, he helps the team with; things I’m very good at and strong with that I help. So we kind of set up a good system and structure for it. And obviously he knows the CIS players, he worked with Vlad and Nikita. I’ve worked with the other three, so it’s a good combination in that sense.

And about coaching things. Previously you’ve worked with EG and SR. Maybe in this new team, Virtus.pro, you want to bring something from your previous teams in terms of structure, in terms of strategies, and in terms of preparing for games, or are you trying to build a team from scratch?

I think we had a lot of good things on EG, a lot of the structure, there’s definitely things from that. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to work with Fly. It’s like a mixture, there’s never the right answer. Dota has progressed a lot too, so you need to adapt and change. It’s not the same game as it was 4–5 years ago. They added so many things to the game, they made it very shiny. The game was more simple but complicated back then, now it’s a very zoomerish, you know, zoomer game. So it’s like a combination of the old things and the new things. It’s like every year you learn some more stuff, but it’s also like a full circle, things come back.

One last question, it will be rather general. What goals have you set for the team this season? Are you planning to attend all tournaments, or will you be skipping some and taking some rest?

I think we'll try to go to as many as possible. Obviously, it’s the ones we can qualify for, because it depends on where we qualify. I mean, we have some visa issues here and there, but we will go to as many tournaments as we can allow. Because there are so many of them, and it’s not like before when there was only one pretty big tournament. Most other esports games won’t have as many as this, right? I feel like sometimes Dota players don’t understand how good they have it. But it’s also pretty top-heavy, you need to do well to reap the rewards, right? But there are a lot of opportunities. Look at XG last year, they struggled in several tournaments, but then in one they did well. You have a lot of chances.

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“Our results speak for themselves” — an interview with the head of Virtus.pro Academy
How is the Virtus.pro Academy structured from the inside? An interview with the head.

As a fan of the Counter-Strike esports scene, it’s impossible not to notice how much the influence of academies has grown in recent years. If once talents were found via acquaintances and later via FACEIT, now it seems almost impossible to break into tier-1 without going through a youth setup.

We know a lot about the stars raised by academies, but far less about the people behind them and the processes inside. To lift the veil for our readers, Esports.ru spoke with Anton Sayapin — head of Virtus.pro’s youth program in Counter-Strike.

He spent years building the structure of VP.Prodigy and VP.Future, and he has plenty to share about how it all works. Enjoy!

From basketball to esports
Your media presence is fairly recent. Tell us more about yourself: what did you do before Virtus.pro and how did you end up in your current role?
I was a professional basketball player, and at some point my “retirement,” so to speak, came. The question was what to do next; I started looking for work and it so happened I joined Virtus.pro.

Did you aim specifically for an academy leadership role? Or was it more like Nikita Lutov’s case — joined in one position and later became head of esports development?
No, I didn’t become a head right away. I started at the very bottom as an admin assistant handling document flow. Six months later, Sergey Glamazda [VP CEO 2019–2022] entrusted me with the VP.Prodigy manager role. For a while I held two positions: admin assistant and manager of the academy lineup.

After about half a year, Nikolay [Petrosyan] suggested I fully take over the academy lineup, and I became head of Prodigy. Step by step I grew into leading the entire youth program.

You mentioned basketball. If I recall, before 2021 another basketball player worked at VP — Ivan Lazarev. Did your paths cross?
The basketball world is small, so yes — we’ve known each other a long time, since school days. We played as kids and often crossed paths. At Virtus.pro there was a period when he was Dota 2 sports director. Back then the office was smaller, and we worked there together with the rest of the staff.

What’s a typical workday for the head of Virtus.pro Academy? Mostly office or remote? More contact with players or with leadership: coaches, analysts, managers?
I’d say 50/50 between global leadership and management. I worked as a team manager for a long time and old habits remain: tracking tournaments, talking to TOs and players when issues arise. Also communicating with my reports — coaches, analysts, psychologists. I prefer the office because other departments are here; it’s easier to talk in person than via messages or calls. I also discuss a lot with Nikolay [Petrosyan]. It’s more convenient live.

Contracts and competition for talent
How does a kid join Virtus.pro Academy? How involved do parents need to be?
Since we’re mostly talking about 12–13-year-olds, when they receive a document request for a contract, parents naturally have questions: who’s writing, what documents are needed? They get worried and reach out to me; we explain all the nuances. Usually after the first call the questions end, and then we communicate directly with the kids. Overall, it’s like standard parent-school communication.

When you sign a young player for the first time, do you use a trial contract or go long-term right away?
There’s no point in a trial contract. The testing period is enough to understand if a player fits — it can be a day, a week, a month; during that period we don’t sign anything. We sign only those we are sure about — that reflects our belief in the player.

Are there enough tools in esports to find and select talent, or is scouting still raw?
Compared to traditional sports, there’s practically no scouting in esports. There are no schools that develop players for years, so there aren’t strong scouts or agents and there’s no market structure. The search is hard. The only adequate platform is FACEIT, but it’s 13+ only — you lose a large share of potentially interesting younger players. Some clubs start “getting clever”: we offer a contract, and a couple of hours later other clubs call the kid to lure him away. Where were they before? Why didn’t they find him themselves? That shows there’s essentially no scouting in other clubs. Right now we probably have the deepest process.

So academies do compete for talents — that’s not just rumors?
Yes, there’s competition among academies. If that happens, it means we’re doing something right. We never restrict players from taking parallel trials elsewhere. If we like a player and he’s unsure or wants to trial with another club, we say “OK, go take a look and decide.” Most pick us because they see who will coach them, who they’ll play with — and our staff is often more qualified.

Other clubs often say “we forbid you from trialing anywhere else,” even before any contract is signed. Kids immediately ask why. And they’ll still go — the forbidden fruit is sweet.

Have there been moments when you regretted giving players that freedom?
Sure, that’s more of a management question — who offers what. Salaries in academies have evened out (partly thanks to us raising the bar). Then it’s about extra perks — gear, desk, chair, or help with life issues.

But not every club can offer more. OK, you pay salary — but I don’t know any academy except Virtus.pro where the entire academy structure of 3–4 rosters comes to bootcamp. We recently held a summer bootcamp and brought in 12–13-year-olds; on the next break a 14-year-old roster is coming. Not only Prodigy bootcamps — we try to bring everyone to see them live and give a development push. No “special talents” playing from home — everyone arrives and proves themselves.

The academy system
How is VP.Prodigy fundamentally different from an online school with paid lessons?
The obvious thing: those courses are paid; with us it’s not just free — players get a salary. We also have connections with TOs; Prodigy gets invites via VRS points. We give access to the esports arena: more perspective and chances to get into a big org and a strong team. Courses are a starting experience; after them you need an academy. Even another academy will give much deeper CS understanding and chances.

What does a day look like for a VP.Future player? You’ve said the schedule revolves around school.
They come from school, do homework, then around 3–4 pm sit at the PC. The coach gives an hour–hour and a half of individual work to warm up. Then like seniors — prac, demo review — but shorter. Prodigy averages ~8 hours a day; Future schoolkids do 4–5 so they can attend school and handle chores.

OverDrive (Spirit scout) said they look at skill-to-discipline ratio first; sycrone (MOUZ NXT) said communication skills and family environment are key. What’s first for Prodigy and Future?
Skill is at the top. Then we look at team interaction. If a kid is conflict-prone or acts out, we might pass even if he’s very skilled — it can harm others. If we think we can help, we’ll sign with caveats and give a psychologist — sometimes the problem isn’t the kid but life or family circumstances.

Have you had cases where a player had issues, you took the risk, and fixed it?
Yes. One player reacted too sharply to feedback early on. We decided to work with him; after 3–4 months he perceived things differently. We saw progress, kept working, and overcame it. Now he handles criticism fine and performs well.

On promoting tO0RO and b1st
tO0RO moved up, then b1st to the main roster — long awaited. Were those one-offs due to main roster problems or a strategic course to promote from the academy?
I hope it’s permanent. The structure we have now started forming only in November last year. Our Prodigy roster was mostly bought out in 2–3 months [dwushka, KusMe, shady, xdENiSZERA, Something], and we had to urgently find players to keep the project going. Finding from scratch is hard, so we built a large academy structure. That’s how VP.Future appeared with four rosters. In under a year, two players went from Future through Prodigy to the main team. I hope the trend accelerates; even if our players don’t join our main roster, they’ll land well in at least tier-1.5.

We already have interest in several Prodigy players — things are getting on track.

About b1st’s path: he stood in for Prodigy in early 2024, and half a year later joined Prodigy. Was he already in Future back then?
Yes, VP.Future was just being formed and not yet announced — we didn’t have enough players, maybe one roster. He was under contract; a Prodigy player was loaned out, we needed to finish a tournament, so we brought our own guy to show himself and for us to plan development. We identified drawbacks and started fixing some right away. You must give players a chance to test themselves at a higher level. Now rokilan and lasfas are standing in for Prodigy — great experience. That’s how it was with b1st: we worked with him, and when the previous Prodigy roster left, he joined the new team.

He showed the most impressive growth among all players, approaching kyousuke’s numbers late in Spirit. What fueled that jump?
Credit to our coach and psychologist-analyst. The boys kept stopping one step from playoffs or certain tournaments. They were stuck. But since Vova (b1st) is deeply passionate and hard-working, he became the informal leader of Prodigy.

How did you feel after the hyped win over Team Liquid (RES Showdown 2)?
Only positive emotions. Most importantly, the guys were relaxed. Previously they kept thinking “this is the last game, HLTV, playoffs, VRS points” — again and again. This time they understood Liquid is tier-1, some things might not work, and without that internal pressure they played their best CS.

How does the promotion process from academy to the main roster work (e.g., tO0RO, b1st)?
Ideally, I inform the main team: here’s a player we (staff) believe in — please take a look, watch demos, play prac. Sometimes the main team asks if we have someone for a specific role; I give feedback and they decide. Initiative comes both ways, but now more often I come and say there’s interest in a player; I ask whether he’s considered for our main in the near future. Based on that, I decide whether he stays or moves to another org.

In 2025 there was negativity toward VP Academy: many players/rosters but no one promoted. You and Nikolay sometimes reacted harshly on social. Looking back, should you have ignored some of it?
I wouldn’t say it was “too harsh.” Earlier, yes, our players didn’t reach tier-1 teams often, though some did move to solid clubs and played at their level. There was a problem, and partly because of it we rebuilt the academy approach — hence the positive trend with two promotions. It helped us. Now some clubs start copying us — opening multiple youth teams and signing them on our terms.

We reacted sharply only when it became outright lies, like buyouts of 300–400k — which never existed. If there’s interest, we always try to help a player move for adequate sums. For example, when four of our players were bought at once — if we demanded the figures OverDrive named, they’d still be under our contracts. Maybe other academies have those numbers, but for us it makes no sense to hold players back. It’s a plus for us that we’ve raised a player who now performs elsewhere. As for hate, inside we treat it like: “dogs bark — the caravan moves on.” Let them rant. We do our job, and the results speak for themselves.

On player growth and the “getting younger” trend
You once noted that becoming a pro in esports isn’t much easier than in traditional sports. Many young players stay tier-2 or below. Why?
It’s a complex problem of a small market and weak scouting. A noticed player can “grow a crown” — emotional and psychological issues. He becomes the best in a closed group, which hurts his sporting growth; it’s hard to influence him because there are few alternatives. If the market were larger, clubs would have more options to bring him back down to earth. Not every club can afford multiple youth teams to rotate such a player without hurting others. So you keep a talented but problematic guy, and the development of the other four suffers.

What’s the academy’s philosophy? Develop for VP main or a universal base?
We take the broad approach. You can’t tailor everyone to the main roster — ideally those five don’t change every 6–12 months. For 30 academy players, “one comb” is wrong. We develop them so they can fit any structure and tactics. Young esports athletes learn fast; it’s not hard to teach CS understanding. How they use it depends on them and their skill. Thanks to that, tO0RO and b1st smoothly integrated into the main, and could’ve done so in any team with a different structure — they know what to do and what tools coaches need.

For a long time Prodigy lacked results because of this approach — we focused on educating players first. Once they absorbed it, results came: beat Liquid, won a tournament in Kazakhstan (MySkill Pro League). They learned to channel their skills correctly — hence victories.

There’s a trend at tier-1/2: because of strong academies and FACEIT grinders, big clubs replace slumping veterans with young grinders. Even Spirit couldn’t resist. Your perspective?
It was expected. Many good academies and talented youngsters who started in CS2 (not CS:GO) — they’re better adapted, didn’t need to re-learn mechanics. Hence the surge of talented youth. Other sports have the same: veterans play long, then in 1–2 years a wave of new players arrives — “time for the young.” That’s happening in CS; teams are getting younger fast.

Will this “replace with young talent” trend keep growing?
It won’t endlessly grow. There’ll be a peak: many young players will cement themselves in tier-1 for the next 5–7 years until the next youth boom. You don’t get the same number of geniuses every year. In CS it’ll be the same: now there’s a boom, but in a couple of years it’ll be hard to find someone more talented than this cohort. Otherwise in five years the skill ceiling would be so high you’d need to redesign the game.

Coaching staff, plans, and media
What’s the planning horizon? Do you sign players for 3–5–10 years?
The younger the player, the longer you want to sign — you don’t want a situation where you invest for years and the contract ends at a key moment. We try to sign as long as possible. That doesn’t mean bondage — life happens and VP is ready to meet halfway under adequate circumstances.

Do you have KPIs? Number of profitable sales or promotions to the main?
No. If you set KPIs like that, all work revolves around them, not development. You’d replace someone just to hit a metric. You could set KPIs around achievements, but not the format you described. I’m for trust with players; you won’t have it if you chase KPIs. Then players won’t trust you, word spreads, and no one wants to join.

Who forms the coaching staff — ex-pros or people from sports like you?
Only CS people — otherwise how will a coach explain the game? Usually former players who were IGLs — they have the best comms, understand rounds and team play. We take those who realize they’re working with CS and with kids. Kids in CS can be more complex than adults: they have child-specific issues on top. We try to hire captains who had young rosters and understood how to work with them.

We also have a former women’s team coach — besides CS and kids’ issues, there were women’s team specifics, which made it more complex. I’m glad we have such a specialist with multifaceted experience. We put a big emphasis on a coach’s communication skills. Sometimes a candidate knows CS perfectly but can’t work with kids — we part ways; our children’s psychological health is the priority.

There was news that Gospadarov joined your academy staff. How did that happen?
As we expanded Future, we needed stronger coach involvement — so we had to hire another specialist. We surveyed the market and found Gospadarov was a free agent. He had academy experience as a player, which fit us. After interviews and a trial, we offered a long-term collaboration.

Do you prepare young players for future media attention, including negative?
Before moving to the main roster we brief them on fan communication and what to ignore on social. We also work on this in the academy — we sometimes send screenshots of negative comments, explain how to treat them, and go through scenarios. We track behavior overall — if someone acts out on FACEIT or social, we do educational work about conduct. Usually after ~6 months they understand where to stay silent, not react, or block a hater — and how to interact with media.

Have there been guys you had big plans for and asked them to keep a lower profile?
Yes, of course. Some don’t see the boundaries. We try to explain how to communicate — what’s OK and what’s not — rather than just banning. Pure bans make little sense — sooner or later something will burst out.

In a recent story Spirit’s coach said Falcons tried to poach kyousuke despite a verbal agreement to join the main roster. Anything similar in your experience?
We’ve had players whose dream was to end up in another team even though our terms suited them. There’s little we can do — we arrange a mutually beneficial transfer. Sometimes a player wants to go where his friends are. That’s a big issue in esports: players often prefer friends over a team that offers more, moving to a lower level without salary and with less prestigious tournaments.

About Alexander “AquaRS” Kovalev: is he ready to IGL the main team, and how likely is that outcome?
It depends on Alexander and the current main roster. I believe in him; he can have a great career — if not at VP, then elsewhere (there’s outside interest). But it’s possible he’ll grow into our main. There’s also the recent VRS story — replacements must be gradual. His promotion depends on many factors: his form, whether we can move him up per Valve rules, and positional fit. Time will tell, but I’m confident he’ll be fine.

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The editorial team of the “Chess +” project had long wanted to talk with our subscriber and one of Russia’s strongest players, Andrey Esipenko. The tough realities and tight schedule of modern chess don’t always leave a free “window,” but on Sunday evening, on the eve of one of the most important tournaments on the calendar, Andrey kindly agreed to answer our questions. There were many of them, but credit to our guest—he jumped straight into the conversation and didn’t dodge any answers.

Since May 2025 you’ve been representing Virtus.pro. You’ve admitted you love video games—what do you play most often?
I’ve been playing FIFA for a long time (EA FC since 2024—ed. “Chess +”) because I love football in general. I’ve been playing since I was about 15, usually with friends. I played Counter-Strike even before the game became so popular. It was on my dad’s computer, and if I behaved well, I was allowed to play.

The very “precious” hour at the computer?
Yes, something like that. Then my dad noticed I was getting too hooked and started rewarding me differently. After that I stopped playing CS. At some point I decided to relieve tension during a tournament. At the event in Qatar, which I won, I often played in the evenings—to reduce stress. Maybe it helped. I can’t say I play often, but sometimes I’m in the mood.

What did you feel when you received the offer from Virtus.pro?
I was very far from the world of esports. I didn’t follow it at all—I only started recently. I didn’t realize the scale of the team, and only after the offer, when I began to look into everything, did I understand how big the organization is and what a history it has. I was very happy to join Virtus.pro.

Chess has changed a lot with the rise of esports, especially after the EWC. How did your life change after signing, and what does the team provide?
Overall, my life hasn’t changed. The EWC ended, then there were many tournaments. We launched content with the team and are releasing it gradually. We’ll be able to talk about changes over the long run.

What is the term of the contract?
Initially we signed a contract for the tournament (EWC—ed. “Chess +”). Then we extended it; both sides were interested.

Did you manage to talk with any teammates at the EWC?
I had a manager with me who helped with all the logistics and organization: media, interviews, travel. Without him it would’ve been hard. I talked more with other chess players—Vlad Artemiev, Javokhir Sindarov, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and others.

You got into the EWC at the last moment after Vladimir Fedoseev didn’t come. What did you feel?
I was very upset when I lost the final qualifying match—to Levon Aronian (2–3). In the Armageddon I had a winning position but lost in time trouble. I was already getting ready to go home when Artur Arushanyan called and said there was a chance someone wouldn’t show up. I waited—and eventually made it into the tournament. I was happy, but a little bitter that it wasn’t the way I’d planned.

Did the fact that you were 13th with 12 CCT spots play the decisive role?
Yes, that upset me. I had good chances to qualify for the EWC right away, but luck wasn’t on my side. In the second event, the matches Wei Yi–Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave–Erigaisi were decisive. I needed at least one of them to win, but both lost. So I missed out literally by a single result.

The EWC qualification system has changed now. How do you rate your chances?
I’m in the Top 10 of Titled Tuesday, but I haven’t fully figured out how the qualification works. Sometimes the system seems strange, but there are always chances. If I make the top five once, I’ll move up.

What do you think of the idea for the new FIDE World Championship?
I like it. Extra tournaments with faster time controls are great. It’s not yet entirely clear how everything will be organized, but the news made me happy.

What do you think about the FIDE rating reform?
My rating didn’t change, but it’s now harder to gain points against 2300-rated players. Sometimes those games are the toughest. Now the gain is almost zero, and I think that’s not entirely logical.

Recently the chess world was shocked by the news of Daniel Naroditsky’s death…
I still haven’t recovered. It’s very hard. I spoke with him in New York—he was a wonderful person. It’s hard to believe he’s gone.

How do you feel about the wave of cheating accusations?
I think it’s obvious to everyone why this happened. It wasn’t only Kramnik who suspected Danya—many did. And now everyone understands how serious such accusations can be without evidence.

You recently got married. How has that affected your life and chess?
Not at all—the routine stayed the same. People say your rating drops after a wedding, but mine isn’t 2700 anyway—how much lower could it get! (laughs)

Your wife is Savva Vetokhin’s sister. What’s your relationship like?
Excellent. We help each other whenever we can. Savva is very talented; I think we’ll see big successes from him.

The World Cup in Goa is starting soon. How do you assess your chances?
The bracket is fine. Up to Keymer—everything is within my power. And I have a good head-to-head against him: three wins in classical. If I show my best game, I have a chance to go far.

Who do you consider the current favorites in world chess?
For me the top three are Carlsen, Nakamura, and Firouzja. The rest are a bit below. But I believe I can play them on equal terms and make the top myself.

What are you dreaming about right now?
To break into the world top 10, become more disciplined in routine and preparation, and just keep progressing steadily—without rushed goals.

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Tal, hello! It's great to see you back at the FISSURE tournament! You haven't played on LAN for quite a while — how do you feel about coming back? Are you fully ready for the tournament?

Yeah, I'm very happy to be playing on LAN again and I think this is the first one that I'm playing with this new team, which is always kind of like an exciting thing, because we only played together like on bootcamp, and now there's more pressure on the tournament, so you kind of see how everybody does and personally I find it a lot of fun — for me playing on LANs is the most fun by far so I'm very excited to be here.

I would like to start this interview with a topical issue — your new team. Can you share some details about how you ended up at Virtus.pro?

Yeah, so the main thing was I wanted to play with BuLba again after my last team, which was AVULUS. And I think with BuLba together, we kind of wanted to find players who want to work with us. Obviously, we played with Abed in the past, BuLba has been on a team with Timado recently. So then we went around, we kind of started looking to talk and see what organizations might be interested. We got in contact with Virtus.pro and they suggested also Daxak and Antares, who were already on the roster, to kind of try and see how that meshes together. And we liked the players, we thought they were good. So slowly everything kind of fit the pieces together. And I think Virtus.pro is one of the most recognized organizations in esports, like across everything, not just Dota. So it's kind of an honor to be playing for such a renowned organization.

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first Eastern European club in your career. Did you expect that you would play for one someday? Or had you never thought about playing in our region before?

Honestly, I didn't ever expect to play for Virtus.pro. I think I've always been on the other side where we're competing against each other in tournaments — whether it was an OG or EG or whatever. It was always playing against Virtus.pro. So it's kind of a funny turn of events, but it really shows you where Dota is, where, you know, CIS is kind of the region to be. So yeah, it was unexpected.

You've worked with BuLba for quite a long time before — are you happy to be reunited with him? Do you already have a well-established process for interacting and preparing for games?

Yeah, I think BuLba and I, since we've worked together before for a very long time, I think we have a pretty good system. I think also we haven't played with each other for two years now, we've both learned a lot on our own, like from our old teams and things like that, so it’s kind of bringing ideas back together and still refining the process we had. Obviously, we change as people, so the systems we use, everything keeps improving, adapting. But I think we get along very well, we're good friends. We have a good baseline, he has a good idea, I have a good way of implementing it and helping the team as well. So, I think overall we work together well.

During your career, you have played for many large and renowned clubs, and now you are with Virtus.pro, another legendary team. Are there any differences between the new organization and the previous ones? Perhaps in terms of approach to work, scale, or logistics?

So because it is pretty early, I would say, I didn't have enough experience yet with VP to really say for sure. What I can say is that there's definitely more staff involved to try and help us in any way we want. So we're going to have more than just BuLba here in the tournament — we're going to have some other people from the VP staff who are going to be here to assist us in whatever it is, whether it's mental capacities or otherwise. So we have more people on hand — that's already a big difference compared to some of the older teams where it's basically just, you know, the five players and the coach and the manager and that's it. But here we're already going to have extra people. So I think I'm only starting to learn how big VP is and how much they can help us.

How are things going at VP with support staff? Do you currently have a psychologist, nutritionist, fitness trainer, and other trendy professionals?

Currently, I'm not using any of these extra trained professionals. I don't know if the VP has them or not, that's a great question. I will probably have to find out for myself. So we do have kind of an assistant coach here. We have the head of Dota eSports, who's here with us, who also helps in more of a mental capacity. Not like that's his profession, but he's there to help if any player is feeling down or anything. So that's the staff we currently have here.

Am I right in understanding that you are now the captain of the team? How do you divide responsibilities within the team? Who has the final say, who makes the decisions?

There are currently two Russian-speaking players on the team, but you speak English. Is this a problem? Does everyone have a sufficient level of language proficiency, and is it easy to understand each other?

Before coming here, you had already played several tournaments and qualifiers — how would you assess the team's current form? Have you had time to get used to each other and develop any strategies?

Where is your boot camp? Currently, the team includes players from different countries. Where are you usually based?

We're usually based in Serbia. So, we're already here. For the bootcamp and the qualifiers we're here, and then before coming here to FISSURE, we were also already in Serbia for like two days basically before coming here.

You are obviously the most famous athlete in the Dota community. But now you have Daxak on your team, who is known as an athlete in the CIS region. Do you go to the gym together and train?

So we have been going to the gym, but we don't work out together. Usually Daxak goes with BuLba, I kind of do my own thing. Sometimes I go with Timado, for example, to help him, but clearly this guy is very strong, so, you know, now we have two strong guys on the team, and most of us actually go to the gym too, so it's nice.

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– Hi! This is probably one of your first big interviews after joining Virtus.pro. Tell us, how did your adaptation go and how were you welcomed by the team?

– The team welcomed me really well. I’m still adapting to the game — there’s a lot of new information I need to absorb.

– How nervous were you during your first official matches for VP? Watching the games, it looked like you felt pretty confident.

– I was nervous during the first two matches, but after that it slowly went away. I just tried to play my own game and not overthink.

tO0RO playing for VP at FISSURE Playground 2
tO0RO playing for VP at FISSURE Playground 2

– With VP.Prodigy you sensationally defeated Team Liquid 2:1. Was that the moment you realized tier-1 teams are already within reach — that you can beat them now?

– My first emotions were mixed: there was joy, but also the understanding that this is a huge responsibility. My family and friends were shocked and happy for me. We always knew that our reviews and practice sessions weren’t for nothing. We knew we could beat any team if all of us played at 100%.

– Your story is a classic one for a young CIS CS player: your older brother introduced you to Counter-Strike, right? How did that happen, and when did you realize you actually had a real chance to become a pro?

– Yes, my older brother introduced me to the game. I was around 6 or 7 years old. He used to play different games on the computer, and I watched him a lot. Out of everything he played, Counter-Strike was what hooked me.
I started playing when he went outside or when the computer was free. With time I got better and started improving quickly. At 13 I reached level 10, and at 14 — around 3k ELO. When I received the invitation to VP Future, that’s when I understood I could combine my passion with making a living.

– For a VP player, your CS inventory is pretty modest. Do you have a favorite skin or a skin you dream of owning?

– Karambit | Ruby and the Sport Gloves | Hedge Maze.

A Factory New Karambit | Ruby costs over 1 million rubles. Sport Gloves | Hedge Maze in Well-Worn condition are valued at around 1.5 million rubles.

– What goals and responsibilities do you have within VP?

– My task is to perform my roles on the map clearly and communicate properly with the team.

– You’re a young player, and right now we see a big trend in world CS: CIS talents are highly valued. Do you consider yourself talented, or did you achieve everything through hard work — or maybe it’s a mix of both?

– To me, talent is the speed of development in the game. Maybe I did have some talent and developed faster than others, but at the same time I played a lot and trained a lot.

– Do you have any pre-match ritual? What does your game-day routine look like?

– My usual game day goes like this: I wake up, take a shower, have breakfast, and then warm up on DM or against bots while listening to music.

– Who do you think will be recognized as the best player of the year? And who might be the breakthrough player?

– donk will be the best player. The breakthrough player will be either Molodoy or Kyousuke.

– What hobbies do you have besides Counter-Strike?

– In my free time, I usually watch movies or YouTube.

tO0RO’s Top-5 Rappers
tO0RO’s Top-5 Rappers

– You follow a lot of rap artists. Can you name your top five at the moment?

– MAYOT, OG Buda, FRIENDLY THUG 52 NGG, Juice WRLD, Heronwater.

– Where do you see yourself in five years? Are there milestones you want to reach to confidently say: yes, I achieved what I wanted in this game?

– In five years I see myself as an experienced player who has won as many tournaments as possible — including a Major.

I think we'll try to go to as many as possible. Obviously, it’s the ones we can qualify for, because it depends on where we qualify. I mean, we have some visa issues here and there, but we will go to as many tournaments as we can allow. Because there are so many of them, and it’s not like before when there was only one pretty big tournament. Most other esports games won’t have as many as this, right? I feel like sometimes Dota players don’t understand how good they have it. But it’s also pretty top-heavy, you need to do well to reap the rewards, right? But there are a lot of opportunities. Look at XG last year, they struggled in several tournaments, but then in one they did well. You have a lot of chances.

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