JerAx on ana: "He hardly practiced at all. Sometimes he just decided to goof off instead."

Former esports athlete Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka reflected on the professional Dota 2 career of Anathan "ana" Pham, with whom he played for several years on OG. In an interview with Duncan "Thorin" Shields, he discussed ana's unconventional approach to work.

"To work with ana, you need to understand him as a person. No two people are alike; everyone allocates time for training differently. Ana, for example, hardly practices at all. You just can't make him. You're left with no choice but to accept him as he is. This means that sometimes he just decides to goof off during practice. Of course, he's not doing it on purpose or because he's bored; it's just that nothing is at stake. For some people, it's very difficult to maintain motivation. You train to test your skills later, but in reality, you want to start testing them as soon as possible. You need stronger impressions, not just endless practice while the team figures out what works and what doesn't.

I don't think it bothered him much, even though he knew it was important for the team. He was more concerned about his own sense of the game, about what he wanted to do in matches. Sometimes this led to us playing unranked games and just goofing off. We did things that seemed unbearable or inappropriate for a professional gamer.

But, in the end, I think he understands himself better than anyone else. When you constantly push someone and they resist, something's not right. People know what's best for them. I think our team was good because we gave him the space and energy he needed to be himself, and we also helped him on match days." - Jesse "JerAx" Vainikka

Ana competed on the professional scene from 2016 to 2022, often taking breaks from activity. For most of his career, he represented OG as a carry player. JerAx, on the other hand, was with the club from 2016 to 2020. Together with Pham and Vainikka, they became two-time champions of The International, winning two consecutive tournaments in 2018-2019.