Team Spirit's captain, Yaroslav "Miposhka" Naidenov, gave an interview following his team's elimination from The International 2024 after their loss to Xtreme Gaming. In the interview, broadcast on the tournament's English stream, he reflected on what went wrong for Spirit at TI13 and shared his thoughts on the tournament's meta.
When asked about what went wrong for his team, Naidenov admitted he wasn't entirely sure, but he believed they made some drafting errors in certain games. He mentioned that, for instance, in the match against nouns, they focused on heroes that weren’t suitable, which left the team disappointed. This loss led them to the lower bracket, and he acknowledged that many strong teams were competing, including Xtreme Gaming, who outperformed them in the series.
Regarding whether the patch or meta didn’t suit Spirit’s playstyle, Naidenov didn’t agree. He said that during Riyadh Masters 2024, the meta was challenging for them to adapt to, but at TI13, they had many strong ideas and played all the meta heroes. Their downfall came from making a few mistakes in the drafting phase and not finding the right strategies, but he felt the meta at this TI was suitable for their potential success.
When asked about their track record of alternating between winning and being eliminated at TIs, Naidenov laughed and optimistically suggested they plan to win next year. He also expressed gratitude to their fans, thanking everyone who supported them throughout the season despite the poor results. Naidenov emphasised that each team member truly felt the fans' support and appreciated it.
The match between Team Spirit and Xtreme Gaming ended with a 1-2 scoreline. Naidenov's team won the first map but lost the next two, finishing in 9th-12th place at TI13, which means the TI12 champions will not play in front of a live audience.
The International 2024 takes place from 4 to 15 September in Copenhagen, Denmark. The teams are competing for a $2.49 million prize pool, which continues to grow through sales of the compendium and its levels.