Former member of the Eastern European team Team Spirit, Myroslav "Mira" Kolpakov, spoke about the tournament where he felt he was in his best form.
"When was I at my best? At the PGL Arlington Major 2022 or The International 2023. One of those two. At TI, everyone was in peak condition. I didn’t expect us to defeat Gaimin Gladiators so easily. I anticipated a tough match since they were taking everyone down in 20 minutes. We knocked everyone into the losers bracket, and GG beat them even faster."
Kolpakov also shared a story involving Danil "gpk" Skutin and Yegor "Nightfall" Grigorenko.
"I played for Cascade Esports, a tier-3 team, alongside Magomed 'Collapse.' At that time, there was VP.Prodigy with Nightfall, gpk, Save-, and other guys. They were considered rising stars back then. Every public game, I had to listen to them telling me how I was a tier-5 bot and how successful they were. They were the most successful, the best, and I felt I had no right to interact with such Dota gods or prove anything to them.
They often wrote nasty things back then, which was hurtful. But a year later, I was in Team Spirit, and six months after that, we won TI. Everything changed dramatically.
You know, I didn’t even feel the urge to get revenge when we played official matches. I don’t have that vengeful nature. It wasn’t like I wanted to ask them, 'Where are you now? What’s going on with you?' That desire wasn’t there.
But they have changed significantly over time, especially Yegor [Nightfall]. He became focused only on the game in pubs. He could still be critical, but it was only about gameplay moments. He completely transformed in that regard. And, honestly, so did Danil [gpk]. I didn’t feel the need to get back at them in official matches, to type out insults or ask questions at the end."