4&4Q is a series where we sit down with pro players to ask them 4 questions on the current state of Dota 2, and 4 questions for fun! We were lucky enough to get to know the position 4 of one of the hottest new teams around, Vikin.GG's Adam "Aramis" Moroz.
Vikin.GG Aramis
DJWilma - Tell us more about yourself. You started playing professionally around 2018, when did you get into Dota 2 and what made you consider going pro?
Aramis - I started playing Dota in 2013.I was looking for cool games to play as a 13 year old boy, stumbled upon Dota 2 and the game was honestly unreal for me at the time, I always like to go into the depth of things and Dota just gave me an amazing platform to do that. I played casually for 3 years where I reached 6k by age 15 but I kind of got very stressed out from school and life so i decided to drop Dota to focus on that. I took a break for 2.5 years and towards the end of high school I wanted to do things that make me happy and Dota was just that, after calibrating at divine 0, I climbed relatively fast to immortal and then I started considering going pro.
- BOOM stated in an earlier interview on how he dropped out of high school to go pro. How all in are you on playing professional Dota? Is it an all or nothing approach? What does the family think about the choice on going pro?
- I think when the competition is so intense, if you don't go all in you won't make it. Right now my schedule is mostly Dota, eat, sleep which is kind of unhealthy to be honest, but at least for some periods I think you have to go through this if you want to reach the highest level. My family is very supportive of me, it took them a while to understand what I'm actually doing but once I started playing those big online tournaments and got signed by Vikin.gg and went abroad they were very happy for me.
Vikin.GG hanging out
- I don’t think there is any question that Vikin.GG is a top 8 EU team, but with how the competitive landscape is shaping up to be more region based, do you think this will hurt your team’s chances to shine on the international stage?
- EU is definitely a bloodbath right now, and its a bloodbath of titans too. I want to say we are going to do well in the leagues but it's kind of hard to say because right now it feels like every other week some team out of the top 8 is very dominant for a while, and its rotating and I guess if you are lucky and smart enough about it, you can be the dominant team during the crucial time.
- After not dropping a single game in the WePlay! Pushka League Division 2, the OGA Dota Pit EU/CIS Regional has been quite a different story. Was it due to the large skill gap between the two events? Do you feel more figured out? What would you attribute the recent results to?
- The skill gap is definitely bigger, but I think some issues within our selves are holding us back pretty hard right now. I'd say though, that burning out after playing 7 tournaments simultaneously is the main reason why we've had a rough time this tournament. After resting for a bit, we are slowly grinding our way back to playing to our highest level.
Dramatic reenactment of EU Titan Blood Bath
- Now onto some less serious question, if you could do anything in life other than Dota 2, what would it be?
- I'd probably go study Psychology; I'm reading psychology books and studies all the time and I find it very fun and interesting. I think part of it has to be with all the mental people in public matchmaking which made me fascinated.
- If you could assemble a team of your favorite players for the all-star match at TI, what would that team look like, and why?
- Miracle-, SumaiL, 33, GH, Fly. I was looking up to these players when I was just playing casually, especially 33 and Fly since they are Israeli as well.
Aramis's Dota 2 Dream Team
- Everyone loves a story line, and the best revolve around rivalries. What is the current biggest rivalry either you have, or your team has? If there is not much of one, but you could start one, who would it be with?
- I'd say Secret is the closest team we have to a rivalry because they are the strongest team in the world in my opinion, and they were the first to acknowledge us because they wanted to scrim with us a lot. Whenever we play Team Secret we try our best so when our coach wants us to be focused towards the game he says play them like you play vs secret, or think these guys are secret.
- Thanks for you time, any shoutouts, plugs, or some words to say to your newly created fans?
- Shoutout to our coach Immortalfaith, I'm having a bit of a hard time lately due to stress, and it is hurting my performance a lot, so faith is really helping me with taking things easy and not over complicate things. Also, thanks for everyone who are cheering for us and wants to see us win, I promise we will make it all up to you!
Vikin.GG rivalry brewing after ESL?