So theres really not much happening right now. MDL is over and the Shanghai major isn’t happening for a while. We’re in a lull of no major professional games happening. All the pros are practicing and streaming while us viewers just have to wring our hands and wait. In times like this I decided to focus on probably the best known Dota player out there because theres just nothing else right now.
Dendi. Dondo. Na’Ver Dender. Superman. Lepo. Anuxi. Dondo the SupaMida. But if you bumped into him at a bar you would call him Danil Ishutin.
How do I even begin to describe Dendi? At one point he was the best mid player in the game. Other players used to be scared of Dendi, especially of his Pudge. But he’s also incredibly good at every other mid hero with his favorites being SF, TA, and Puck. He’s a Ukranian player that was around since the original Dota 1. He won the very first TI and was in the finals of the next two with Na’Vi. This isn’t what a want to talk about with Danil though because if I was to talk about how great he is I would never stop and honestly Na’Vi isn’t that great anymore.
No I want to talk about the effect Danil has had on the game in general. Specifically for players like me who were new to the professional scene and wanted to get into it. For these people Dendi is the first pro you hear about, and the first one you come to adore. He’s funny, he’s incredibly good, and you just want to see what he does next. He was the first celebrity, the first player that everyone knew and could bond over because they were trying to emulate him.
Let me be more clear. It was like my fourth game of Dota and someone on the enemy team was playing the hero Pudge. He missed a hook near me and my friend says to me “I guess he’s not Dendi.” This made no sense to me. I didn’t know what a Dendi was. So I asked and the response I got was “Oh he’s a pro player who is insanely good at Pudge, watch a youtube video of him later.” So I did. And oh my I was amazed. Did he ever miss a hook? Did he ever lose mid?
If you have the time to watch then check out this video. I stumbled across it a long time ago and it actually perfectly describes what Dendi’s Pudge is still capable of. When he plays the butcher it’s probably the scariest thing ever.
This is a phase that every new player goes just as every little kid wants to be their favorite football player when they grow up. Except the difference is that ESports in general are so new that you don’t get a choice of what player you want to emulate at first. You only choose Dendi. He is that guy. He can win any game.
The best part about him I’d say is that he loves his fans. He isn’t an Arteezy who doesn’t care about them, or a Bulldog who uses them as an outlet to be weird. Dendi genuinely loves his fans and does so many things just for them. He’s done so many funny interviews, streams, and just general antics in his games that are actually just fan service. How can you forget when he dressed up as Pudge at TI4?! Or when he hooked Puppey at the TI3 all star match?!
This is a different kind of blog from my other two because Dendi is a different type of player. Everyone knows him and loves him, regardless of what region of the world they’re from or what teams they like. Dendi is Dendi.
Now I know I’ve been sucking up to him a lot but for you out there that hate it when the people I like do well, Danil hasn’t been doing well recently. Na’Vi is not playing as well as they could right now. And you know that he could join any team in need of a mid player but he refuses to leave the team that lifted him up from nothing. This was admirable a year ago but now it just seems silly. I think he needs to move to a fresh team, because every other player that has made Na’Vi great has left as well. But thats just my opinion I’m sure theres plenty of other reasons that he stays.
If you play Dota at all then most likely Dendi is a name that you’ve heard of. He taught us how to own mid. He taught us to be fun in games. But most importantly he taught us to fear the butcher. This is why Dendi is own of my favorite Dota 2 players.
-David Wintrode
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