TI10 champion Mira: "It would be so much better to split The International prize pool across the season" Interview
2022-10-31 11:51:00Team Spirit support Miroslav "Mira" Kolpakov spoke about prize pool distribution in Dota 2. The millions-winning player agrees with the take that TI money could be more evenly distributed across the year. In an interview with Ukrainian caster Olsior, he also shared his view on playing with Russian teammates.
Wouldn't it be better to split The International prize pool across the season?
I fully support that suggestion. It would be so much better. Every team would have more motivation to compete throughout the year. It's much more interesting to play big tournaments every 2-3 months with everyone being motivated and not fighting for a piece of bread.
Korb3n was telling us how during his time with Empire he went to Majors that had $1 mln or $3 mln prize pools. That was great, like some kind of mini-TIs. Everybody visited them and it was a prestigious thing to win. You were considered a strong team even when you didn't win a TI. During the Major in Kyiv, there was an unpleasant feeling from seasoned events. They are looking weak and need to be changed somehow.
CS:GO is much better in that sense. There are many fast, interesting, and big events. They draw a lot of attention. For me, it's a much better format. I'd share a big chunk of TI's prize money with all other tournaments.
On playing with Russian teammates
I'm playing in this club because I know who I am with. I know their position and who these people are. I don't see a point in judging people by their nationality. This is weird, like some fallback in culture and ideology. This is too cruel and unjust to sort people based on their origins. For me, this is absolutely wrong and doesn't align with my outlook.
If there's a Ukrainian that I don't share views with. Let's say, for example, has homicidal tendencies. And if there's a reasonable Russian, I will play with the latter.
Team Spirit won The International 2021 last year, earning about $18 million for the team. That was the biggest single-time prize any lineup ever won in esports. This year, Spirit fall short at TI11, dropping out of the event right after the Group Stage.
