5up Leaves B8 – Interview With a German Pos4 Player

Right in the middle of 2020, the German-speaking support player Enis “5up” Elfki made himself known on the international stage. He joined “B8”, a team spearheaded by former The International winner Danil “Dendi” Ishutin. However, this journey has now come to an end. In this interview, 5up opens up about this time there, why it had to end and what he plans to do in the future.

 

Fragster: Hello 5up, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Let’s start at the beginning of this story. How did it all begin with “B8”?

5up: So it started off with Remco “Crystallis” Arets and me. We wanted to try out playing competitively. So we played alongside a few other Dota 2 players and back then, we made it to the ESL One Birmingham Closed Qualifier. There, we decided to play with Dzmitry “Fishman” Palishchuk. Through him, we connected with Dendi and eventually the three of us joined Dendi’s B8.

Before that, we only really knew you from the German scene. Under B8, you have made the jump onto international soil. What has changed for you?

For me personally… not that much. I’ve stayed the same!

What about the quality of play? Is there a difference between the DACH (German, Austrian, Swiss) scene, pubs, and the international scene?

Most definitely! The international space is very different. The playing is much cleaner and the mentality is totally different. Even just the overall attitude of the players is much more pleasant. You notice that these people take this seriously and perceive it as an actual career. They play Dota with their hearts.

What was you explicit role at B8 in and out of the game?

I was mostly responsible for calling smokes or rotations, for instance teleporting middle, refilling bottle, ganking. Aside from that I was more of a calm player. I’ve often talked nonsense because I didn’t know what else to say. I’ve basically played my own game and listened to my captain. But aside from that I was relatively calm.

How do you value your experiences with B8 for your overall Dota 2 development?

I value them a lot! I have learned so much from my coach, Daniil “MeTTpuM” Gilev, and Dendi. My confidence has grown, I now know much better how to move on the map. I have understood how to play competitive Dota, what do to and what attitude to show. Even generally, I’ve learned how to behave and speak as a public person. In conclusion, I have delved deep into the topic of playstyle in Dota 2. You learn a lot, even by losing.

On the topic of losing, how do you view your past performances with the team? Looking at the results, there’s been quite a lot of losing there.

Definitely. But seeing that we lost almost every encounter, I have to say that in my view I have improved massively and have gained more experience that I would have expected. I think that, had we stuck with the old lineup, we could have achieved more.

We’ve already touched on the old lineup. On January 2nd, B8 announced a “new” lineup featuring you, Dendi, and three Brazilians: Leonardo “RdO” Fernandes, Diego “Sexyfat” Barini Santamaria, and Heitor “Duster” Pereira. How did this come to happen?

This was all rushed. We wanted to try out several lineups, but the Dota Pro Circuit Season was coming at us quickly. So this was more of an emergency solution. We had those three Brazilians occupy positions 1,3, and 5, Dendi and I filled positions 2 and 4. So on paper, this was a good fit.

Less than two weeks later, it was announced that you would be leaving the team. What exactly happened there?

Nothing special, to be honest. There wasn’t any incident of sorts. This came out of the blue. I was told that I had two days of free time. Then I was asked to come onto Discord and B8 told me that they were going to trial another Position 4 player. That’s when I decided that I wasn’t interested in playing for them anymore.

How was your relationship to Dendi within the team? Prior to B8, you two didn’t know each other, right?

My relationship with Dendi has always been great and it continues to be. We still talk a lot about Dota and and general stuff. Nothing bad has happened. We’ve always been on good terms.

There were rumors on Reddit stating that you left B8 because of an impending operation. Do you want to tell us anything about your current health status?

I suffer from a pilonidal abscess. I don’t feel any pain, but you have to imagine that there’s a kind of hole at my tailbone. The doctors say that this needs to be cut open and the wound has to heal from the inside. But none of this is in connection to my departure from B8.

Of course we wish you a speedy recovery. So what’s next for you? What’s your plan?

For now, I don’t really have a plan, as I am barred from the DPC right now. To clarify, I can theoretically only play as a stand-in and not join any team. At the moment, my focus is on streaming and coaching. For the next season, I either want to find a team or build a new one.

So when exactly do you stream? What can our readers expect from you?

I stream on a daily basis, usually starting at around 16:00 CET. The ending time usually depends on my mood. You can expect to see a variety of stuff. Sometimes high level Dota, sometimes a bit of trolling too, but it’s all there! You can find me as “5updota” on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch.

5up, thank’s for the interview and fingers crossed for your future!

 

Find the 5updota live stream here: https://www.twitch.tv/5updota