What do we know about illias? I almost made it to the closed qualifiers at TI7, rented an apartment with gpK ~ and became invisible in Singapore

How he came to Dota 2 and took his first steps in esports

According to 18-year-old illias, he got acquainted with Dota 2 back in 2013, but a weak computer did not allow him to play normally. Ganeev was able to really join Dota only two years later, when he got a more powerful laptop. Already in 2016, illias began to dramatically improve in the game and noticeably raised the MMR.

Ganeev’s hobby for “Dota” affected his performance at school. In an interview Yana b2ru Khimchenko illias admitted that there were many triplets in his certificate. After the ninth grade, Ganeev left school and went to college with a degree in Programming, but after a few months he was expelled for non-attendance. During this period, illias was already seriously involved in Dota and tried himself in qualifiers for various tournaments.

The esports community could get to know illias better back in 2017, when the player was in the stack LLIMeJlb participated in the open qualification for The International 2017 (under the nickname 1ls). Ganeev’s team stopped two steps from entering the closed qualifiers – the team lost in the semifinals M19, which eventually became the winner of the first open qualifier. As part of LLIMeJlb, together with illias then played Maxim Shachlo Abramovskikh, Vladimir yol Basov and the future teammate of Ganeev on NAVI Vladislav Crystallize Kristanek…

After that, illias advocated for the organization Comanche, however, the team did not achieve great success. Further in Ganeev’s career there were a lot of stacks, including slozhniy memas and sQreen’s Squad… In them, he also crossed paths with more famous and eminent esportsmen more than once. And if for a wide audience illias was practically a no-name before moving to NAVI, then players with a high rating already knew it perfectly. This is what helped him get an invitation to the Ukrainian club.

Illias in NAVI

Ganeev invited to NAVI Andrey Mag Chipenko, inviting the young esportsman to spend one test day in the team. The members of the line-up liked the performance of illias so much that they spent the second test day together, the third … and then Ganeev was offered a full-fledged contract.

Mag recalled in an interview with Maincast that Ganeev immediately impressed the team, especially Crystallize. Kerry NAVI was pleased with the way the illias acted on the line. Chipenko also stressed that Ganeev had a good understanding of the game, warding and moving around the map. His only drawback was the tightness and stiffness in the teamspeak – illias gave information to the team, but otherwise practically did not speak. However, as Mag later noted, the young esports player soon managed to loosen up and begin to communicate more confidently with teammates.

Illias joined NAVI ahead of the second Major of the 2019/2020 season – DreamLeague Leipzig Major. Despite the fact that the Ukrainian club took the 9th-12th place in the tournament, Andriy Chipenko noted the progress of Ganeev. The coach stressed that illias coped well with his nerves at his first major championship, was always calm and positive, and his level of play was the same as in online matches.

After leaving Bakyt Zayac Emilzhanova a crisis began in the NAVI team, which she could not get out of, therefore illias did not fully reveal himself. As a result, Ganeev finished his way to NAVI with a win rate of 47.55%.

Apartment with gpK ~ and invisible for Asian fans

For those who are closely familiar with the Dota 2 esports scene, illias transition to VP.P after the transfer Danila gpK ~ Skutina hardly a surprise. Both cybersportsmen communicate closely and even rented an apartment together in St. Petersburg in the summer of 2023. GpK ~ said in an interview with WePlay !, that he met Ganeev in PUBG, after which they began to communicate online. After Dota 2 changed matchmaking and esports players had the opportunity to raise their MMR in a group, they started playing together. As Skutin said: “After that, our friendly ties with this fifth position father strengthened.”

GpK ~ also spoke extremely positively about Ganeev’s human qualities:

Besides gpK ~, illias played quite often together with another new wave doter – Egor epileptick1d Grigorenko… For a while, Ganeev, who has always been Grigorenko’s support, even had the nickname Epileptick g1rl.

However, unlike his more famous comrades, illias, even after switching to NAVI, was far from any media activity. Because of this, he even got into a funny situation at the tournament. ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore… English-language content maker Malystryx invited Ganeev to arrange an experiment: the host put on a NAVI uniform and came to the team’s autograph session, posing as illias. Most of the Asian fans of the Ukrainian club did not notice the deception, and when Malystryx asked “Who am I?” many answered “illias”, although Ganeev himself was sitting just a couple of meters away under the guise of a roster coach.