Dendi (gamer)

Dendi
Dendi with Na'Vi in 2014
Current team
Team	B8
Game	Dota 2
Personal information
Name	Danil Ishutin
Born	(1989-12-30) December 30, 1989 (age 31) Lviv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Ukrainian
Career information
Games	Defense of the Ancients Dota 2
Playing career	2006–present
Team history
2006–2008
2008-2009	Kingsurf.int
2009–2010	DTS Gaming
2010–2018	Natus Vincere
2019	Tigers
2020–present	B8
Career highlights and awards
The International champion (2011)

Danil Ishutin (Ukrainian: Данило Ішутін; born December 30, 1989), better known as Dendi, is a Ukrainian professional Dota 2 player. He is best known for his time with Natus Vincere (Na'Vi) for whom he played between 2010 and 2018. He left Na'Vi in 2018 and formed his own Dota 2 organization in 2020, known as B8.

He is one of the most popular esportsmen of our time.^[1] Gabe Newell, creator of Valve, named him World's Most Charismatic Player.^[2]

Early years[]

Was born in Lviv. As a child, at the insistence of his mother-musician, he played the piano, as well as acrobatics and dancing.^[3] As Danil told, the first computer in their house was his brother's, who did not allow him to play for a long time.^[4] Gaming world was opened to him by Quake and Doom. Dendi later began playing Warcraft III at local computer clubs. The total fascination with computer games was influenced by the death of Danil's father from cancer. According to the recollections of Danil Ishutin, games became an attempt to distract himself.^[3]

In 2011, Danil Ishutin graduated from the Ukrainian Academy of Printing.^[4]

Career[]

In 2006, Dendi started playing professionally with WG.^[5] He was a part of the Ukraine squad that finished third in MYM Prime Nations the same year. Only a few months later, WG made it to the grand final of one of the most prestigious tournaments that existed at the time, MYM Prime Defending.^[6] When Kingsurf.international merged with WG the next year, he became a full-time member of Ks.int.^[5] In late 2008, he joined DTS in its early stages, only to return to Ks.int in March 2009.^[7] Only three months later he returned to DTS,^[8] helping them secure a second-place victory at ESWC 2010. At the end of the year, Dendi achieved arguably the greatest success in his DotA career by finishing 3rd place in the most stacked tournament at the time, WDC 2010.^[9] Dendi joined Natus Vincere (Na'Vi) at the end of 2010 together with ArtStyle.^[10]

Dendi began his Dota 2 career with the Ukrainian team, Na'Vi, rapidly rising to fame after winning The International 2011.^[10] In the following years, Na'Vi continued to win many tournaments, including runner's up at The International 2012. TI2 became the main reason to bond Danil with "Pudge" (Dota 2 game character), later Valve and Dendi released in-game set for this hero with Danil's personal sign. At The International 2013, Na'Vi became the only team to participate in the grand finals of the prestigious tournament three years in a row. They fell short to winners Alliance (3-2 in bo5) in the grand finals. Dendi was one of three Dota 2 players featured in the 2014 documentary Free to Play, which covered his story leading up to and including his performance at The International 2011.

At The International 2017, Dendi played in two live one-on-one demonstration matches against an OpenAI machine-learned bot, losing both.^[11] In September 2018, he was taken off Na'Vi's active roster before being officially released from his contract a year later.^[12] In January 2020, Dendi announced the formation of his own organization, B8.^[13]

References[]

External links[]

• Dendi at IMDb