Sayang Interviews Astini About Team Nemesis

Sayang is a rising star in the Dota 2 community, and after interviewing Quinn "Quinn" Callahan, she sat down with Filipe "Astini" Ribeiro to discuss his thoughts, impressions, and hopes for Dota 2 and Team Nemesis.

Let's take a look at the main topics of their conversation and adjust our expectations for one of the teams that will surely be fighting for a slot in upcoming premier tournaments such as the Esports World Cup and The International.

Talking a Bit About Team Nemesis

Astini started by talking about the players and sharing his first impressions of them. He said that mentally they are doing fine, but mechanically their performance has not yet reached the level he wants to see.

He chose his players based on PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) and strong work ethics. He tries to focus on what they are doing right instead of only pointing out mistakes. He also encourages players to leave the "autopilot" mentality behind and actively think while they play so they can correct their bad habits.

Sayang: Since the team has players from all over the world, did you expect things to be shaky at the beginning?

Astini said that, in online tournaments, he believes they performed reasonably well from the start. The main issue was not that the players came from different regions.

Yamsun had been away from competitive play for a while, 4nalog was playing on a stack and had also spent time away from the professional scene, and Rubikon had never been a professional player before this project. Even so, he believes the team is already doing several things right despite having very little time together.

He also pointed out that he had a similar experience at The International in Seattle (2023), where he coached nouns to a Top 8 finish. That previous experience helps because he understands what to expect and how the learning curve works in these situations.

Back then, Yamsun played carry for most of the season before transitioning to support shortly before TI. According to Astini, Team Nemesis is improving faster than expected, which is a positive sign.

What is the biggest struggle of the team at the moment?

Astini explained that whenever the team improves one aspect of its game, another weakness becomes apparent. He compared the situation to a Brazilian saying about having a "short blanket."

The idea is simple: if you pull the blanket up to cover your torso, your feet are exposed. If you cover your feet, your torso becomes exposed. In other words, there is always something vulnerable when you focus on improving another area.

How do you work with things so chaotic?

"You do it day by day. Try to understand that, even if you lose, even if everything doesn't seem to be working, if you have lessons learned at the end of the day it should be a good day of work."

Astini believes the most important thing is maintaining a positive atmosphere. He likes to laugh about mistakes at the end of the day and keep the environment uplifting rather than constantly dwelling on failures. He enjoys looking back and seeing how much a team has improved instead of becoming frustrated with its current shortcomings.

He also mentioned that despite spending eight hours a day working with the team, it is difficult for everyone to truly "turn off" Dota. Players often play ranked games before or immediately after official matches.

Meanwhile, Astini spends hours reviewing replays and taking notes, sometimes analyzing multiple games at once. He even finds himself grabbing his phone before bed whenever a new idea comes to mind.

What is the story of how this roster was built?

Astini was already talking with Team Nemesis about working with their previous roster and helping rebuild the project. The first player he targeted was 4nalog because they had previously worked together when Nemesis used him as a stand-in.

As discussions progressed, both Astini and 4nalog agreed that finding a support player they enjoyed working with would be important. Astini immediately thought of Lelis due to their successful time together on nouns.

At first, Lelis told Astini that he was focused on casting and was essentially done with professional Dota, even considering retirement. However, the very next day, Lelis reached out and said he regretted that decision and was interested in joining the project. 

After securing Lelis, someone suggested Yamsun. Astini liked the idea because he had enjoyed working with him in the past. The team also kept Jabz because the original plan was for Nemesis to compete in Southeast Asia while establishing Mongolia as its primary bootcamp location.

While Astini praised Mongolia as a country, further research revealed that his respiratory issues and the lack of infrastructure necessary for a high-level bootcamp would make the arrangement impractical.

Finally, Astini talked about Rubikon, whom he views as a carry player with a "high ceiling" potential-wise. He believes Rubikon's background as a pub player could allow him to become a breakout superstar, much like Topson when he first joined OG.

According to Astini, DM vouched for Rubikon's abilities in ranked matchmaking, and he hopes to help develop him into the next Satanic.

Can you summarize what qualities do you look for on each role?

Astini believes that the support duo and the midlaner must communicate exceptionally well. Mechanical skill is important, but communication needs to be perfectly synchronized for a team to function properly, especially among those three roles.

He also wanted his carry player to become a future superstar, while the other four players would provide stability through strong communication, professionalism, and consistency.

According to Astini, the ideal team only needs one true star player. As an example, he pointed to Team Falcons winning The International 2025. While skiter is a very good player, Astini argues that he is not the team's star. Instead, he is a sacrificial carry who enables ATF to shine as the team's centerpiece.

How comfortable are you with the current meta?

"A lot. I don't want to spoil much and give away strats because I'm catching up you know? Before I was ahead but now I think it's a lot about (creep) waves and I strongly believe I'm the guy in the world that understands the most about how to manipulate waves and how to have the proper approach to waves into the game."

Astini also praised Aui_2000's understanding of the concept:

"I think Aui does this really well too. Everything he did involved insane work with waves, and I think many other teams are still subpar at it. Some teams have no clue what they're doing."

Are you scared that the patch might come out before the qualifiers?

Not at all. Because I think about the concept of how you play the map. It does not depend on the heroes you pick, you just need to adapt the heroes that are good because of the balance changes.

He believes neutral camps largely dictate how teams manipulate waves, and wave management determines how teams play the map. If Hoodwink gets nerfed, teams can switch to Snapfire as a damage-dealing position four. If Snapfire gets nerfed, they can move to Skywrath Mage. The heroes may change, but the strategic concepts remain relevant.

What you're doing with Nemesis is different from what you did on PARI or is it pretty much the same?

Astini explained that every team is unique and requires a different approach. Even during his time coaching PARIVISION, the team's dynamics changed significantly depending on whether they were playing with Crystallis or Satanic.

Different players bring different strengths, weaknesses, and communication styles, making every project a unique challenge.

I remember that you collect snow globes. What was the last one you added to your collection?

Near the end of the interview, Sayang asked Astini about his hobby of collecting snow globes from places he has visited. Astini revealed that his two most recent additions were gifts from DM.

The second-most recent globe came from China and features a panda. The latest one initially left him unsure whether it came from Japan or South Korea. However, after reading the inscription "Gwanghwamun", he concluded that it was from South Korea.

Sayang added that Astini's hobby inspired her to start collecting magnets during her travels. Both agreed that these small souvenirs are a meaningful way to preserve memories from different places around the world.

Closing Thoughts

Team Nemesis did not have a particularly strong debut, but Astini appears confident that he can transform the roster into a genuine TI contender before this year's edition of The International.

Astini's coaching career has followed an impressive upward trajectory, progressing from a Top 8 finish to Top 6 and eventually Top 3 at The International 2025. The question now is whether he can continue that climb at The International 2026 or whether Team Nemesis will need more time to fully realize its potential.

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Featured Image Source: Twitter (@nmss_gg and @astinidota)