Next week, the Dueling Fates update for Dota 2 will bring a seasonal system to ranked matchmaking. Matchmaking rating (MMR) will be reset along with it, thus requiring all players to recalibrate their MMR.
The looming wipe did not stop pro player Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev from breaking through the 10,000 MMR barrier, though. The 18-year-old Russian player etched his name on the wall of the 10K club earlier today on the CIS-region server, joining Team Secret’s Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng, Evil Geniuses’ Artour “Arteezy” Babaev, and Digital Chaos’ Abed Yusop.
Considering his incredible skill, talent, and improvement as a player over the last year and a half, it’s quite surprising it took him this long to hit the five-digit mark. RAMZES666 had his first breakout performance at ESL One Manila in 2016, as a member of Team Empire.
He and the rest of the team reached top 4 at that event, and were part of one of the most memorable games of last year.
A few months after ESL One Manila, he was recruited by Virtus Pro, his current team of more than a year. As a member of VP, RAMZES666 has seen a vast improvement in his play as the team’s hard carry. His growth culminated in a first-place finish at The Summit 6 in November last year, followed by a second place result at the Kiev Major earlier this year.
He helped VP successfully defend their title at The Summit 7, one of the last tournaments before The International 7. Unfortunately, VP could not break past top 6 in Seattle—but made up for it with a win at ESL One Hamburg just last week.
With the MMR reset looming, RAMZES666 will likely be the last to reach 10K MMR—at least until the new system is implemented and the top players on the leaderboard recalibrate their ratings.
Vici Gaming’s Zhang “Paparazi” Chengjun is next in line at around 9,700 MMR. In order to reach the promised land of MMR, he will have to win 12 games without losing any in the process—with this being the best case scenario.
With the upcoming Chinese qualifier for Captains Draft 4.0 and VG’s matches in the Dota 2 Professional League leaving him with less time to climb the ladder, Paparazi will likely find it next to impossible to hit 10K MMR.
