bzm at ESL One Birmingham: “If you say negative stuff, it better be worth it and for good reason”

Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov is what every hotshot solo mid player aspires to be, both in terms of swagger and the skill to back it up. As one of the most successful mid laners in modern Dota 2, anyone who wants to do well from his position should strive to study and learn his game.

Our editor-in-chief Sophie McCarthy had a chance to catch up with bzm at ESL One Birmingham 2026, to talk about the new patch and which changes he was surprised about the most, as well as his growth as both a person and a professional Dota player.

How are you doing today?

bzm: I’m doing good. It’s good to be here.

Sophie: Have you had any time to enjoy Birmingham at all?

bzm: Yeah, we’ve had a little bit of time off. We’ve gotten to explore a little bit of the city where the previous tournament was. I liked what we saw, but I haven’t gotten around to see a lot of it.

Sophie: Has Ari shown you any British food yet? [laughs]

bzm: Thankfully not. [smiles]

Sophie: [laughing] I mean, yeah, it’s Birmingham, not Manchester.

bzm: I mean, there’s a lot of food that we tried the last time we were here, so we already know what’s good and what’s not, and now we just play it safe.

Sophie: So the very first thing I wanted to start off talking about is obviously, we have to talk about this patch. And I wanted to talk to you about Invoker specifically, because you’re the best Invoker player out there.

How does the removal of facets impact Invoker specifically?

bzm: I think it’s definitely worse than before. I’m not sure how much worse, so I’ll have to figure that one out.

Sophie: I did want to ask about Ember Spirit as well. Now that Chain Gang is gone, do you think that’s going to affect how viable he is in this patch?

bzm: Chain Gang is gone, yes, but I think the hero got some decent buffs that compensate for them removing the facet. So, it’s got potential. I don’t know how much, though. We’ll have to figure that one out in these early days.

Sophie: I mean, I think that’s where everyone’s at right now, aren’t they? You drop a patch in the middle of a tournament, everyone’s scrambling.

bzm: Yeah. You basically just try to decide what you think is best at the moment, and you try to figure it out as soon as you can. So, not much time, unfortunately, on our hands.

So what was the most surprising part of this patch for you specifically?

bzm: I wouldn’t say it’s surprising, but it’s just funny how they keep changing Roshan, like where he is during night and day. I guess the terrain changes are interesting.

Sophie: You mean where the Tormentor is now?

bzm: Yeah. There were a lot of stairs everywhere, so that’s different. It also takes a long time to get to the Twin Gate now. So besides that, there’s the Tormentor HP, where it’s probably a lot harder to kill now. So if you’re not disciplined [as a team], you’re just gonna die to it.

Sophie: Yeah, absolutely. Especially with where the Wisdom Shrine is now, right? Where you have to go down the stairs to get to the Tormentor?

bzm: Yeah, it’s pretty dangerous out there.

Sophie: Right. So you’ve been around in tier 1 Dota for I think a little over four years now.

What would you say is the biggest lesson you’ve learned over your career so far?

bzm: Probably to chill and just be relaxed. Sometimes you have to like, pretend, if you know what I mean. You have to chill and take a step back when it’s times like these, where it’s a big tournament or what’s supposed to be a big tournament, that’s not just another one of those online ones. So when it’s supposed to be all high pressure, all you gotta do is chill, relax, and it’s all good.

Sophie: Yeah. I think a lot of players struggle from tilting, but that’s not you.

bzm: I’ve been that guy before, for sure. That’s also another lesson, but you just asked me for one. I guess there are a lot of lessons you can learn.

Sophie: That’s true.

bzm: So, of course, if you want to play tier 1 Dota and be the best, there is no way that you cannot overcome that. You need to overcome [tilting].

Who would you say has been the most influential person in your career?

bzm: I would probably say my coach from Creepwave (Daniil “MeTTpuM” Gilev). Five years ago, he told me, “Look around, see what you’re doing to your team”. It wasn’t even like, in real life. We were just online, and basically it was about how you influence the people in your team with your behavior. It means a lot if you’re just going to say negative stuff. [If you do], it better be worth it and with good reason otherwise.

Sophie: Yeah, for sure. And would you say that it’s harder to manage in a LAN environment than online tournaments?

bzm: I’m not really sure, because I worked on this for a long time. It hasn’t been a problem [lately], unless it’s unavoidable, I guess. Unless it’s something that you gotta work on, so you need to bring it up. Sometimes you just can’t avoid an argument. People are going to have different opinions, and there is no avoiding that. But you have to at least try not to go that far.

Sophie: It’s always better to be constructive, right?

bzm: Yeah.