Nisha on BetBoom Dacha 1v1 victory: “There was no NothingToSay, I always lose lane against him.”

Michał "Nisha" Jankowski is one of the most reputable Dota 2 players in the world, currently playing as the midlaner for Team Liquid. He is known for his flawless mechanics, always dominating his lane and carrying the tempo of games.

The Polish player has been through a unique journey with Team Liquid, climbing into six grand finals in the past year. The team comprises players of exceptional prowess but Nisha takes the crown for the best solo player, rightfully so following the 1v1 victory at BetBoom Dacha.

Ahead of DreamLeague Season 22, we managed to catch up with Nisha to ask him about Liquid's second-place curse, his thoughts about the BetBoom Dacha 1v1 victory, and his secrecy in pubs.

Esports.gg: Hi Nisha, thank you very much for sparing your time with us. First of all, how was your experience at BetBoom Dacha in general, what was the atmosphere for the first LAN event of the year? 

Nisha:  I liked it a lot. It was pretty good. One of the best tournaments I've played in. It was pretty fun. Although...Yeah, I did like it maybe because I won the 1v1 (laughs). Of course. I'm a little biased. But overall it was pretty fun. For the team it was pretty good. That was the first LAN with [Neta "33" Shapira]. So yeah, we did like it. 

Esports.gg: What was it like playing with 33 in comparison with Ludwig "zai" Wåhlberg?

Nisha: I think zai was more reserved. [33] helps a lot with after-game stuff. I think with Zai, we just did some scrims, played some games. You know, he goes along with his life. But Neta tries to improve every time, every game. I think he helps with someone's game a lot. So like if I do something, he will try to help with my game, not only his.

Esports.gg: A lot of teams would die to achieve what you guys had, but at the same time, getting consecutive second places must feel bad at a certain point. What do you think is stopping you guys from reaching that first place?

Nisha: Yeah, that's a good question. I wish I know.. But how to say... I mean, I'm honestly happy with it. Because I'm never aiming to win a tournament. I'm just aiming to have fun and play some good Dota. 

Esports.gg: Even though you didn't quite reach that first place goal, Liquid did eliminate GG for the first time since this rivalry took place. What were the emotions, what happened after the victory? Did you guys have any special celebrations?

Nisha: We talked about it for like two days! If we lost a game against them, we're like, we have to beat Gaimin Gladiators. But yeah, going into it - obviously, it's like one of the hardest opponents. So we did some more prep. We tried our best. I was surprised we 2-0ed them. But we did have some good preparations. 

During the BetBoom Dacha Dubai, Nisha took the crown of the 1v1 tournament. He defeated notable high-skilled players like ATF, Malr1ne, squad1x, and Xm to become the winner of the solo tournament. He bagged $50,000 in prize money and the title of the 1v1 king.

Esports.gg: You were no doubt one of the best-performing players in that tournament, and the 1v1 victory says a lot. Did you think you were going to win that solo tournament?

Nisha: Definitely not. I did not practice for it. I just went in to see how it is.

Esports.gg: You did not expect the victory, so who did you think were going to beat you?

Nisha: I mean definitely [Quinn "Quinn" Callahan], I think some supports even are very high skilled like [Vitalie "Save-" Melnic], [Matthew "Ari" Walker], [Samuel "Boxi" Svahn]. I played [Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf], he's not a midlaner, but a very high-skilled player. So losing to (other roles) would be a little embarrassing. So that's why I didn't want to do it at first. I feel like I would probably lose to Quinn, but he got eliminated. [Danil "gpk" Skutin] was a very hard match. So I just got kind of lucky. 

Esports.gg: You might think you are lucky, but the Dota 2 community hails you as the best. Do you think you are the best midlaner right now?

Nisha: No, no, definitely not. There was no [Cheng "NothingToSay" Jin Xiang], I always lose lane against him. There was no [Artem "Lorenof" Melnick] too. I also didnt play [Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen]. I missed many midlaners. But NothingToSay for sure. I think [Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak] has a limited hero pool, that’s why he lost. We play Shadow Fiend and he never plays it. And the rest is like, super close.

Esports.gg: Do you want to 1v1 anybody else in the future or play another solo tournament?

Nisha: Pretty much no one, nobody. Because that was so stressful (laughs). I want to avoid 1v1s.

Esports.gg: You’ve grown to be one of the best Dota 2 players in the world. Did anyone play a big role to help lift you up there and help you improve?

Nisha: At first it was probably just me. I like to improve, I like to play the game a lot and watch every single game. And then probably my teammates. My Polish squad was fun. Then, Secret.. [Clement "Puppey" Ivanov] played a significant role in my improvement. I did watch a lot of replays of Topson too.

Esports.gg: A lot of people are interested in the Yatoro-Ame dynamic with both of them consistently praising each other. Is there any player with admirable skills and gameplay that you look up to in the scene? Maybe someone who’s different than the rest?

Nisha: Yeah, probably Malr1ne right now, because he's very high skilled and he plays a lot A LOT. And he has like a bit of a different hero pool. And I don't know, his builds are good. He's pretty good, yeah.

Esports.gg: So DreamLeague is next. What do you want Valve to change in the meta before it starts? What’s in the meta that is driving you nuts or bored? [Note: This interview was conducted before Patch 7.35c dropped]

Nisha: Yeah, I think there was a couple of heroes that were banned every single game, especially Doom. We banned Slark too every game. Something is a little suspicious with those heroes. Yeah, 4 months is a little too much, so a little shift would be appreciated. 

Esports.gg: Why do you think Doom is banned in every single game?

Nisha: I don't know, I haven't played against him in a couple of months. I don't even know, but I feel like he presses W and he's unkillable. He gets Shiva's and Eternal Shroud or [Black King Bar] and then you get Doomed and you just die. Literally, you just die. There's nothing to do. You buy Linkens, he just gets teh creep and nothing works. Yeah, it's like zero. But Dota is just like that. Most heroes don't require so much brain.

Esports.gg: I have to admit your Dota 2 account is insanely tough to track. Why are you secretive in your pubs?

Nisha: I feel like practicing heroes and people not knowing about [my pubs] is very nice because there's a lot of prep going on. So it's definitely a good thing to hide your accounts. But now with smurfs banned, it's kind of hard. I just watch some replays, play some Overthrow. 

Esports.gg: To wrap up this interview, is there anything you want to say to fans of you and Team Liquid?

Nisha: Thanks for watching the games and being with us. And also sorry because I feel like we should win at least one tournament. But yeah, it's about to happen. Stay with us.

Check out more player interviews from DreamLeague Season 22 below:

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