Counter-Strike 2
OverDrive interview: scouting, leaks, donk and kyousuke
We spoke with insider Alexey "OverDrive" Birukov at the local $10,000 LanDaLan, where the 39-year-old was playing with FLuffy Gangsters. "I can't miss an event like this, the player inside me still lives," he joked. "I will start from LANs like this one, and I will end with the Major. But of course, I've already held the trophy."
The reference is, of course, none other than Spirit, the team he scouts for, winning the Perfect World Shanghai Major, a victory he watched live and celebrated with the team on stage.
During LanDaLan, we took the time to talk to OverDrive about his involvement with Spirit as a scout, how he got into the business of finding players and how he tries them out, and his business as a CS insider on social media.
Tell me about your scouting career. How did you start doing this?
At some point, I realized that I'm good at evaluating players' strengths, and I started by just helping someone get on a team. n0rb3r7 was tested by FlipSid3 at sixteen. I suggested BoombI4 to QBF, and I was making an academy for FORZE. Eventually, I just wanted to do it more systemically. At first, I made a deal with Espada, then with Spirit, and we’ve been cooperating up to this moment.
Tell us, in general terms, how your work happens?
There's no script on what has to be done, and there's no certain amount of hours you need to spend doing it. There's a specific demand for players, and then the process starts. But maybe there’s no demand, like now, when the team goes on without changes for a year. Some inquiries may pop up, I find players here and there, but there's no specific script to doing this.
I can find someone on FACEIT, someone can tell me, I can find a player on HLTV — it's all super random. I can just watch someone's stream and see how they play. I can't really describe precisely how it works.
You scouted plenty of players for Spirit. Can you name the five most significant finds, in your opinion?
Obviously, donk, zont1x, and magixx. Then kyousuke. But there were also great finds before that, like degster, Patsi, and s1ren.
We played one qualifier, and it was immediately clear that for a 14-year-old, he’s super great, so I said that he should be picked up as soon as possible
Alexey "OverDrive" Birukov on scouting donk
How do your test sessions with newly scouted players go? Do you play duo on FACEIT or make a full party? Do you only observe, or do you also interact?
When there used to be more qualifiers, I played with them to see how they play under pressure, how they play with me, how they react to calls, and how they communicate. I can get toxic with them in order to see how they play under pressure. That's the best way to see how a player shows himself. Other than that, there's no use playing FACEIT, everyone is a god there.
Everyone is interested in donk and kyousuke. Tell us how you found them and what was your first impression of them?
I found donk in CIS League. During the first day of a new season, there was someone going 6-0, some guy named donk. I asked the guys who were playing there about him, and the reviews were only positive, so I invited him to play straight away. We played one qualifier, and it was immediately clear that for a 14-year-old, he’s super great, so I said that he should be picked up as soon as possible.
With kyousuke, I think I was also gathering players for a test during qualifiers, and he applied. I played with him and he had a lot of dumb moments, but he compensated it with kills against some decent teams. He was tested by S0tf1k after that and and, at first, he didn't really like him. So I asked to test him again, and the second time he was good. Now he's the main prospect this year.
donk and kyousuke. Are there any fundamental differences between them that define them differently as players, considering their playstyle is quite similar?
It's hard to say, they're playing at different levels now. donk is a tier one player who dominates the world, and kyousuke is a tier two-three player who dominates tier two-three. Let's see how he plays on LAN.
The reference is, of course, none other than Spirit, the team he scouts for, winning the Perfect World Shanghai Major, a victory he watched live and celebrated with the team on stage.
During LanDaLan, we took the time to talk to OverDrive about his involvement with Spirit as a scout, how he got into the business of finding players and how he tries them out, and his business as a CS insider on social media.
Tell me about your scouting career. How did you start doing this?
At some point, I realized that I'm good at evaluating players' strengths, and I started by just helping someone get on a team. n0rb3r7 was tested by FlipSid3 at sixteen. I suggested BoombI4 to QBF, and I was making an academy for FORZE. Eventually, I just wanted to do it more systemically. At first, I made a deal with Espada, then with Spirit, and we’ve been cooperating up to this moment.
Tell us, in general terms, how your work happens?
There's no script on what has to be done, and there's no certain amount of hours you need to spend doing it. There's a specific demand for players, and then the process starts. But maybe there’s no demand, like now, when the team goes on without changes for a year. Some inquiries may pop up, I find players here and there, but there's no specific script to doing this.
I can find someone on FACEIT, someone can tell me, I can find a player on HLTV — it's all super random. I can just watch someone's stream and see how they play. I can't really describe precisely how it works.
You scouted plenty of players for Spirit. Can you name the five most significant finds, in your opinion?
Obviously, donk, zont1x, and magixx. Then kyousuke. But there were also great finds before that, like degster, Patsi, and s1ren.
We played one qualifier, and it was immediately clear that for a 14-year-old, he’s super great, so I said that he should be picked up as soon as possible
Alexey "OverDrive" Birukov on scouting donk
How do your test sessions with newly scouted players go? Do you play duo on FACEIT or make a full party? Do you only observe, or do you also interact?
When there used to be more qualifiers, I played with them to see how they play under pressure, how they play with me, how they react to calls, and how they communicate. I can get toxic with them in order to see how they play under pressure. That's the best way to see how a player shows himself. Other than that, there's no use playing FACEIT, everyone is a god there.
Everyone is interested in donk and kyousuke. Tell us how you found them and what was your first impression of them?
I found donk in CIS League. During the first day of a new season, there was someone going 6-0, some guy named donk. I asked the guys who were playing there about him, and the reviews were only positive, so I invited him to play straight away. We played one qualifier, and it was immediately clear that for a 14-year-old, he’s super great, so I said that he should be picked up as soon as possible.
With kyousuke, I think I was also gathering players for a test during qualifiers, and he applied. I played with him and he had a lot of dumb moments, but he compensated it with kills against some decent teams. He was tested by S0tf1k after that and and, at first, he didn't really like him. So I asked to test him again, and the second time he was good. Now he's the main prospect this year.
donk and kyousuke. Are there any fundamental differences between them that define them differently as players, considering their playstyle is quite similar?
It's hard to say, they're playing at different levels now. donk is a tier one player who dominates the world, and kyousuke is a tier two-three player who dominates tier two-three. Let's see how he plays on LAN.
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