HObbit: "I had the option to play outside of the CIS scene"

The Kazakhstani veteran, who is now helping young talent emerge under his wing in 1WIN, chose to stay in the CIS scene due to personal circumstances.

Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov's 1win is playing at LanDaLan, where the Kazakhstani rifler is trying to help a group of late teens and early 20s players take their first competitive steps alongside coach Sanjar "⁠SANJI⁠" Kuliev.

"They are very young, but the potential can be seen," HObbit says of his teammates. "On LAN, maybe an even greater unseen potential will be revealed, and that's the most important goal."

Before the tournament kicked off on February 10, we sat down with the 30-year-old during the event's media day to hear about his exit from Cloud9, joining 1win, the team's departure from a Kazakhstani core, and what it's like guiding a new generation of young players.

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I wanted to start from the moment you left Cloud9. Tell me about your decision to leave the team. This is a vast topic, but how would you summarize what had happened?

I didn't take leaving Cloud9 easily. Some things raised a lot of questions for me and I tried to find answers to them. When I found the answers, I made the decision to leave Cloud9.

When you left the team, what expectations did you have regarding offers you would receive? How did the process of choosing the next step in your career look?

I didn't have any expectations. I knew what I wanted, and I had specific goals on where I wanted to go, but some changes in my life directly affected my decision.

I had some very good offers from various tier 1 and tier 2 teams, and I even had the option to play outside of the CIS scene, but considering my life circumstances, I made the decision to remain in the CIS.

Ultimately, you joined 1WIN. Did you have other offers from other CIS teams?

Yes, of course, there were.

Why did you decide to settle with 1WIN?

Obviously, because it would have been nice to play under the Kazakhstan flag, and 1WIN's management made a very good impression. They handled my signing very professionally, and I felt that there was a lot of potential.

When you joined 1WIN, the first iteration of your roster included buster and nealaN, but it didn't last long. What went wrong?

Before I joined buster and nealaN, they had already been playing for some time, but their results weren't the best results and some problems came up. These problems continued to grow, and the organization made the decision to make the roster younger.

Did it upset you to end like that?

Of course, I got a little upset. I got upset because I believed we could play at a decent level.

After buster and nealaN left the roster, you kept making changes, and your fifth is not set yet. Why is this sort of player turnover taking place? And what goals is the team setting in the context of Valve's ranking?

I find the direction that was chosen by the organization very appealing. Of course, it's a long-term project, but it's very promising. And you want to believe in a project like this because it's interesting, first of all.

Betting on youth in the modern day is possible, it's a reality of today's CS. It just needs to be combined with experience. Yes, we don't have a Valve standing as of today, but we have a precise goal we're heading towards. That's what the most important.

You're in a team with young and mostly unknown players but you're not in the IGL role. How do you see your role in a team, considering you have much more experience and you're not the leader?

Firstly, I feel that I can show good individual play, and this feeling doesn't leave me. I feel very good on the server. Secondly, it'd make more sense to teach a young in-game leader since we have a deficit of good IGLs in the CIS.

If I can pass my experience on, it would be very good for me, primarily because it would be a great honor, but it's also more promising for the organization.

Is this change to a more of a mentor role final? Do you think you have come to play with the young players, or is your aim to become a part of a tier 1 team?

My aim is to take part in making a tier 1 team and being a part of this journey, as I did before in my past teams. This journey started in 2019 with Winstrike, when we started to show good results.

I'm staying in this direction, and it brings me immense pleasure to play with young guys who are hungry to learn and grow and get into that atmosphere with them.

As you hold Kazakhstan dear to your heart, I wanted to ask you about the country's hottest player, ICY. What is your impression of him?

It's been a while since I've seen snipers so oriented to team play in the world. sh1ro is like that, and he's one of the best in the world, especially in terms of team play. I know how much impact he brings.

From the outside, ICY looks like this kind of a player, and he's moving in that super cool direction that is priceless for the CIS scene. Being a team player is very important, especially a sniper.

You're going to play LanDaLan tomorrow with your team. What are your expectations? Is it more of a practice for you, or do you set goals?

We approach this tournament as a place where we should get some experience and see how the guys feel on a LAN. They are very young, but the potential can be seen. On LAN, maybe an even greater unseen potential will be revealed, and that's the most important goal.