Interview with paiN Gaming’s Arthur “PAADA” Zarzur Curiati: “The whole ecosystem is working”

Despite its casual approach, the Captain’s Draft 4.0 tournament has pulled together a slew of Dota 2 talent from across the world, just like any other Dota Pro Circuit event. South America is no exception this time, with Brazilian squad paiN Gaming waving their flag for their region. With its origins in Warcraft III DotA, paiN itself has taken a life of its own beyond Dota 2, including a high-level League of Legends team, and many of paiN Gaming’s players have made appearances at foreign LANs.

Team owner, founder and captain Arthur “PAADA” Zarzur Curiati is now finding his home again in Dota 2 for this event, as he’s taking up an opportunity as a stand-in for the squad. A DotA/Dota 2 player for over ten years, Paada has remain present behind the scenes, but gets a rare chance to play—and in a Valve-sponsored event, no less.

We got a chance to speak to him about the opportunity, as well as being a veteran in a new age of Dota for South America.

The Flying Courier: How has your experience as a veteran been working under the banner so far? Because you’ve been around for ten years, and you have players who are recently in the scene as well.

PAADA: It’s pretty interesting, I mean, I’ve always helped them regarding Dota, I’ve always had a lot of passion for the game and I’ve had a lot of pleasure helping them. Sometimes I play with them, so I never lost contact with the game, and its always been something really good for me to help. I don’t know, for me... the experience has always been awesome to help behind the scenes, and now, coming back and helping in the game is a great experience.

TFC: So you’re really excited to play in a pro team for this event?

Paada: Yes, yes, definitely. We had a few issues, I was not the first option, but we had a few visa issues and I was on vacation, I always come to the US for vacations, so I was already here so it would be really easy to have me on the team. I have a decent MMR already, I have a good game knowledge, and they always play on me, so I was a good option.

TFC: So everything just worked out.

Paada: Yeah, I think so.

TFC: Your players have been between different teams. How have they been handling it under this new banner? They came from Midas Club, but have you been seeing synergy more and more here?

Paada: Oh yeah, definitely, we have a great relation with Midas Club and since even when they were playing in Midas Club, I had contact with them, and we had a few roster changes since then. It’s been great changes for the team; players have improved a lot regarding communication, regarding their skill sets, so I think the team is really, individually speaking, very, very ready for the tournaments.

TFC: In general, has the pro circuit requirement for South America qualifiers affected the region? What have you been seeing?

Paada: It’s been great, especially when I used to play, there was none... That was probably the biggest reason I stopped playing, since we had very few opportunities. When we played, we had to play on [North] American servers and stuff like that. Now we have regional qualifiers and so on, and it’s been great... So as an owner of a team, we can feel comfortable investing in players, investing—the whole ecosystem is working. It’s a great opportunity for the whole scene and it’s necessary for everything to work.

It’s great, because [Danylo Nascimento] KINGRD—I’ve known him for ten or twelve years, and I know he’s a guy who loves the game and he’s not here for money, he really deserves this, and he finally has the opportunity to be playing for something he loves. It’s great to see him having recognition, its awesome.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.]