EPTOnce again, one becomes two. Today we are excited to announce that Yevhenii "Neirea" Shumilin has joined the ranks of Liquid. Over the past few months, Neirea has grown from primarily being a ladder player to one of the most respected Hearthstone players of our time. He is a great example of someone, who through his own skill and hard work, rose quickly in the Hearthstone scene. I had the personal fortune of meeting him along the way.
I first encountered Neirea when I first tried to invite him to VGVN #3, a tournament filled with the best ladder players in the world and coincidentally run by LiquidHearth. Back then, Neirea had only competed in minor tournaments and due to the fact that his PC was a 8-year old hunk of metal, it would have been difficult for him to record video for an online tournament. However, Neirea's determination to get involved in the scene led him to buy a brand new computer on the spot. With this newfound computing power, he began wowing spectators with amazing plays in every tournament he entered. With it, he began to develop a small following with his stream. As his journey into the competitive scene began with LiquidHearth, it shall continue with LiquidHearth today.
Join and get to know Liquid`Neirea as he does an AMA on reddit today.
I first encountered Neirea when I first tried to invite him to VGVN #3, a tournament filled with the best ladder players in the world and coincidentally run by LiquidHearth. Back then, Neirea had only competed in minor tournaments and due to the fact that his PC was a 8-year old hunk of metal, it would have been difficult for him to record video for an online tournament. However, Neirea's determination to get involved in the scene led him to buy a brand new computer on the spot. With this newfound computing power, he began wowing spectators with amazing plays in every tournament he entered. With it, he began to develop a small following with his stream. As his journey into the competitive scene began with LiquidHearth, it shall continue with LiquidHearth today.
Join and get to know Liquid`Neirea as he does an AMA on reddit today.
-Liquid`Monk
Interview
Introduce yourself!
My name is Yevhenii Shumilin. I'm 21 years old and live in Poltava, Ukraine. I started playing Hearthstone since last December. Before Hearthstone, i haven't played anything professionally, but had a little success in the Kreedz jumping mod(Counter-Strike 1.6). I was trying to play all games in "competitive" mode and find what is the best for me. Hearthstone was the one what i needed.
Why do you think Hearthstone suits you so well?
It fits my way of thinking. I like math and programming, so trying to find best(most logical and creative) solution to the problem is in my blood.
Oh, are you a programmer right now? Or studying programming?
I'm studying right now and it's my last year in university. The bad thing is that overall my studies are bad. 
Only programming part was good, but i can tell about my diploma work last year because other stuff (like laboratory work - to create Pacman game) is not that interesting probably.
Only programming part was good, but i can tell about my diploma work last year because other stuff (like laboratory work - to create Pacman game) is not that interesting probably.I think people will be interested in something like Pacman.
Last year my main work was to create an interpreter for a math language with my friends. I spent like 2 weeks coding(from 8 to 10 hours) until I managed to do my part's work as I wanted. I couldn't do anything else because all that stuff was spinning in my head. But feelings about finishing work is worth it. *It's a typical story of each serious work.*
You sound like you spend a lot of time studying or at the lab. How much time are you able to devote to Hearthstone these days?
Not at all. I'm do hard tasks mostly once per year.. So I have a lot of time to play Hearthstone. Usually, I'm playing Hearthstone 3-4 hours and other free time I'm spending watching Hearthstone streams. But sometimes when i'm hyped about new deck or expansion(like Curse of Naxxramas), I'm playing up to 10 hours per day.
Which Hearthstone streams do you usually like to watch?
I'm watching a lot of streams but mostly pro player's streams like Kolento,Thijs, Savjz, Rdu, Gaara, all of my former teammates and, of course, Forsen.
Ah, those seem to be some of the most successful players in terms of results. Do you feel like you've learned a lot by watching their streams?
Of course. I had a moment when I wanted to learn Miracle Rogue fast. I just watched VODs of Trump's stream when he studied Forsen and Kolento playing Miracle Rogue. I learned mulligans, tough decisions and other small stuff that would took more time from me otherwise. And next week i got rank 2 legend EU with it.
Of course, you're most known for getting one of the two Blizzcon seeds for the European qualifier by placing very high on ladder for 5 straight months. Did you find that particularly difficult? And do you have any tricks or tips for someone who's trying to replicate your accomplishment?
I feel like it's not enough being just very skilled player to accomplish that. You should figure out what the meta is mostly about and find the deck that can perform better than everything else. But since meta changes very quickly it's pretty tough. Usually I was getting high ranks by rushing it with crazy streak in 1 day.
Can you give any particular examples?
I had a situation in ranked season 2 when I was 2k+ in EU 2 or 3 days before reset. But I found Otter's stream where he was getting top 16 NA with Freeze Mage. I liked the idea in the meta full of Miracles and Handlocks. And after 2 days grinding, I got rank 3.
What do you consider your strengths and weaknesses within Hearthstone?
I feel my weakness is choosing set of decks for tournaments, because I always feel bad about it. Strength is finding mistakes and best solutions in a particular situation.
You used to be the unknown player who just topped the EU ladder all the time with Kolento. But all of a sudden you began playing in tournaments and streaming all of a sudden? What drove you to decide you wanted to be more a part of the scene?
I guess every player wants to be a part of scene. My former team Innovation invited me to play with them, because I had success in ladder. They brought me to the first serious tournament - Gentlemen cup. Then my journey began
In Gentlemen Cup I played vs Gnimsh. After some time he contacted me with VGVN #3 and Prismata #2 where I participated in September. The hardest part is to be noticeable for tournament organizers. But seems like Gnimsh helped me with that
In Gentlemen Cup I played vs Gnimsh. After some time he contacted me with VGVN #3 and Prismata #2 where I participated in September. The hardest part is to be noticeable for tournament organizers. But seems like Gnimsh helped me with that
You've also been streaming extremely regularly these days. Howe are you enjoying these regular stream sessions?
I'd like to do it more because it's funny to interact with people and entertain them (never had this experience before). But I don't want to stream when my mind is exhausted, because i want to bring people the best of me!
What do you know about the Teamliquid/Liquidhearth organization? And what about your new teammate, Savjz?
I started to follow Team Liquid Dota2 squad after it was created, because at that time I played and watched this game a lot. LiquidHearth is my main source of getting information about news, upcoming tournaments,etc. As for Savjz, I met him at BlizzCon qualifiers. I like his playstyle and way of thinking, it's very similar to mine.
Gogo design a Neirea Mech card for Goblins and Gnomes.
Murderous Gnome - Warrior Card ( because i played gnome warrior in WOW :D ) - 5 mana, 4-1 Charge with Cleave minion attack(main target+next to it).
Alright, any final shoutouts?
Shoutouts to my former teammates (Cipher, Numberguy, Theude, Karlis and Aris), Gnimsh, Kolento and other people who are helping me to become better!
