Dendi and Pudge: the hero that became his signature

Dendi, Dota's first star

Danil “Dendi” Ishutin is Natus Vincere's mid player and the champion of The International 2011. Cyber.sports.ru calls him Dota's first star and sums up his tie to the hero this way: “if someone said Pudge, you heard Dendi in your head, and vice versa.”

Pudge is a butcher hero with Meat Hook, which drags enemies to him. As Igromania wrote, Pudge has been considered Dendi's signature hero since TI3, held in Seattle in 2013.

TI3: fountain hooks against TongFu

In the upper bracket semifinal of The International 2013, Na'Vi faced China's TongFu. The series was tied 1–1 after two games, and in the deciding game three the team drafted an unusual Pudge + Chen combo. According to Sportskeeda, the plan to crush the opponent early didn't work: TongFu kept winning skirmishes and took control of the game, and Loda, as the outlet puts it, said nothing could change its course anymore.

When TongFu went for the bottom tier-two tower, Na'Vi put their scheme into action: Puppey on Chen teleported Dendi back to base, and Dendi hooked enemies straight into Na'Vi's fountain. According to Sportskeeda, that is how TongFu's Gyrocopter died too, seconds after picking up the Aegis. The trick went down in history as the “fountain hook,” the name used by both Sportskeeda and sports.ru.

Na'Vi won the game and the series. Puppey later recalled: “Dendi said this was the only way we could win this game.” According to Sportskeeda, some fans called the trick unfair and game-breaking, while the outlet itself counts the moment among Dendi's iconic plays.

“Klyoma, pick Pudge for Dendi”

The line «Клёма, пикни Дендику Пуджа» (“Klyoma, pick Pudge for little Dendi”) is linked to Dendi's image. It appears in Respawn's roundup of The International memes, in the section on TI1 in 2011, but the roundup doesn't say who said it or when.

“Klyoma” may be a diminutive of Clement “Puppey” Ivanov's first name; he was Na'Vi's captain and handled the drafts. But that is only a guess, and sources don't confirm it. Nor is it known where the line came from: team voice comms, a caster or fan creativity.

In meaning, it's a joking request to the captain to give a player his signature hero, and the line packs in two affectionate forms at once: “Klyoma” and “little Dendi.”

How a player-hero pairing became a meme

The meme rests not on a single line but on a lasting association: Pudge in Na'Vi's hands means Dendi. People bring up the “little Dendi” line when someone asks for their favorite hero yet again, and the fountain hooks whenever a game produces a bold Pudge play.

TI3 highlights featuring the fountain hook still show up in lists of Dendi's and The International's best moments, from Igromania and Sportskeeda to sports.ru.

Dendi in a Pudge costume

The catalog card shows a photo of Dendi in a Pudge costume: he holds a chain and hook, the costume has fake blood on it, a badge hangs around his neck and he is grinning widely. It's a costume photo, not a frame from a match.

Captions about Dendi and Pudge

Examples made up for illustration: “My friend before every single game: Klyoma, pick Pudge for Dendi.”

“Landed one hook across the whole river and now I feel like Dendi at TI3” or “When the entire game plan is dragging the enemy into your own fountain.”