Posts from Artem Boykov, also known as KobRa, has passed away.

I remember my first CIS gathering in Minsk. That's where we met. I was a drunk, foolish young man. I even came with a girl – that's when I wrote that Katerina had beautiful breasts. Someone even has that as their signature now. I visited Tyoma for about three days – I don't really know who he is or what he does, but I know his name is Artem, and back then, he and Napalm Seryoga lived in room number 1. I asked if they had anything to drink because I was leaving in the evening and felt really bad. Tyoma pulled out a bottle of Finlandia and said, "Here, my Belarusian friend, have this for the road." But he said he'd pour me a separate drink, and this one was for the road! I remember it so clearly. And I was so touched. I said, "Tyoma, I'm just a nobody, why are you doing this for me?" He said, "Stepan, calm down, you're a Heroes player! Let's have a drink." I was like, "What are you talking about?" He said, "No, I'm not, you drink it, and you have another one." Then there was Volgograd and the soup. "Stepan, why aren't you eating the soup? Come on, let me try it; I know it's delicious!" I wouldn't want people to say it's a shame that things turned out this way. I want everyone to write down some memories. Olga will be happy, and it will be good for the kids to have a record of it. I still can't understand it. And FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!! That's a whole other story!

I didn't know Artem personally, we never played together, but judging by the feedback, he was a wonderful and kind person.
The entire Heroes community is in mourning these days.
R.I.P.

Just now I went to the forum, thinking I would read Artem's trolling about Spartak's defeat again, and I was ready to troll him back about Zenit, and then I remembered... How could I forget?

For 10 years of rivalry (we played our first match back in 2007!!), I played 7 games with Artem (and these are just the ones I definitely remember), and we never finished a single one :D... he was quite the tough opponent, always fighting to the very end, just like in life.

A couple of times, Kober famously fell asleep during the second month of a game, late at night, and it became a classic forum joke. Now, it's not even funny anymore.

We never actually met in person; either I missed the Tournaments, or he did. The last time, I thought I'd catch him in St. Petersburg, but he had already left for treatment. He joked that he would organize a CIS tournament in Tel Aviv, but he didn't quite make it.

Besides the games, we also worked together on his projects. It's rare to meet someone so active and energetic; his ideas often outpaced my ability to process them.

The last time we talked was in early February, about work. We discussed pressing issues related to dealing with competitors, argued, and debated. There were absolutely no hints of what was to come, and I was sure that Artem was recovering...

Rest in peace, my friend. We remember you and will always remember you as one of the greatest Heroes of Might and Magic players.

Before Artem joined our team, we played two games against Cobra in different tournaments, and he lost both. In one of them, he offered to continue the game in a hopeless position in exchange for advice on improving his skills. Artem agreed, and I received advice from the Maestro. Even during a casual conversation, I was already giving him tips on how to inspire his sons to love chess. And, of course, we argued about politics, but we remained respectful of each other's opinions, even though we didn't change our minds. Unfortunately, my argument, "time will tell," didn't work.

Then came the time when we were a team. Artem created a conference on Skype, where we still communicate today. Artem helped with choosing a castle, with bidding, with the nuances of playing on a specific map, and sometimes he watched streams. He rejoiced in our victories, not only in the Team Tournament, and supported us in our defeats.

More than a year ago, he told the team that he had late-stage cancer. The best specialists were considered to be in clinics in Israel, where Artem was able to go for treatment.

The team successfully passed the group stage, but in the playoffs, Artem couldn't play in the first two games, and we drew 1-1. In the decisive game, unfortunately, without our captain, we lost, but Artem returned, defeated Surmey, and we advanced. Then Artem defeated FTS 2-0, and we reached the final, where Artem didn't give Lucky a chance, winning 4-1.

Then came the Victory!

[07.07.2017 17:40:33] Roger Cool: CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! :D (hearteyes) (kiss) (party) (beer)
[07.07.2017 17:40:57] Roger Cool: We don't need to play against Windoku anymore
[07.07.2017 18:06:00] Roger Cool: I believe that the foundation of our VICTORY is our CAPTAIN, COBRA! He chose the team, clearly guessing (after personal games) that Caliban would be a good choice, and he was lucky with Windoku. And Antal and I did what we could to contribute to the team's victory. I should also note Cobra's return to life and to Heroes at a time when we were already struggling to defeat Surmey, and our subsequent victories over FTS and Lucky. And his 1st place in the individual standings is also worth a lot!
[07.07.2017 19:33:53 | Edited 19:33:52] Artem: Well done, everyone! I'm happy! I wanted to win this tournament!

In fact, we lived a whole life together as a team, and it's impossible to describe it in words. We discussed and raised many issues, listened to each other, and gave advice. I couldn't really tell everything I wanted to, and it seemed like it would be easy. For me, this team and this victory were also in honor of Artem, although I wanted to be wrong.

I propose that Cobra (Artem) be nominated for the "For Contribution to the Development of the Heroes Community 2018" award. Honestly, I don't want any other nominee, with all due respect to the worthy candidates.

I express my condolences to Artem's family and friends.

I will share Artem's last words in our team chat.

Artem
Hi
Thanks to all of you
I'm still alive
I fight every day
I'll try to eat something and play Heroes on my laptop

May he rest in peace. Our community has always lived by the principle of being forever young and forever having fun. Year after year, bellies grew, and families were started, but we still considered ourselves the same guys. And then Yama left. It was sad, we mourned, but he was the oldest among us. And Temka, in general, is still quite young. It's hard.

And yes, a true heroic legend has passed. From the very first St. Petersburg tournaments of the last century to his last days, he was one of the best. Others came and went, appeared from nowhere and disappeared into nowhere, but Cobra was one of the best for two whole decades, making a huge contribution to the competitive scene of Heroes. He even has the honorary title of "Player of the Year." So, for me, Artem is simply the best Heroes of Might and Magic III tournament player since the game was created, by a large margin.

I remembered the matches with Cobra at the CIS championships. In Kyiv in 2010, I had my shortest match at these competitions. We played for a couple of hours and then went to an apartment to have lunch and drink beer. While it was happening, we discussed the development (I started quickly there), and Cobra surrendered like a good sport. For the rest of the day, we just had fun and played poker. In Yekaterinburg in 2012, I had my longest match in real life without a break. At first, it was even, then I gained an advantage, Cobra ran off to complain, and with his skill, he managed to win the match. We started at 10 am and finished at 7 am the next day. We woke up Predsa, who had been watching almost until the end, and went to discuss what had happened – we didn't want to sleep, and we talked for another hour... We agreed that we were heroes maniacs :D

I'm not going to talk about a game. We were driving to Minsk-2014 in a Kobrov Cadillac, four of us in the car. At night, near Pskov, Napalm and Maniak fell asleep, Artem was driving, and I was sitting behind him. The road was completely unlit and also quite winding. Snakes don't see very well in these conditions, and there's a risk of not making it around a turn. My vision is better, but I had a complete failure with audio – I completely lost my voice right before the trip. But how could heroes not find a solution! Whenever I saw an upcoming turn, I would pat Artem on the corresponding shoulder so he would be ready to steer in that direction. At the same time, it served as a way to prevent the driver from falling asleep. That's how we made it almost to the Belarusian border. :rolleyes:

What I always admired about Artem was his level-headedness. This was reflected in his worldview and gameplay style. There aren't many players these days who prioritize strategic thinking over mouse speed. We played football together, and for a while, we almost became colleagues. We played so many offline tournaments... Thanks to him, I returned to the game – he invited me to come to CIS-2016 to see what the current heroes were like and helped me remember the game. The Heroes community has suffered an irreplaceable loss, and his family has lost a loving father. I will always remember Artem as he was – a football fan, a great player, and simply an excellent person.

I can't seem to get over it, it's been three days. Artem was a great guy!
My sincere condolences to his family.

What a tragedy(((, my condolences to the family.

At first, I thought it was a silly joke, very popular on most gaming forums, but it turned out to be real. :eek:
I'm speechless! May he rest in peace, and may his loved ones find strength!

And also, Kobriy woke us up in the morning! Darka, Kostya, Sanya, and Yulia – Ksyusha – and then Syopka would come up and ask, “How are you doing?” (with the “ё” in Syopka’s name). “Will I come to Dust’s place, to Lyoshka’s? And then go through St. Petersburg – I really want to – that would be great. If you say so, it’s the right thing to do.”

Added 2 minutes later
Yes, how could it be otherwise?

I just couldn't bring myself to write this...

I met Artem in person way back in 2002 at the Moscow vs. St. Petersburg face-off on fixed maps. I was there as an observer, watching the St. Petersburg team, because he refused to play the fixed maps. There was a very good, positive atmosphere in St. Petersburg, and a lot of Muscovites came to cheer for St. Petersburg. But what I still remember clearly are Artem's words: he suddenly stood up, annoyed, and said, "And they still call themselves gamers..." Then there was the rematch in St. Petersburg on random maps. After that, I took a break from playing from 2006 to 2013. And the very first game after my return was online, against Kober. He helped me get back into the new Heroes community on the HW portal. We played more games, and he would always fall asleep during them (laughs). We reminisced about the old times...
In my memories, Tyoma was always responsive and positive, thoughtful and honest – qualities that are rare these days.

Rest in peace, my friend. We will remember you!

Rest in peace Kobra