ATF: "I think our peak was before, and now it's gone" Interview
2024-10-22 10:20:00Team Falcons offlaner Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf thinks their team is past its peak. The roster might still reach its full potential, but they're not the best at adapting to metas. ATF shared this in an interview with Esports.ru at BetBoom Dacha Dota 2 2024.
I think our peak was before, and it's gone now. Maybe we'll still reach it, but so far, our best game was during the first 3-4 months after the roster was built. <...>
I'm not sure we're the best at adapting to metas. We're great at creating our own. When we find our meta, we win easily. Other times, we show good results but do not always win. I think we're just a good team with good players.
The offlaner believes there's a pattern in their defeats at TI13 and Riyadh. He pointed out that having a great season across the year rarely worked well for the best teams at TI. Maybe because their playstyle and heroes get nerfed before the event.
Our losses at The International and Riyadh Masters were painful, but it was predictable. Typically, the teams that win big events before TI lose their form, and everyone tries to knock them out as soon as possible. I think even Valve notices such teams and nerfs them, even though it's not always justified.
Falcons topped the leaderboard after the first stage at BetBoom Dacha in Belgrade. They also had the best match record of 3-2-0 in both groups. Their quarterfinal opponent will be decided later, after the tiebreaker games today, October 22.