ATF on Ace in the second map of the 1win Essence II upper bracket final: “He was useless.”
Team Falcons offlaner Ammar “ATF” al-Assaf, in an interview with Yanna “Gorgc” Stefanowski, commented on his drop in the rankings and criticized Marcus “Ace” Christensen’s performance in the upper bracket final of 1win Essence II.
On his ranking
I’m in 106th place.
[Question: “Yeah, I saw that. What happened? Did you lose a lot?”]
I don’t know, I’m just that bad. I can only play Necrophos, but he gets banned in every game. <...> I haven’t dropped below 100th place in four years.
About Ace
I don’t want to bash him—he doesn’t even play ranked matches. He’s ranked 500th; what can you expect from him? In that game, Centaur was the best hero, and what did he do? [This refers to the second map of the upper bracket finals, where Team Liquid lost to Team Falcons. — Ed.] Nothing. He was useless. And that’s not a tough map for Centaur—it’s a good one. The only problem was Timbersaw.
[Comment: “Just don’t give him any hints yet.”]
This is his most-played hero in official matches; he has 150 games on him.
On the finalists of The International 2026
All the teams in this tournament [Referring to 1win Essence II. — Ed.] are playing for third place at TI. We’re not playing for the grand final—that’s already set, with Yandex facing PARIVISION. Here, we’re playing for third place, after which we can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The top 3 is just as close as the grand final.
Team Falcons finished in second place at 1win Essence II, losing to Team Liquid 0–3. The players from the Middle Eastern club earned $50,000. Next, both teams will compete at The International 2026; the tournament of the year begins on August 13.
