ATF on how he went from 3,500 to 9,000 MMR: “My routine was like this: wake up, play for 14 hours, go to sleep.”
Former Team Falcons offlaner Ammar “ATF” al-Assaf, in an interview on KheZu’s YouTube channel, talked about his rise to 9,000 MMR early in his career, as well as how he balanced Dota 2 with his studies and how his family felt about his passion.
On the rise from 3,500 to 9,000 MMR
In 2019, after OG’s victory at The International, I had 3,500 MMR, roughly “Legend 3.” By November or December 2020, I had climbed to 9,000.
[KheZu: Did you achieve this through natural talent, or did you do some research, stick to a specific schedule, and so on? Or did you just play your heroes?]
People definitely noticed that, right from the start, my Mars and Timbersaw were on a whole different level. I played them a lot. And, to be honest, they were broken—it’s just that nobody realized it. When I think back to how those heroes worked back then, I don’t even understand why only Collapse picked Mars as his first pick, and why nobody on the FP side picked Timbersaw at all. Those heroes were that strong.
When I compare their stats back then to what they are now, I think, “What the heck?” Reactive Armor—5,000 HP. And Mars actually did something. He really existed in the game.
Those two heroes were special. Sometimes they’d just boost my MMR. But I played others too: about 10–15 heroes, not that many. Not a single ranged hero—they were all melee. I just played. My routine was like this: wake up, play for 14 hours, go to sleep. Somewhere in between, I’d eat and go to the bathroom. No life at all. Because it was during the pandemic. That’s what really helped me—the pandemic.
On Studying During the Pandemic
Classes were online, so I’d just log in to the lesson. I was lucky: my cousin was with me, and we were in the same online class. So if I wanted to sleep, I could sleep. We took turns, too. If he wanted to sleep, he could do that as well. Basically, I didn’t pay any attention to the lessons at all and just went online to look for games.
I’d open up the class—I don’t even know what the program was called: Zoom, Teams, or something else. I don’t remember what it was anymore. I’d open it, start a game search, or go to sleep so I could play later and get at least a little sleep. So literally my whole day was filled with that—14 hours.
On My Family’s Attitude Toward My Dota 2 Career
I think my dad really didn’t like it. And my mom… Well, you know how moms are. I’m the youngest son, so everything’s easier—you get away with anything. My dad, of course, didn’t like it because he thought it was a waste of time. None of them really understand these things, do they? They’re from an older generation. And out of my two brothers, it was mostly one of them who encouraged me. But generally, they and my sister just lived their own lives. And then, once I’d reached that level, things sort of fell into place: my mom helped me with some things, my dad with others, and my two brothers, too.
When I started out, I wasn’t even 18 yet. And in Jordan, there are certain rules—traveling alone is risky. They could have asked why I was traveling alone. And if they’d found out I was traveling without a legal guardian, they would have simply sent me back. It didn’t matter what. That was a little scary: they didn’t always ask, but sometimes they might. So one of my brothers literally had to, in a sense, sacrifice his life to travel with me. He literally didn’t do anything—just traveled with me. That was the only thing he did. Another brother had to help out with the business and with things at home in Jordan. <…>
Of course, my parents were against it. That’s how it’s supposed to be. It would even be strange if they weren’t: how were they supposed to understand this? They only understood after the contract with OG came through. When OG offered the contract, they were like, “Is this for real?” They started asking my brother about it. That’s when everything changed.
Who I Learned to Play From
It’s funny that before I reached 9,000 MMR, I only watched two people: Speeed and BSJ. I watched them and really learned from them. But as for idolizing any professional player… No, I never really idolized anyone in particular. I didn’t even start watching specific players’ replays until much later.
Up until 9,000, I only watched those two, and then I stopped. KheZu, when you were playing offline, you were also a streamer who taught people how to play—I remember that. But your playstyle was very different from mine. You played Enigma, but I never even touched that hero.
In the same podcast, ATF shared his thoughts after being eliminated from The International 2026 and also talked about the start of his career: he could have become a professional Fortnite player, but thanks to his brother, he switched to Dota 2.
Photo: Valve.
