ATF: “Playing against Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams is harder than playing against Tier 1 teams.”
Team Yandex offlaner Ammar “ATF” al-Assaf spoke in an interview at PGL Wallachia Season 9 about his experience playing for his new team and shared his thoughts on facing Tier 2 teams.
On his new perspective on the game with Team Yandex
Not seeing the same people for the next five thousand years... I’m sure I’ll miss them more as time goes on, but I’m really excited. Finally, I’ll get to see something new.
On playing with a new team
It still feels strange to me: we’re playing KV, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. Everything is very new, but I’m really excited, and that’s what drives me.
On the playstyle at Team Yandex
It’s pretty hard to say. Before, I used to think about skiter and Malr1ne’s movements, but now it’s hard to do that. I’m just trying to play the way I always have.
On playing against skiter and Sneyking
The first thing I want to say is that they’ve put together excellent teams. They’re two-time The International champions—no doubt about it. When I play against them, the only thing I want is to crush them. I don’t mind finishing last in this tournament, but I want them to finish below me.
On the most interesting team after the reshuffles
I want to see how Malr1ne loses every tournament once his team is revealed.
On the tournament’s underdogs
Personally, for me, playing against Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams is harder than against Tier 1 teams, because you don’t understand what the *** [nonsense] is going on. They’ll pick 5 random heroes, and it’ll be some kind of unbeatable strategy. So I think the Tier 2 teams will pull off something unexpected.
Earlier, commentator Arseny “ArsZeeqq” Usov commented on Ammar “ATF” al-Assaf’s move to Team Yandex and suggested that it would be difficult for the esports player to gel with Martin “Saksa” Sazdov.
Photo: Valve.
