Malady offered some advice on playing as Techies: “Don’t be cowards.”
Team Yandex support player Arman “Malady” Orazbaev, in an interview at BLAST SLAM VIII, compared Ammar “ATF” al-Assaf and Markus Folke “Ace” Helgard Christensen, discussed preparations for the match against Team Spirit, and offered tips on playing as Techies.
On the comparison between ATF and Ace
Yes, there is a certain similarity between ATF and Ace. But ATF is simply more skilled because Ace is a boomer. Ace, with love—it’s just a joke.
On preparing for Team Spirit
In terms of gameplay, nothing has changed: we play against other teams pretty much the same way. But we decided to prepare drafts specifically for these guys. We spent not five minutes on preparation, as usual, but about twenty.
On Team Spirit dealing only 42 damage to structures
[Question: Did you know that across both maps, Team Spirit dealt a total of only 42 damage to your buildings?]
Across both maps combined? I knew they sucked in both games, but to that extent… 42 damage? That’s on a whole new level.
On the main tip for playing Techies in the early game
Don’t be a wimp. You have an innate ability that blows everything up when you die. So don’t sweat twenty or thirty deaths—it doesn’t matter. You’re still dealing a lot of damage. If you take some of the spells on yourself, that’s fine for both you and the team.
Team Yandex advanced to its second consecutive grand final this season. In the BLAST SLAM VIII playoffs, Malady’s team defeated PARIVISION and Team Spirit. Prior to that, the “Geese” won PGL Wallachia Season 9, defeating Natus Vincere 3-0 in the final.
Photo by Igor Bezborodov, BLAST.
