The conflict with 33, his career, and his leadership role at Team Yandex—highlights from the ALL CHAT podcast with Saksa

Team Yandex support player Martin “Saksa” Sazdov spoke on the ALL CHAT podcast about his conflict with Neto “33” Shapira, recalled his first career success, shared his thoughts on his experience at Tundra Esports, and discussed the current roster and the state of Dota 2 today.

Saksa explained that the reason for his split with 33 wasn’t a high-profile scandal, but rather accumulated disagreements over a number of work-related issues. According to him, working with the same person for a long time leads to burnout, which is why he began to feel more comfortable interacting with new players. The esports player noted that he considers direct confrontations and debates essential for a team, while silence and avoiding problems amount to a slow death, while emphasizing the importance of timing and criticizing post-match debriefs held immediately after losses when emotions are running high, citing as an example a rule from Tundra Esports’ golden roster: to postpone game discussions until the next day.

Martin called Digital Chaos his first real professional team. He described the atmosphere there as very emotional, recalling how MISERY would yell at w33 during the qualifiers, and five minutes after a victory, they’d be jumping into the pool together. According to the player, the team made it far at The International 2016 thanks to their preparation and flexible drafts; however, in the grand final against Wings Gaming, they began to “choke” and lost to an unpredictable opponent.

After stints with DC and Thunderbird, Saks’s value on the competitive scene declined, and he chose not to play for random mixes at all, opting instead to focus on grinding MMR. The player climbed into the top 3 of the European leaderboard while waiting for the right opportunity. While playing in the fifth position, he found it difficult to prove his skill level to clubs. The pro felt uncertain about getting a good opportunity but continued to move forward. He confirmed the story about ranking in the top three among supports using different accounts, attributing it to the difficulty of finding matches and his desire to test his skills.

Saksa described the team as easy to work with, noting that all members shared a common vision for Dota 2. He stated that Tundra wasn’t a roster of superstars with the highest individual skill, but when everyone followed their plans and principles, the team was the best.

The Team Yandex support player highlighted Aui_2000’s ability not only to offer gameplay advice but also to listen to other opinions, refine ideas, and engage others in discussions. The coach’s unique communication and problem-solving skills, his deep understanding of macro dating back to TI5, and his lack of a big ego—despite having won a huge number of championships—make him the best coach.

In the current roster, Martin serves as the veteran and leader, a role that suits him perfectly. He doesn’t have to handle drafts, so he can fully focus on gameplay and coordinating strategies. The captain highly praised his teammates for their patience and ease of communication.

Saksa believes that as the map size has increased, understanding macro and proper resource allocation have become even more critical to victory than flashy individual plays. He explained that Tundra Esports’ philosophy was built on attention to detail and positioning, where the cumulative effect of mistakes can ruin a match, even if such gameplay seems boring to spectators.

Team Yandex’s next match will take place on August 13 at 8:00 a.m. Moscow time against LIGA TEAM as part of the group stage of The International 2026, which will be held in Shanghai, China. It was previously reported that all teams participating in the year’s main tournament have arrived at the venue.