
Team Yandex carry Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov discussed his mistakes on the first map of the BLAST Slam VII Grand Final and his desire to pick Phantom Lancer in one of the tournament’s matches during a stream.
At BLAST, the Grand Final also started with a warm-up match on Furion, but we won it. My TP got canceled three times there, and twice I blocked myself instead of the enemy.
“Hey, if you win in Riyadh, will you dye your hair that color—the one in the left corner of the picture?” I had thought about dyeing my hair; we even talked about it at BLAST. If I dye it pink, no one will play with me. Arman [Malady] won’t play with me, and neither will Saksa. They said so straight out. Also, I think my mom would be really upset if I dyed my hair pink.
I wanted a buzz cut, but Mom said, “Don’t do it.” She said people can tell you’re a Watson just by your haircut. I was like, “No way.” I should probably cut it a little shorter—I don’t know. It’s such a pain to walk around with long hair. I just didn’t have time to go get a haircut. I’m so sick of this long hair—it just takes forever to wash… At BLAST, I’d just tie it up in a bun so it wouldn’t get in the way, and that was it—I’d forget about it. It’s just…
“Were there any games in the tournament where you wanted to pick PL?” There was one game, but he was banned.
“Do you consider yourself the second-best carry in the world after Satanic?” No, I’m fifth on the list.
BLAST Slam VII took place from May 26 to June 7, with the final stage played at the organizers’ studio in Copenhagen. The participants split $1 million; Team Yandex took first place, defeating LGD Gaming 3-1 in the grand final.