The International 2023 is in full swing in Seattle, with the world’s best Dota 2 players battling it out for a spot in the main event bracket. Alongside the tournament, pros have been queuing up for ranked matches in the North American server. However, Team Spirit’s Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov is already fed up with this experience after just a week.
Collapse started playing ranked matches in NA on October 6, losing his first three games in the region. Despite managing to secure a win, he then suffered five consecutive losses. In a recent interview with Escorenews on October 13, the offlaner expressed his negative opinion about playing ranked Dota 2 in the NA region. He empathized with players enduring this challenging environment for an entire year, stating that it was impossible to play pubs in America all day long. Collapse believed that anyone who played NA-ranked matches all day would eventually become frustrated with the game and its players.
Before joining Gaimin Gladiators in Europe, Collapse recalled how Gaimin Gladiators’ Quinn Callahan used to play NA-ranked matches throughout the year while also competing in the region. Collapse considered Quinn practically a “madman” before he moved to Europe, as he would flame everyone and everything during ranked matches. Now, it seems, we know why—NA was the culprit all along.
Although Quinn has gradually improved his behavior throughout 2023, remnants of his time in NA still resurfaced, leading to severe backlash from the community. Quinn recently issued an apology for his “abhorrent actions” in Dota 2 pubs and assured fans that he was working on becoming a more well-behaved player.
Fortunately for Collapse, his exposure to NA pubs will be limited to the duration of TI 2023, sparing him any lasting impact. To cope with the frustration, he plans to restrict his ranked matches to two or three games per day, prioritizing official matches and practice sessions.
Despite Collapse’s poor experience on the ranked ladder, Team Spirit has excelled in the group stage of TI 2023, winning all of their matches so far. They are heavily favored to secure a spot in the upper bracket of the playoffs by winning their qualifying best-of-three tomorrow.
| Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 6 | Team A | Lose |
| Oct. 7 | Team B | Lose |
| Oct. 8 | Team C | Lose |
| Oct. 9 | Team D | Win |
| Oct. 10 | Team E | Lose |
| Oct. 11 | Team F | Lose |
| Oct. 12 | Team G | Lose |
| Oct. 13 | Team H | Lose |
Source: DOTESPORTS
