The International 2023: Team Spirit’s Collapse Struggles with Ranked Matches in North America
The world’s best Dota 2 players are currently in Seattle for The International 2023, competing for a spot in the main event bracket. Alongside the tournament, professional players have been participating in ranked matches on the North American server. However, Team Spirit’s Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov has expressed his frustration with this experience.
According to stats site Dotabuff, Collapse began playing ranked matches in NA on October 6. He initially lost his first three matches in the region, and although he managed to secure a win, he then suffered five consecutive losses.
In an interview with Escorenews on October 13, Collapse elaborated on his struggles and expressed his negative opinion of playing ranked Dota 2 in North America. He empathized with players enduring this challenging environment for an entire year.
Collapse stated, “It’s impossible to play pubs in America all day long.” He further asserted that anyone who plays NA-ranked matches throughout the day would inevitably become frustrated with the game and its players.
Before joining Gaimin Gladiators in Europe, Quinn Callahan, who also previously played for Soniqs in NA, frequently competed in NA-ranked matches. Collapse considered Quinn to be a “madman” due to his habit of flaming other players during these matches. The revelation of the challenging environment in NA confirms Collapse’s viewpoint.
Although Quinn has gradually improved his behavior in 2023, remnants of his toxic behavior from NA still resurface, resulting in severe backlash from the community. In a recent statement, Quinn apologized for his “abhorrent actions” in Dota 2 pubs and assured fans that he was working on becoming a more well-behaved player.
Fortunately, Collapse’s exposure to NA pubs will be limited to the duration of TI 2023, sparing him any long-term impact. To cope with his frustration, he plans to restrict his ranked matches to only 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 through their qualifying best-of-three match tomorrow.