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Cr1t-: "ATF is very different than what the community sees him"
In a recent interview with Pinnacle Cup, Team Falcon's roaming support Andreas "Cr1t-" Nielsen shared how the team came together, his thoughts towards Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf, and which hero people should pick as position four.
Team Falcons is new to the Dota 2 scene, although the lineup is made of veterans from the scene. They recently qualified for ESL Kuala Lumpur, after defeating PSG.Quest in the grand finals.
Cr1t-: "ATF was our first choice"
The newly made MENA team didn't have time to prepare before their first tournament. When asked if the team is on the same page or working through some kinks, Cr1t- said that they will need some time before they feel fully comfortable with each other.
" I'd say we're very much still in the process. We've only played together for about a week. We kinda had to scramble together a boot camp for the Qualifier for Kuala Lumpur, Because we really didn't have much time. We had a few days of scrims and then straight to qualifiers. I'd say we're very much finding our footing."
Cr1t-'s new squad comprises Oliver "skiter" Lepko and Jingjun "Sneyking" Wu, two members of Tundra Esports International 11 winning squad. The three players have been in talks since before TI12 began.
"I've been talking to Skiter and Sneyking for a while about playing with them since I knew they had issues with their [position] four player before TI. I knew I wanted to play with both of them after TI."
When it came to picking an offlaner for Falcons, the choice was easy for Cr1t-.
The biggest offlane agent in 2023 was ATF. After leaving OG Esports, Ammar bounced around a few teams, most notably Nigma Galaxy and Quest.
"Ammar was our first choice, we always wanted to get him, there were a bunch of other teams that also wanted to get Ammar. We were happy we ended up playing with him. I was very surprised especially with Ammar, the way he is as a person is very different than what the community sees him as. I was very surprised with how funny he is, he's very easygoing, he's only eighteen, and he's quite mature for his age."
Cr1t- believes Falcons is the strongest team in the Pinnacle Cup
Team Falcons is currently competing in the 25th year anniversary of Pinnacle and it is a great tournament for the team to compete in and learn about each other.
While there are some impressive names at the event, such as Alliance, Virtus.Pro, and Boom Esports, Cr1t- believes they will win the event.
"I'd consider ourselves favorites for sure. I think there are some good teams in there that could cause us some issues but I think these are all teams we expect to beat."
The interview was conducted a day before Dota 2 patch 7.34e dropped, so when asked about which heroes are strong supports, Cr1t- listed the usual suspects such as Spirit Breaker, Grimstroke, and Phoenix.
He also shined a light on a hero who has been slowly creeping back into the meta, one that brings a lot of damage and mobility to the role.
"I think Weaver is really good as a position 4, it's also a hero that can play as position 1, so that flexibility is really valuable."
Team Falcons is currently 4-0 in Pinnacle Cup and looks set to make it to the playoffs. Time will tell if we see them win the tournament and if Cr1t- will be playing Weaver anytime soon.
READ MORE: The Biggest Winners of Dota 2 Patch 7.34e
Featured Image Source: ESL
