Timur "Ahilles" Kulmuhambetov, the coach of 1win Team, spoke exclusively to Telecomasia.net about his team's performance at The International 2024 (TI13) and shared plans for their first playoff match against Team Zero.
Ahilles acknowledged that his team is not in the best shape for the tournament:
The 1win Team is not in their best condition. We’ve had too much Dota 2 recently. However, judging by our practices, we are starting to pick up momentum now.
Timur "Ahilles" Kulmuhambetov
Before The International 2024, 1win Team had played many official matches. Ahilles commented on whether taking a break prior to the main tournament would have been beneficial or detrimental:
It’s hard to give a definite answer. Maybe if we had rested more, it could have been a strong boost for us and we would have performed better. On the other hand, we might have performed even worse after the break. It's a philosophical question. Other teams also play a lot, but for some, it works to their advantage. For example, Nouns played a lot too, but they're still a strong team.
Timur "Ahilles" Kulmuhambetov
Ahilles then reflected on their Decider match loss against Cloud9:
In the first game, our draft was definitely better, but they caught us off guard with their lane swaps. We also played worse on the map. Plus, Cloud9's Mid Laner performed exceptionally. In the second game, Cloud9 had the better draft, making it difficult for us to play.
Timur "Ahilles" Kulmuhambetov
1win's coach shared his impressions about Team Zero, who 1win will face in the first round of the lower bracket playoffs at The International 2024:
We’ve never played against Team Zero before, so our information comes only from their official matches. They play quite aggressively for a Chinese team and have some interesting strategies. Our plan is to outplay them, focusing on playing our style rather than adapting to theirs.
Timur "Ahilles" Kulmuhambetov
1win Team finished in third place in Group A, suffering a loss to Gaimin Gladiators (0:2) and drawing with Xtreme Gaming and Heroic (1:1). In the Decider, they lost to Cloud9 (0:2). The playoffs start for 1win Team in the first round of the lower bracket against Team Zero, scheduled for September 9 at 14:00 GMT+3.
Current roster of 1win Team:
- Nikita "Munkushi~" Chepurnykh;
- Ilya "CHIRA_JUNIOR" Chirtsov;
- Aleksandr "Cloud" Zakharov;
- Georgiy «swedenstrong» Zaynalabidov;
- Egor "RESPECT" Prokurat
The International 2024 (TI13) is being held from September 4 to 15 in a LAN format in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the final stage taking place at the Royal Arena. At the time of this writing, the playoff stage has commenced.