Cover-Credits:
During a recent interview with cybersport.metaratings.ru, Alimzhan "watson" Islambekov talked about his form and his thoughts on his ranking in the Dota 2 leaderboard. watson noted that his current form is not his peak and rated himself a modest 6 out of 10. watson is notably the highest ranked player on the Dota 2 European leaderboard and has been sitting on the top for over a year. While watson was dethroned twice recently, he swiftly claimed his spot back both times.
watson Ranks Himself Modestly and Says “Not In Peak Form”
Entity’s carry watson is the current reigning player on the European Dota 2 leaderboard. He is often regarded as one of the best pub-stompers in Dota 2. In a recent interview with Russian Dota 2 news outlet cybersport.metaratings.ru, watson noted that he was not in his best form.
According to the translation of the transcript, he said, “I estimate my form at 6 out of 10. I got sick right after the New Year and flew to the boot camp with a fever. I was very weak and also infected the others. Now I feel better and I feel that I am playing better.”
The pro player also stated that his rank does not really matter and that he plays pubs for fun on stream. He said, “It somehow doesn’t matter what [my] rank is. I just play public games to practice and have fun on streams.”
Although he is infamous for being one of the best pub-stompers, watson hasn’t found much success as a professional player. watson’s team Entity has performed poorly in recent tournaments. It placed 9th-12th at The International 12, failed to qualify for the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023, and recently, despite its best efforts to secure a spot at BetBoom Dacha 2024 Dubai qualifiers and DreamLeague Season 22 qualifiers, Entity failed. It should be noted that Entity’s poor performance and lack of positive results could have been due to watson’s ill health as he mentioned.
Recently, Virtus.pro’s Ilya "Kiritych" Ulyanov shortly dethroned watson as the rank 1 player but the spot was reclaimed by watson in just a day. After a back-and-forth battle between the two players, watson ultimately emerged on top and sat atop the leaderboard for a few days. Following this, another notable Dota 2 pro, Quinn “Quinn” Callahan, dethroned watson as he peaked at 13K MMR. However, just like before, watson swiftly reclaimed his spot and is currently ranked 1 on the European leaderboard.
