Team Falcons' mid-laner Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak commented on the victory over PSG Quest in the lower bracket playoffs at Riyadh Masters 2024 in Dota 2. The esports player shared his emotions after the game.
Malr1ne expressed, "Obviously, the mood is good because we won, but personally, I feel a bit broken. The game was tough for me; my performance wasn't the best. I was literally ready to cry because we should have dominated, but there were problems with my play. We are a strong team, everyone helps each other here, so we came out victorious."
"I even talked to the coach. The game was hard because we couldn't get a single bounty rune. Then the enemies decided not to give me a single drop of water. It's sad, but that's life."
When asked if he expected the series to be so tough, Malr1ne said, "Yes, we always expect a tough game in every match. Although my team jokingly said for three days straight that we would win two games 2:0 and go on vacation. I understand they are just joking. We didn't have any particular expectations. It could have been some sort of revenge from PSG Quest for previous losses, but we managed."
On playing in the lower bracket, Malr1ne said, "It feels the same as in the upper bracket. It doesn't really put pressure on us. When you're in the lower bracket, you have nothing to lose; you just play as best as you can. We were already in the lower bracket in Birmingham. For me, our performance here is very similar to that tournament. We'll see how it goes."
When asked which mid-laners he could highlight in the tournament, Malr1ne said, "No!ob played well in this tournament. I wasn't a particular fan of his, but he played well and even beat me. Respect to him."
The Falcons defeated PSG Quest 2:1. The team advanced to the lower bracket semifinals, where they will face Tundra Esports. The match will start at 19:30 Moscow time on July 20.
Riyadh Masters 2024 is taking place from July 4 to 21 in Saudi Arabia. Participants are competing for $5 million in prize money. The winner will take home $1.5 million. There are no Eastern European representatives left in the tournament.