Saberlight on the Dubai LAN: “I think it’s certainly gonna be harder than NA DPC… all the best teams are there.”

In their debut as TSM, the former Undying roster showed that they meant business. The outcome of the match was uncertain, with both teams having a strong finish in the NA DPC. And for Evil Geniuses, TSM's opponent, it was a chance to prove themselves with the return of offlaner Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko. But to the shock of many, TSM brought the hammer down on EG.

TSM is a team that has come a long way. With their humble begins as a 5 stack, the team had to crowdfund a bootcamp to prepare for TI. It was a huge boon to the team, and many say to Dota in general, for the Team to get picked up by TSM. Though the target of recent controversy, TSM has been a mainstay in esports for a long time. A big org pickup like this, especially in NA, is an incredible asset to have in Dota.

As of now, TSM have been bringing a good name to their new org. Their first game against EG was a mega beat down, with Enzo "Timado" Gianoli O'Connor quickly getting out of control and captain David "MoonMeander" Tan Boon Yang almost 1v4ing EG in an early river fight.

The second game didn't go any better for EG. Though having a decent laning stage, the game quickly spiraled as Timado once again farmed his way to the top, this time as Medusa. Combined with incredible play from the rest of the team, including a great performance by Kim "DuBu" Doo-young, the team were again quickly able to shut down EG and knock them into the lower bracket.

For their last interview, the talent got the chance to talk to TSM's offlaner, Jonáš "SabeRLight-" Volek. Saberlight was full of energy, joking with the hosts as well as talking about taking out his frustration on the Nightfall Broodmother when he came online in game 2.

He explained why he was not bootcamping with the rest of the team in the shiny TSM facilities. According to him, they are still working out Visa issues, which, with COVID are still obviously difficult. However, he was optimistic that the team would work something out for the next tour of the DPC.

On getting picked up by TSM, Saberlight thought it was really great! He went to say that it really helps build the competition in the region. He noted that when the team beat EG as Undying, "they were the underdogs" but now that they did it as TSM, it "becomes a rivalry."

This rivarly could potentially be really interesting to watch for the fans. The offlaner said that it was amazing to go from an unsponsored team for a year to getting picked up by this huge org.

"Its completely amazing after playing unsponsored for a year, this is a huge win. This is something we have strived for ever since we got this team together. What's even better is that now we beat EG and EG is one of the best Dota orgs for the past two years. Now that we beat them as TSM, its a new rivalry and it's very interesting for us to play them like this."

When asked about the upcoming Dubai LAN tournament, he was excited to play against some new teams. Though he tried "not to flame NA", he contended that "all of the best teams are there."

He thinks that it will be fun to play with a new patch and seeing all of the new crazy ideas flying around. Of all the teams there however, he believes that the EU teams will be the best, but hopes that he and his team will do well.

"I feel like in the beginning, Techies was super AFK hero. Right now, the hero is only half-AFK hero cause you throw the stun during teamfights. I'm hoping maybe they remove mines, or maybe have techies throwing mines so you actually have to play the hero instead of playing in the jungle and watching YouTube while playing Dota.

The TSM boys face off against Quincy Crew next in the winners finals. Who will prevail. Stay with us here at esports.gg to find out!