Ari Explained Why He Loves Playing Against Former Teammates

Matthew “ari” Walker believes that playing against former teammates is more interesting than playing against regular opponents, since having a connection with your opponent increases your desire to win.

The player made this statement on Twitch.

“I think it’s a lot more fun to play when you have some kind of connection with your opponent. For example, if I join a game and see five strangers, I’m not interested in playing at all. But if there are people on the other side whom I know or am friends with, it immediately gets interesting. I instantly want to win; I want to kill them.

I recently had a situation with Parker when he was playing for us. Before an official match, we decided to play a public game. On one side was bzm, who was playing at a +40 rating, and on the other were me, 33, Whitemon, Parker, and another guy. In theory, we were supposed to win.

I just happened to be in a match where bzm was playing the game of his life, while my teammates were just running around and dying. I felt like I was the only one who wanted to win. Parker picked Axe as the carry, and Whitemon went mid as Sniper. It was the worst gaming experience of my life. In the end, bzm won that match. I was really angry, and I think that’s why I performed worse in the official game.”

According to a statement by Matthew “ari” Walker, he recently experienced a similar situation with David “Parker” Flores when they were matched against each other in matchmaking while still being teammates at the time. The esports player noted that he felt a strong desire to win that game.

As a reminder, Aiden “Insania” Sarkoy previously named Neto “33” Shapiro the weakest player on the 1win Team’s Dota 2 roster.