Watson Got Into a Fight with Malady During a Team Yandex Practice Session

Alimzhan “Watson” Islambekov and Arman “Malady” Orazbaev had a falling out during Team Yandex’s practice matches.

The players’ accounts of what happened are presented on Offstage.

Watson: “There was this one time when I messed up a play. Malady raised his voice at me really loudly—right in the middle of the game. I started raising my voice back at him. There was a timeout, and the coach started calming us down. We came out of the timeout and started playing again. And our three teammates were just sitting there in shock. They were wondering what was going on with us on the line. After that, we had a session with a psychologist. It lasted about four hours.”

Malady: “That wasn’t the end of the story. As soon as that game ended, I immediately canceled the next qualifiers and told the coach, ‘Find a replacement for the next tournament—I’m not playing with him.’ And a day later, we’re back on the line together and best friends again.”

According to Team Yandex players, the conflict began when Arman “Malady” Orazbaev raised his voice at Alimzhan “Watson” Islambekov over a poor play. Initially, Malady didn’t want to play on the same team with Watson at all, but a session with a psychologist helped resolve the issue, and a few days later, the conflict was completely resolved.

As a reminder, Martin “Saksa” Sazdov previously summarized Team Yandex’s performance at The International 2026.