ari on the meta in matchmaking: “Constant fight. If someone doesn’t come to the fight, the game will be abandoned.”

1win Team support Matthew 'ari' Walker, as part of the ALL CHAT podcast, spoke about leaving Tundra Esports, named the favorites of The International 2026, and also described Neta '33' Shapira as the leader of the team and as a teammate in the public.

We just lost a tournament from PGL, it seemed like we took last place, and 33 gathered us on the street. We immediately realized that this was something serious. He said, “I know this is not the right time, but Tundra Esports is looking for a new home for us.” At first I thought we were breaking up. One will be sold here, the other - there. I thought it was all over. Well, okay, it was a normal run, we won tournaments, and now it’s time to say goodbye. And it was just a shutdown of Tundra Esports, and she was looking for someone to take us. Fortunately, a new organization was quickly found. There were few options, but we quickly found one that suited us. In fact, it didn't get any worse. It was just funny how it looked in the beginning.

This is a very complex personality; he cannot be described in a few words. But as a leader he is good - mature, ready to have difficult discussions, to force people to do the right things. Always shares ideas and suggestions for everyone in their roles. Some people find it harder than others to do everything together. He makes sure everyone watches the tapes, goes out together, has the correct schedule for tournaments, and so on.

He also leads by example. He is very good, everyone respects him. This helps him to be a leader because people listen to him and follow his ideas. Obviously, he has his own unique style of play, and he is not going to play differently. It's good that he understands this. But at the same time, he is very good at adapting so that all our views on the game converge and we can build a good overall picture. Most of the time, he's not much of a dictator. He listens to my or anyone else's ideas. I can't say anything bad.

At PGL Wallachia Season 7 we played with Parker. Me, Parker, 33 and Whitemon got caught up against bzm. Of course, this was a +40 MMR game for bzm. Parker took Ax as a carry, Whitemon took Sniper as a mid. I thought, “What are you doing?” I tried to win, 33 tried. And these were just feeding. Parker 0-20-0. They thought it was fun. And with rank 2 I would like to take rank 1. I was in a good position. This was important to me. I didn’t understand why they were doing this to me. It was a warm-up for the official party. To be honest, after this game I was on tilt, I didn’t even want to play the official game. It might even have had a slight impact on my performance in that match. For the most part, it's impossible to put me on tilt, but that game really got to me.

I think we have a good chance. I won’t say that we are the favorites, but we are among the best. In the top 6 I would put us, Team Yandex, PARIVISION, Team Falcons, Team Spirit and BetBoom Team.

Not for me, but for most players, 33 can be a controversial teammate in public. The public meta is fights. Constant fight. If someone doesn’t come to the fight, the game will be abandoned. And 33 goes to the public and plays his game. But if teammates are not on board, then there will be a split in the team. He even tries to write to the chat and explain something, but they only answer: “You are a bot. Come on, fight! Why are you farming AFK?” They don't care about his achievements.

1win Team performs at The International 2026 under the Iron Wing tag. The team qualified for the playoffs, where they faced Team Spirit in the first round.