Artour “Arteezy” Babaev is an icon within the Dota 2 world. Even while competing at the top of the food chain, he still respects his peers, and also revealed who he thought was the most skilled Dota 2 player in a recent stream.
While queueing up for a match, Arteezy’s chat asked him “who was the most mechanically skilled player he has ever played with or against,” and a long thought process led the Shopify Rebellion star to a single answer: Syed “SumaiL” Hassan.
SumaiL and Arteezy played together for Evil Geniuses between 2017 and 2019. Before this period, Arteezy played for EG until he decided to region-hop to Europe with Team Secret. The former captain of the squad, Peter “ppd” Dager, filled the hole Arteezy left behind with SumaiL, and the squad went on to win The International 2015.
When Arteezy finally returned to North America for good in 2017, he and SumaiL turned into the backbone of EG until SumaiL left the squad in early 2020. While the two haven’t played in the same team since then, the mutual respect is clearly still there, as SumaiL recently started a new journey in China with Team Aster.
Related: SumaiL leaves Nigma after an eye-opening experience in Dota 2’s Berlin Major
Ever since setting foot in the Chinese Dota 2 region, SumaiL has been putting on a prime-time performance, securing a major seat at the Bali Major and restoring hope to the region that’s been on a steep decline.