Kiritych Dethrones watson To Claim Rank 1

Entity’s Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov who has been sitting on the top of Dota 2 leaderboard in the European server for almost a year has finally been dethroned. On 13th January, Virtus.pro’s Ilya “Kiritych” Ulyanov put an end to watson’s dominance by claiming Rank 1. It should be noted that watson was the third player to reach the 13K MMR mark in Dota 2. What we do not know right now is whether Kiritych managed to come near or cross the 13K MMR mark. But Kiritych’s peak was 12K MMR which he achieved in 2022. The two players seem to be trading positions as watson reclaimed the top 1 position on the same day.

watson and Kiritych Trade Ranks

On 13th January, Virtus.pro’s Kiritych managed to dethrone the long-time rank 1 player, watson. watson was consistently sitting on the top of the leaderboard and dethroning watson is an achievement that must be commended. 

Earlier, 15-year-old prodigy Satanic/Butterfly came close to being crowned as the highest-ranked player on the European servers but failed. At the time of writing, Satanic is currently sitting at rank 3, just behind watson. Shortly, after Kiritych hit rank 1, watson managed to reclaim the spot but Kiritych snatched it right back in the next hourly update. These two are currently see-sawing between rank 1 and rank 2. 

It should be noted that while watson is regarded as one of the most dominant pub players he has not found much success in the professional Dota 2 scene. watson’s team, Entity, could only secure a 9th-12th standing at The International 2023 (TI12). Following this, it failed to qualify for the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 event. Just recently, Entity was knocked out of the qualifiers for BetBoom Dacha 2024 Dubai by Tundra Esports. However, Entity still has a chance for redemption, as it will be competing in the DreamLeague Season 22: Western Europe closed qualifier.

Meanwhile, Kiritych’s team Virtus.pro managed to secure 7th-8th standing at The International 2023 and was, in fact, responsible for knocking out Entity from the tournament. Virtus.pro did not participate at the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 tournament but at the BetBoom Dacha 2024 Dubai Eastern European qualifier, it dominated and secured a spot in the main tournament. Virtus.pro is also invited to the DreamLeague Season 22 closed qualifier and will be trying its best to carve its way to the main tournament.