Quinn Callahan has been loving life since leaving the North American Dota 2 scene to join Gaimin Gladiators in Western Europe. And why wouldn’t he? The team has started off the season well with four wins and two losses, putting them one win away from the Lima Major.
But, even though he was one of the best players in the region and helped carry the torch for NA Dota, he threw his homeland some shade in a post-match interview after beating Into The Breach on Wednesday, Jan 25.
Quinn said he thought it would have been more stressful coming to Europe because of how much tougher it is than NA, but while that’s true, he actually finds it less stressful because it’s more consistent than NA where you can “win asleep for half of the games.”
The 23-year-old midlaner said the only game that ever seemed to matter in NA was the final showdown against Evil Geniuses, who were the gatekeepers at the time. In EU, however, every game matters, and while that leads to more stress, he says it’s “nicer” because he gets to play “actual opponents” each match rather than “one or two.”
It’s not the first time Quinn has slammed the region for not being very competitive. In Nov. 2022, he said NA was “dead” and “the worst region in the world” and would “continue to decline.” It’s a sentiment other pros, including former EG captain Peter “ppd” Dager, share, especially now EG signed Thunder Awaken’s roster and moved to South America.
But while Quinn’s move may have ultimately been out of necessity for the sake of his career, he’s fit into the European scene nicely, showing that while his home region might be in dire straits, the talent it has produced can still compete with the best.
Sneyking, who captained Tundra to winning TI11, is a testament to that.
