Hashom: "If the teams want to win against us they should at least ban Montagne and Blitz; if they keep one of them, they are going to lose the game"

Twisted Minds is a team that doesn't need too much to impress. It's a team that you either love or hate; there's no middle ground.

In Salt Lake City, Twisted Minds have been one of the main storylines of the competition. Despite having to play with Abdulrahman "Guardz" Alsaeedi as a stand-in due to his brother's Abdullah "Dov2hkiin" Alsaeedi's absence, the team reached the tournament's playoffs after three consecutive victories against three Kickoff champions, including FURIA, Weibo Gaming, and G2 Esports.

Such positive results in the Swiss Stage rewarded the team with a top-two seed ahead of the playoffs as only the back-to-back world champions FaZe Clans had also secured a 3-0 record in the tournament's second phase. In the quarterfinals, Twisted Minds beat Oceania's Kickoff champions ENTERPRISE Esports to become the first MENA team ever to reach the semifinals of a BLAST R6 Major.

"I am so happy and so proud of the team. I think the region has a lot of talented players; at every event we are always doing good against the top teams," Hashem "Hashom" Jafri said at a post-match interview with SiegeGG.

Twisted Minds' aggressiveness have made them a serious threat to all teams in the tournament. Managing the pace they want to play is a tough challenge for all their opponents and certainly the key to beat the MENA roster. Recently, teams figured out that banning shields is what works the best when Twisted Minds are on attack.

For instance, G2 Esports secured a 5-1 defensive half on Chalet after banning Blitz, Montagne, and Blackeard. Similarly, ENTERPRISE Esports completed a 4-0 defensive half on Kafe Dostoyevsky after banning the very same three attackers.

It didn't go so well for the Oceanic roster on Clubhouse, though. Despite banning Blackbeard and Blitz, Twisted Minds still managed to secure three attacks as they combined Montagne with tracking operators such as Grim, Deimos, and Solid Snake. Eventually, ENTERPRISE Esports banned the French attacker; but then Twisted Minds used Fuze's shield.

"If the teams want to win against us they should at least ban Montagne and Blitz; if they keep one of them, they are going to lose the game," Hashom said.

Finally, ENTERPRISE Esports took a risky gamble on Fortress: they decided to take a different approach by banning Dokkaebi and Solid Snake. It proved to be the wrong call, as Twisted Minds won their three attacks to close out the game. "That's the reason why they lost that map," Hashom said.

Stats certainly don't offer the full picture but they help at understanding the strengths and weaknesses of a team. In Twisted Minds' case, the players have won 8 of their 12 attacking rounds (66,7%) in Salt Lake City so far when all shield operators were available. However, the team has only won 12 out of its 27 attacking rounds (44,4%) when two shield operators were banned.

Twisted Minds' victory against ENTERPRISE Esports means the team is one win away from reaching their first international grand final. Curiously enough, MENA's strongest performances have com on American soil, with Geekay Esports' Top 8 in Atlanta and Team Falcons' Top 8 at the Six Invitational 2025 played in Boston being the best examples.

Regarding MENA's level and growth in recent times, Hashom was very clear: he's not happy that MENA don't have their own region anymore. "They shouldn't have removed it (MENA League). Because of the ping. We can't play, the ping is a big disadvantage for us... I think they just should bring MENA League for us."

Whilst the ping has always been a big concern for players competing from MENA, the truth is that this is no problem in Salt Lake City. Twisted Minds' next test is their priority and Hashom sounded excited to have a shot at reaching an international grand final, especially as he will have to play a team he has never played against before: Shopify Rebellion.

"We are excited to play against new teams, I am going to prove everyone wrong. I will do my best... I am so confident with the team and the teammates."

Finally, Hashom had some kind words for Twisted Minds while also talking about one of his upcoming challenges: the Esports World Cup. "Thanks for Twisted Minds. They trust in us, they believe in us. About EWC, I think it's the biggest event. For myself, I have never qualified for EWC... so I need that!"

For more information about Rainbow Six Siege and its esports scene, make sure to check out Siege.GG.