Did Dota 2 Roster shuffles begin too early this season?

Dota 2
July 30, 2021
Marcus Wong

Dota 2 roster shuffles and transfers usually happen in August ahead and after the Internationals concludes. With The International 10 (TI10) postponed for a bit longer this year, teams and players are already looking for new opportunities for the upcoming season a little early. Teams that did not make it into TI10 have started roster swapping two months ahead of the event and might miss out on some interesting tournaments.

Dota 2 roster shuffles are often depicted as a saddening departure, but it’s not always the case, as we do have several team formations as well.

No[o]ne

Natus Vincere (Eastern Europe)

NaVi’s the established powerhouse first team bids farewell with the organization. They roster consists of several reputable CIS players such as, Vladimir “No[o]ne” Minenko, Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev, and Vladimir “RodjER” Nikogosian.

At first glance, these former remnants of team Virtus.pro were the craze to qualify for the International 10. However, they were eliminated prematurely by an unlikely underdog, Team Empire. With their Cinderella story down the drain, Navi’s decision to put their Dota 2 roster on hold was reasonable.

This also puts the organization in a peculiar position as we have more then 2 months until Ti10 and the roster shuffle that follows. We anticipate NaVi wont pick up another roster until then, meaning they are unlikely to commit to any tournament organized in the interim between now and next season.

TEAM TEAM (North America)

This one is a NA classic. Veteran player Michael “ixmike88” Ghannam assembles the TEAM TEAM line-up for the Dota Pro Circuit 2022 (DPC 2022) run. The entire line-up consists of Samuel “Sammyboy” Anderson, Eric “Ryoya” Dong, and Braxton “Brax” Paulson. With a non-founding member, Francis “FLee” Lee, to complete the roster.

In the past, TEAM TEAM has always been a controversial team, to say the least. Notably, when players were kicked on a whim due to one player’s opinion of the other. In the end, TEAM TEAM never really shared much success as the team had too many shuffles.

Of course, heading into the DPC 2022 season they might want to look to maintain their roster. We saw how Quincy Crew’s perseverance paid off over the past year as they are headed for TI10.

Neon Esports (Southeast Asia)

Over at the Southeast Asia region, OB Esports x Neon lets go of John Anthony “Natsumi-“ Vargas. Neon rose to fame during the Singapore Major when they finished fifth place, but it was without Natsumi-. Coincidentally, Neon has performed poorly ever since.

It was made clear that Neon was playing at a much better pace when they had Yang “Deth” Wu Heng as stand-in. Now that the lather found a place in Fnatic, which will be playing at TI10, Neon will have to find a new carry player.

Vikin.gg (Western Europe)

We will be lying if we didn’t feel saddened by Vikin.gg’s disband. Since their debut, Vikin.gg has proved themselves to be a mainstay among the European challengers. They had frequent encounters with high-profile teams, such as Team Secret and OG. Occasionally, they even gave their rivals a run for their money.

Yet, the DPC 2021 season has been rough for the young squad, especially the Singapore Major qualifiers. They flopped the Upper Division S1 league and were demoted to Lower Division in the second season. Although Vikin.gg remained optimistic at pursuing their dreams longer, it seems like missing TI10 was the nail on the coffin. Frankly, Vikin.gg’s disband came as a shock because they already secured an Upper Division slot for the DPC 2022 season. Well, only time will tell about Vikin.gg’s future plans.

The Dota 2 competitive scene is as vigorous as it always has been this time of the year. The problem is with Ti10 postoponed, there is a huge gap between now and the event to source the top talent and to do a proper roster shuffle. Many teams may disband “early” and potentially miss out on tournaments between now and October.

We are aware everyone is looking forward to the new DPC 2022 season, and there’s no time to sob over missing TI10. But dumping a roster too early might result in some missed opportunities at other third-party organized events. Speaking of TI10, catch the Dota 2 betting action coming this fall. Eighteen teams compete for millions, and we’ll be there to guide you through it all.