Hokori drops two after underwhelming DPC, ahead of Malaysia qualifier

Dota 2
July 20, 2022
Marcus Wong

Roster shuffles aren’t uncommon in Dota 2, but for a Peruvian staple in the South American scene, it’s a telltale sign of crippling performance. Hokori has had quite the DPC (2021-22) season, rising to a close runner-up spot to downhill elimination from Division 1.

They are once again at it with the roster swaps. This time around they dropped two and gained two.

Hokori Dota 2

Hokori picks up Thiolicor (again)

It came as quite a surprise for fans when Hokori picked up Thiago “Thiolicor” Cordeiro again after presumably kicking him. Yelsthin “elmisho” Hurtado replaced the former during DPC SA Tour 3 and left after their eight-place finish. Answering why they decided to put Thiolicor back on the active line-up, it might just be they are prepping for the International 11 (TI11) qualifiers.

TI11 kicks off in October with qualifiers expected to occur a month or longer before the actual event. In other words, there really isn’t much leg room for any team hoping to attempt one last chance at qualifying for TI11. Hence, bringing back Thilicor’s synergy with the team was a decision well-made.

The Whole Gang’s Here

Alongside is Edward “Lumière” Valencia, who has a long history of participation in multiple SA teams, and is also a former player of Hokori. And as it turns out, it was all along Hokori’s plan to recruit its founding players.

João “4nalog” Giannini is the team’s latest addition too before the two ‘new’ joiners, but also had a history with Hokori. As such, Hokori’s mass shuffle was merely a regathering of its founding members.

Hokori’s path through DPC SA Tour 3

The DPC SA Tour 3 puts Hokori out of Division 1 after they lost at eighth place. Considering the recent rise of SA candidates, such as beastcoast and Thunder Awaken, Hokori’s state is unacceptable if they are aiming for TI11.

DPC seasons aside, TI11 is still a plausible dream. Hence, Hokori scrambling to recruit its founding members. Yet, it wasn’t like Hokori was ever in their prime since all they accomplished was staying afloat in Division 1. At least, until the recent DPC SA Tour 2, when Hokori narrowly secures tickets to the Stockholm Major. The 2nd-3rd tiebreaker versus beastcoast was a close one, where they truly gave beastcoast a run for their money.

Unfortunately, beastcoast was able to get the last laugh with a game-winning team fight, which showcased their respect towards Hokori’s Chaos Knight as a threat. Beastcoast rushed BKB across all their carry players as a countermeasure.

Prepping for ESL One Malaysia 2022

Before TI11, comes the ESL One Malaysia 2022, which features a massive prize pool despite being a third-party tournament. Hokori will play the SA qualifiers versus many regional rivals, such as Thunder Awaken, beastcoast and Infamous.

These are opponents, which have time to time surprised the crowd with their phenomenal display of strength during majors. For instance, Thunder Awaken and beastcoast secured fifth and sixth place respectively at Stockholm Major. It was a massive feat for SA teams as they become a mainstay among the top ranks in majors, which brings us to how Hokori plans on disrupting its peers.

For one, Hokori’s drafts are relatively standard and rely heavily on good execution in-game. This puts them in a difficult spot against its rivals, who are clearly better at the whole team synergy. Since then, Hokori attempted to diversify its options by pulling off bombastic drafts, as seen in DPC SA Tour 3.

It was an overall poor show of drafting expertise, and frankly, they need to return to their roots of meta drafts and good execution.

Hokori’s days of experimenting are over. They look forward to potentially playing against the greats ESL One Malaysia 2022 soon. It will be interesting to see how the ‘revamped’ roster fair up against its rivals.

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