From the Ashes of TI: A Look at the Teams’ Post-Shuffle
The dust from the post-TI shuffle is finally settling down and the teams are stabilizing in time for the upcoming Dota tournaments coming later this year. It’s all business as players are looking out for redemption and new homes after unsatisfactory showings in this year’s The International.
ESL New York and the Frankfurt Major are at the forefront of many Dota 2 teams later this year. With Valve requiring roster locks in all of the future Majors, we won’t likely see a change of this caliber in the Dota 2 landscape ever again. So let’s relish this moment as much as Mangix relishes his good ol’ brew.
Fnatic
The legendary Fnatic name is finally living up to its prestige in the Dota 2 scene. Fnatic has been dominating the SEA scene as of late with the team taking the bragging rights as kings of the region. Fnatic recently bagged the ESL One NY SEA Qualifiers as well as the Beyond The Summit Series SEA Cup.
Malaysian star Mushi leads the team composed of fellow nationals Ohaiyo and Net playing supports, joining them are Filipino pride, DJ taking the offlane and dynamic German carry player Black^. Their success in SEA has been unquestionable but its interesting to see how they fare against the best in the world.
Photo from Mushi’s Facebook Page
- Dominik “Black^” Reitmeier
- Chai “Mushi” Yee Fung
- Djardel “Chrissy/DJ” Mampusti
- Chong “Ohaiyo” Xin Khoo
- Wai “Net” Pem Lim
Team Fire
While Fnatic has been dominating the SEA region, Fire has been doing just about the same in the NA scene minus Evil Geniuses. Fire took down complexity Gaming, Root Gaming and even TI5 champion Kurtis “Aui_2000“ Ling’s new team, Digital Chaos, en route to booking a slot at the ESL One NY Main Event. They are playing at peak form and with an unconventional style reminiscent of Cloud9.G2A’s glory days, Fire is a team to watch out for.
Photo from ongamers.com
- Jio “Jeyo” Magdayag
- Eric “747” Dong
- David “Moo” Hull
- Bryant “whiteBeard” Lehwald
- Brian “FLUFFNSTUFF” Lee
Cloud9.G2A
Cloud9.G2A has finally pulled the trigger on long time roster lead by Jacky “EternalEnvy” Mao and opted with a fresh approach and younger talent. Former Secret coach and long time TI veteran 1437 leads this group of upstarts and they’ve had a dream start with respectable showings in the Nanyang Championship and ESL One NY Qualifiers.
But their lack of experience and immaturity showed as they eventually sputtered out of said tournaments. Hopefully, they learned from their mistakes and will come out stronger in the upcoming tournaments. As they say, ‘With youth, comes potential.’
Photo from gamesports.net
- Ravi “Ritsu” Kodippili
- Braxton “Brax” Paulson
- Arif “MSS” Anwar
- Avery “SVG” Silverman
- Theeban “1437” Siva
EHOME
EHOME! Ah, one of the oldest organizations in the Chinese Dota 2 scene. They finished Top 6 in the last TI but that wasn’t enough for this organization so they decided to, once again, shake things up. The only holdovers from their last TI run are Chen “Cty” Tianyu and Zhang “Lanm” Zhicheng. Completing the roster are relatively newcomers to the Dota 2 so this mix of youth and veteran leadership will be a match made in EHOME heaven.
- Chen “Cty” Tianyu
- Wang “old chicken” Zhiyong
- Ren “eLeVeN” Yangwei
- Hu “KaKa” Liangzhi
- Zhang “Lanm” Zhicheng
Vici Gaming
This is just another case of the strong – well – get stronger. Chen “Hao” Zhihao left the team to reunite with Newbee but in his place comes the ever popular, Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei. Vici Gaming will not be left wanting in the carry department by any margin.
Super is still one of the best mid players in the business and the same can be said about Daryl “iceiceice” Pei Xiang’s offlane. Complementing the solid core is still one of the most dynamic support duos to play the game: Xu “fy” Linsen and Lu “Fenrir” Chao. Vici Gaming will remain in the upper echelon of Dota 2 without a shadow of a doubt.
- Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei
- Xie “Super” Junhao
- Daryl “iceiceice” Pei Xiang
- Xu “fy” Linsen
- Lu “Fenrir” Chao
Digital Chaos
Many people were shocked by Aui_2000’s sudden ejection from Evil Geniuses whom he had just won TI5 with. EG Captain Peter “ppd” Dager did clarify and state the organization’s reasons for doing so. Aui_2000 quickly found a new home in Digital Chaos because after all, he is a proven champion.
Notably, joining him is Syed “SumaiL” Hassan’s older brother Yawar. The two brothers were tearing up the NA scene together before SumaiL was picked up by Evil Geniuses. The two are similar high risk, high reward players at the Mid position. With Aui_2000 and YawaR headlining this team, they are out to cause some good old fashioned chaos.
- Tyler “TC” Cook
- Yawar “YawaR” Hassan
- Sam “BuLba” Sosale
- Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling
- Hà “Biryu” Quốc Đạt
(monkey) Business
A brand new European team is gearing up for the Majors and they are led by fan favorite Johan “BigDaddy” Sundstein and 8k MMR pub starAmer “Miracle” Barqawi. BigDaddy is showing off his flexibility by taking the Mid role in this team. Cr1T- and Miracle may be new to the professional scene but they do have some of the brightest talent in the Dota 2 scene to show them the ropes. If underestimated, this team can easily surprise other teams and show that they indeed mean (monkey) business.
- Amer “Miracle” Barqawi
- Johan “BigDaddy” Sundstein
- David “MoonMeander” Tan
- Andreas “Cr1T-” Nielsen
- Tal “Fly” Aizik
Team Secret
Team Secret is going for almost a complete overhaul with their line up after failing to live up to the great expectations set for them in the last TI. Only Clement “Puppey” Ivanov remained on the original Team Secret roster after its underwhelming run.
Joining him are a lot of big names like former C9.G2A captain Jacky “EternalEnvy” Mao and rising starAliwi “w33” Omar. Rounding them up are the ever reliable Johan “pieliedie” Astrom and Rasmus “MiSeRy” Filipsen. Puppey still remains as one of the best tactical minds the game has ever seen. This team comes with less ‘star power’ than its previous incarnation but can it compete at the highest level? Absolutely.
- Jacky “EternalEnvy” Mao
- Aliwi “w33” Omar
- Rasmus “MiSeRy” Filipsen
- Clement “Puppey” Ivanov
- Johan “pieliedie” Astrom
Evil Geniuses
The Champions of TI themselves, Evil Geniuses. More, and more, Artour “Arteezy” Babaev is likening himself to the Lebron James of Dota 2. He left Evil Geniuses to form a ‘super’ team in Team Secret. When it wasn’t working out for him he decided to come home. Both are incredibly talented in their own field but the question is can Evil Geniuses win with the ‘prodigal son’?
There is a possible ego conflict going on with Arteezy and SumaiL as both play similar styles and both desire the spotlight. But if there is one person that could keep them in line it is none other than the old man himself, Clinton “Fear” Loomis. Will they click like Wade and Lebron? Or will they sputter out like Shaq and Kobe? I, for one, can’t wait to find out.
- Artour “Arteezy” Babaev
- Syed “SumaiL” Hassan
- Sahil “Universe” Arora
- Clinton “Fear” Loomis
- Peter “ppd” Dager
Which teams are you looking forward to seeing in action? Which ones will you think will falter? Let us know in the comments!
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