The International 10 wrapped up on October 18th, 2021 with Team Spirit claiming the Aegis. However, all that means is that it’s now officially the start of the Dota 2 offseason. Let the roster shuffles begin!
After their departure from TI10, Quincy Crew announced they will separate (Photo via Valve)
The International was delayed this year, and plenty of teams found their rosters out of contract before the season had even ended. This means this short offseason (the first league will reportedly start on November 29th) will be one of the more chaotic in recent memory.
*Breaking: JerAx and Nightfall Join Evil Geniuses!*
Offseason Moves during TI10
Before TI had even wrapped up, teams involved in the event were posting about potential moves and departures.
Thunder Predator Roster Departs
On October 16th, Joel Mori “MoOz” Ozambela revealed that the current Thunder Predator lineup, including himself, would be leaving the organization.
Quincy Crew Breaks Up
Also on October 16th, the freshly departed from TI Quincy Crew announced they’d be parting ways. The team would be looking for other opportunities.
Rodrigo Lelis provided a little more context in a TwitLonger the next day. In it, he announced his return to streaming and his LFT status.
TNC Predator released
In an unsurprising move, TNC predator released its roster on October 17th. The majority of the players posted “Looking for Team” messages on Twitter the same day.
October 18th Offseason Roster Moves
On October 18th, South American DPC team No Ping e-Sports announced the release of their entire roster. They stated that this was a decision by the players, and that for the next season No Ping would continue in the DPC with a new lineup.
October 20th Offseason Roster Moves
SG esports releases roster
On October 20th, SG esports announced the release of its Dota 2 roster. This, according to their announcement, was a decision made by the players, and the organization wished them well. The team also announced it would be continuing in Dota 2 for the next season.
Thunder Predator Signs former NoPing e-Sports roster
On the late evening of October 20th, Thunder Predator revealed its new roster: The old NoPing lineup.
The New Thunder Predator Lineup:
- Christian “Angel” Savina
- Gonzalo “Darkmago” Herrera
- Oscar David “Oscar” Chavez
- Farith “Matthew” Puente
- Jose Leonardo “Pandaboo” Padilla Hernandez
October 21st Offseason Roster Moves
In the afternoon of October 21st Alliance announced the departure of Linus “Limpp” Blomdin and Artiom “fng” Barshack. The pair had been part of Alliance since October 2019, and the move marks the end of their two-year run with the team.
A reason wasn’t given, but many fans have light heartedly speculated that there was division within the team, pointing towards a now infamous clip of Limmp denying the team a group hug ahead of their game with T1.
Fnatic says goodbye to ChYuan and Deth
Fnatic also got in on the roster shuffle today, revealing the departure of Ng “ChYuan” Kee Chyuan and Yang “Deth” Wu Heng on Facebook. The team thanked the players, revealing that their contacts had run out, and the squad hadn’t chosen to renew them.
Fnatic’s October 21st Roster Shuffle News
October 24th Roster Moves
On the evening of October 24th, Alliance announced the departure of team captain Gustav “S4” Magnusson. The long-time Alliance player had previously been a part of the organization’s TI3-winning run.
November 1st Roster Moves
The new month kicked off with a bang, as Virtus.pro announced they would be looking for new Position One and Position Four players. While the team didn’t announce it was dropping any players, it certainly doesn’t sound good for Vitalie “Save-” Melnic or Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko, who are currently rostered on the team in those positions.
November 2nd Roster Moves
Roman “Resolut1on” Fomynok, former Virtus.pro player and most recently Hellraisers announced on November 2nd his intention to sit out the next season of the DPC. He sited the 9-year grind, and burnout as a reason for the break.
In a Twitlonger, he described his desire to “be able to look at the situation from an outside, get a different perspective, recharge and learn how to live every day without running after results.”
November 3rd Roster Moves
Wednesday, November 3rd kicked off with a bang as Team Secret announced the shock departure of Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg
Zai was one of the longest tenured players on Team Secret, having played for the team in both 2015 and since 2018 in its current form. He was a part of Team Secret’s incredible 8-straight tournament wins in 2020, and has been one of the most consistent offlaners in all of Dota for several years. At the time of writing Team Secret had not announced a replacement.
Zai’s destination would be revealed a few hours later: Zai would be headed to Team Liquid. It’s currently uncertain whether he’ll be playing offlane, or position 4 (a role he’s equally familiar with).
November 4th Roster Changes
Despite initial reports of the team parting ways, Quincy Crew debuted a new roster of November 4th.
After initially dropping all its players last month, the team saw the return of Yawar Hassan and Quinn Callahan. But the team would add new captain and former Vikin.gg player Maurice “KheZu” Gutmann as captain, former Ghost Frogs and Creepwave four position Milan “MiLAN” Kozomara, and, in perhaps the biggest signing, former coach and analyst Remus “ponlo” Goh Zhi Xian.
November 8th Roster Shuffle News
Saksa and SumaiL out of OG
The week of November 8th kicked off with a bang, with OG announcing the departure of two of its players. Four position Martin “Saksa” Sazdov and carry Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan officially departed the organization on Monday evening.
The announcement detailed that both players wanted to look for new opportunities outside of OG. OG had a respectable 7th-8th place finish to TI10, but for two-time back-to-back Champions, that may have fallen short of expectations. Ultimately, OG struggled during the 2021 season, and only qualified for TI10 at the last possible moment. The team will be headed into rebuilding mode ahead of the 2021-2022 DPC season.
November 15th Roster Moves
A new week, a new huge roster move as Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen parts ways with Team Secret. The carry was picked up by Team Secret in 2019, and was a part of their incredible 2020 run, and the 2021 DPC season.
Secret captain Clement “Puppey” Ivanov shared his own sentiments on the departure: “Another chapter has ended, but never forgotten. Lasse is an amazing guy and I really enjoyed being teammates with him. We shared some great moments together and I am sure that we will keep crossing paths outside of our careers. Good luck to you Matu!”
The departure leaves Team Secret with two major roster spots to fill, and limited time to do it. But with some big-name players still looking for teams, these could be filled in short order.
November 16th Roster Moves
Talon Esports shocked the SEA scene today by announcing their entrance to Dota 2. What’s more they picked up a huge number of big names for their debut roster. Captained by former Evil Genius member Tal “Fly” Aizik, this brand new stack will definitely shake up their region.
Talon Esports Lineup
- Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte
- Rafli Fathur “Mikoto” Rahman
- Damien “kpii” Chok
- Brizio Adi “Hyde” Putra Budiana
- Tal “Fly” Aizik
This surprise roster will likely have to battle through the Lower Bracket of the SEA DPC league. But even with that ahead of them, many are predicting Majors and TI attendance in the future for this lineup. In the official announcement post, Talon Esports CEO Sean Zhang set out some of the teams goals ““We have put together a supremely talented roster with the goal of contending for majors and of course the International next year.” Lofty ambitions, but ones that a roster of this calibre can definitely achieve.
November 17th Roster Moves
In a huge day of roster announcements, half a dozen teams confirmed their lineup for the DPC 2021-2022 season. This started early in the morning with TNC Predator revealing their new roster featuring Kim “Febby” Yong-Min:
But this was just the beginning. Nigma Galaxy, Southeast Asian sister team to the European organization, revealed a stacked roster to compete in this year’s DPC. THis was followed shortly by The Cut announcing their roster for the NA Division II.
But the biggest moves of the day were set to be revealed later. First Michał “Nisha” Jankowski announced his move back to the one position, making him the primary carry of Team Secret.
Secondly, Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen made a surprise return to Team Liquid after his departure in 2019.
Matumbaman won a TI with TL, and is definitely an upgrade for the squad. But now with seven players on their roster, including Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg, some hard decisions are set to be made in the future by Team Liquid.
Even More Roster Changes
Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev, formerly of EG and Na’Vi, was on November 17th linked to new team CIS Rejects. He joined Artsiom “fng” Barshak, Vladimir “RodjER” Nikogosian, Pavel “9pasha” Khvastunov, and Gleb “depressed kid” Zyryanov as part of this new lineup.
Meanwhile, Max “qojqva” Bröcker teased a move from Team Liquid to OG in a stream announcement. The distinct hexagonal logo silhouette suggested that he would likely be leaving TL, as per the signing of Zai and Matumbaman. But ultimately, qojqva revealed he was staying put in TL, but would be moving to a full-time streaming role, rather than being a player on the main roster.
November 18th Roster Moves
November 18th started with a bang as Team Secret confirmed a rumour that former EG player Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang would be joining the team. Team Secret confirmed the move in a social media post
After teasing his move in a tweet reading “LFT willing to relocate,” the long rumoured move to Secret means that one of the biggest meme players in history has made his move to the EU DPC. The current Team Secret roster is as follows:
- Michał “Nisha” Jankowski
- Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan
- Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang
- Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat
- Clement “Puppey” Ivanov
But, not content to be outdone by their regional rivals, Alliance also announced their roster on the 18th:
Alliance’s new roster now consists of the following:
- Nikolay “Nikobaby” Nikolov
- Ondřej “Supream^” Štarha
- Rodrigo “Leslão” Santos
- Adan “Aramus” Moroz
- Simon “Handsken” Haag
November 19th Roster Moves
With the days before the start of the new season ticking slowly down, OG dropped a pair bombshells. Firstly, Sébastien “Ceb” Debs would be stepping down and reportedly retiring, and Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen was taking a break to stream full-time.
The pair of announcements leaves OG with just team owner and founder Johan “N0tail” Sundstein on roster. OG fans eagerly await the announcement of the team’s new roster. But until then, it’s a sad time to be an OG fan.
Tundra lightened the mood with the announcement that they’d be renewing the contracts of their roster. And with a surprising twist: contracts that last until 2024. After signing Mudgolems in January 2021, Tundra shocked many with how much of a consistent and dangerous opponent they were in the DPC. Now they’ll be a thorn in opponent’s sides until at least 2024.
Tundra’s current roster is as follows:
- Adrian “Fata” Trinks (Captain)
- Oliver “skiter” Lepko
- Leon “Nine” Kirilin
- Neta “33” Shapira
- Malthe “Biver” Winther
Team Liquid starts the painful cuts
With seven players on their roster, it’s no surprise that TL had to start making some difficult decisions soon. Those decisions started on the 19th, as the team announced the departure of Tommy “Taiga” Le.
With Max “qojqva” Bröcker announcing he’d be a full-time streamer for the TL organization during a stream November 18th, TL now had its roster for the 2021-2022 DPC season:
- Michael “miCKe” Vu
- Samuel “Boxi” Svahn
- Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi
- Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen
- Ludwig “Zai” Wåhlberg
November 20th Roster Moves
With the open qualifiers for the 2021-2022 DPC now well underway, the only roster moves left would most likely be from existing teams in the DPC. And sure enough, November 20th kicked off with Fnatic rounding out their roster with Armel Paul Tabios and Jaunuel Arcilla.
Meanwhile, in the CIS, Virtus.pro also finished up their roster, adding Danial “yamich” Lazebnyy as their new four position. The new Virtus.pro roster is as follows
- Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko
- Danil “gpk” Skutin
- Dmitry “DM” Dorokhin
- Danial “yamich” Lazebnyy
- Illias “Kingslayer” Ganeev
But once again, it was up to OG to crown the news day with the announcement that N0tail would be stepping away from competitive play and taking a break. Instead, N0tail would be moving into a mentoring and coaching role with the team.
The news cemented the idea that we’d have an all-new OG roster headed into 2021-2022 DPC season, with none of the familiar faces playing, at least for the now. But the strangest roster announcement of the day wouldn’t come until later.
Evil Geniuses, who’d had rosters rumours swirling for much of the offseason finally confirmed their roster on Saturday evening. The move added retired former OG player Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka and CIS former VP player Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko to the line up. Despite losing two of their best players, EG once again looks like the strongest team in North America with the addition of these two players.
EG’s Full Roster is as follows
- Artour “Arteezy” Babaev
- Abed “Abed” Yusop
- Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko
- Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen
- Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka
November 21st Roster Moves
Luckily for OG fans, the team didn’t leave us waiting long for news of their new Roster. In a pair of announcements, the team first revealed Mikhail “Misha” Agatov as the new captain of the team. Misha had joined the squad as a Coach during TI10. And it now looks like that acquisition was closer to a try-out and induction into the team for Misha, who leads a new wave of youthful teammates.
OG’s New Roster:
- Artem “Yuragi” Golubiev
- Bozhidar “BZM” Georgiev Bogdanov
- Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf
- Tommy “Taiga” Le
- Mikhail “Misha” Agatov
The squad now has a few familiar names, and a trio of relative unknowns. Taiga and Misha should be recognizable for most fans of the EU scene, but the carries could leave you scratching your head. Yuragi formally played for Team Unique, BZM was the mid for Creepwave, as was his teammate ATF. Clearly those two lower division teams impressed OG in someway.
For more offseason roster moves in Dota 2 keep your eyes peeled to Hotspawn.
