With the conclusion of The International 12 (TI12) and Team Spirit’s second world championship in the bag, the time has come for us to look towards the Dota 2 roster shuffle that happens after every International. Practically every team across all six major competitive regions will be part of the shuffle, with players on teams that either failed to make it to TI12 or underperformed at the event itself being in prime position for a change of scenery.
via Valve
Of course, there being hundreds of players in the Dota 2 esports scene means that it can be hard to keep track of who’s going where and what that means for them and the competitive landscape. So, we’re back with another handy shuffle tracker for your convenience. Welcome to the TI12 shuffle!
Beastcoast Blow it Up
The roster that South American organization beastcoast ran with this season is no more. Once featuring well-known names in the region such as Elvis “Scofield” Peña and Gonzalo “DarkMago” Herrera, it seems that beastcoast will be looking for a fresh start with an entirely new lineup for the next season.
True enough, beastcoast’s performance at TI12 left a ton to be desired. They failed to even make it past the first phase of the group stage, which meant that they exited the tournament dead last and with just under $35,000 in prize money to show for it.
Whether or not this new roster of theirs will end up just being that of Evil Geniuses’ previous lineup is yet to be determined, but we wouldn’t be shocked to see things turn out that way. And speaking of Evil Geniuses…
Evil Geniuses Quietly Drop Dota 2 Roster
After committing to a South American roster of their own after The International 11, North American organization Evil Geniuses have now decided to part ways with the squad formerly known as Team Anvorgesa. Led previously by veteran captain Farith “Matthew” Puente, the new look EG qualified for TI12 by consistently dominating every leg of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) South American regional league this year.
Unfortunately for them, the success in their region didn’t translate to anything meaningful at The International. While they fared better at the event than their friends in beastcoast, 13th-16th isn’t exactly much of an improvement in the results category. Manager Vitória “Guashineen” Otero thus announced to the Dota world that she and the entire squad had parted ways with EG, and that they aren’t quite sure that the organization will even field a Dota 2 squad for the upcoming competitive season.
Nouns Decide to Split
The unlikely story of Nouns at TI12 captivated Dota fans across the world. Here was a squad that barely even made it into the event through the North American regional qualifiers, making the Top 8 at The International when few even expected them to survive the group stage. It was a more than respectable result from a team composed of NA veterans and International first-timers, which would have made it reasonable to think they would stick together for a while longer.
Sadly, it looks like this won’t come to pass. According to the organization, the entire roster decided to part ways with each other even after posting the result that they did at TI12. Fortunately, it seems like this won’t be the last we see of Nouns in Dota 2, as they have announced that they do have some things in store for the 2024 season.
Talon Esports to Start Anew
Talon Esports was the best squad from Southeast Asia this year, placing third at the Lima Major and at the Riyadh Masters on their way to a direct invite to The International. The mostly-Thai roster led by Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong had a lot of potential going into TI12 — but they just could not put it all together in Seattle when all the chips were down.
While they started the tournament quite well by making it to the upper bracket out of the group stage, they ran into Team Liquid early in the playoffs, who sent them to the lower bracket without breaking a sweat. From there, they faced BetBoom Team, in a best-of-three series that went long into the night.
In the end, BetBoom had the better of them, winning two straight games after dropping the first one to eliminate Talon. Such a disappointing turnout for the SEA squad prompted the organization to let go of the roster as a whole, including coach Lee “SunBhie” Jeong-jae.
Update (13th November 2023): Talon Esports announces new roster, with Eljohn Canonigo “Akashi” Andales, Chung “Ws” Wei Shen, Tri “Jhocam” Kuncoro, and Pang “ponyo” Sze Xuan as the first four members.
Abed, Cr1t-, and Fly to Pursue Opportunities Elsewhere
The Azel “Abed” Yusop era over at Shopify Rebellion (and Evil Geniuses prior to that) is now over. The dynamic midlaner from the Philippines has left Shopify alongside longtime members Andreas Franck “Cr1t-” Nielsen and Tal “Fly” Aizik, with Abed himself opting to return home and join Blacklist Rivalry.
Cr1t and Fly, meanwhile, will be leaving Artour “Arteezy” Babaev, coach Kanishka “BuLba” Sosale, and Jonáš “SabeRLight-” Volek after spending many years together with the former two in particular. Cr1t first joined this “Arteezy stack” all the way back in 2016 — starting a relationship that lasted six whole years. He has since joined up with former International champion Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu over at the Saudi-backed Team Falcons.
Fly had a similar tenure with Arteezy and BuLba, having joined EG in 2018, with a short stint in Talon Esports at the tail end of 2021.
Interestingly, neither Arteezy nor SabeRLight- have announced anything regarding their contracts as of yet. It’s probably safe to say that they’ll be staying with the organization for the next season, given that Shopify intends to continue in the Dota 2 scene.
Update (13th November 2023): Fly has joined Nouns, alongside Nico “Gunnar” Lopez and Rodrigo “Lelis” Santos. They will participate in the upcoming season with Daniel “Stormstormer” Schoetzau and Yuma “Yuma” Langlet.
Update (21st November 2023): Arteezy and SabeRLight- are joined by Erin Jasper “Yopaj” Ferrer, Thiago “Thiolicor” Cordeiro, and Kartik “Kitrak” Rathi. This completes Shopify Rebellion’s roster heading into the next season.
Team Aster Go Their Separate Ways
Popular Chinese Dota 2 squad Team Aster will now field an entirely new roster for the upcoming season. The previous lineup, which notably featured Syed “SumaiL” Hassan in the mid lane, failed to qualify for TI12 through the Chinese regionals. This was quite the shock for them, of course, considering that they had started this season well enough to be among the best teams in China.
But this turn of events is not surprising in the least, as missing out on The International is practically a death sentence for any professional team out there. Du “Monet” Peng has since transferred over to Invictus Gaming, joined by Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang of LGD Gaming fame. Ye “BoBoKa” Zhibiao and, Thiay “JT-” Jun Wen, and Yap “xNova” Jian Wei round out the new Invictus lineup.
Team Secret Reloads for the New Year
Speaking of popular teams that didn’t make it to The International, the ever-present Team Secret will also retool their roster for the immediate future. Naturally, captain and team owner Clement “Puppey” Ivanov is still leading the squad, with former teammate Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng filling out the solo mid slot after the deactivation of Armel Paul “Armel” Tabios.
Miroslav “BOOM” Bičan meanwhile returns to Team Secret, after being away from the organization for the last five months. Coach Lee “Heen” Seung Gon on the other hand, has decided to take a break for now. Tue “ah fu” Soon Chuan takes his place as coach for this season.
BOOM Esports Signs an All-Peruvian Roster
In what we can only call a wholly unexpected move, Southeast Asian organization BOOM Esports has signed a full Peruvian stack for the upcoming competitive season.
This is the first time that BOOM Esports has looked outside of its home region for talent — so it will be interesting to see how South American Dota affects the region, to say the least.
Aurora Lights Up the Southeast Asian Scene
A new organization has entered the Southeast Asian scene. Hailing from Serbia, the team simply named Aurora has taken on Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, Armel Paul “Armel” Tabios, Jabz, Worawit “Q” Mekchai, and Chan “Oli” Chon Kien in what will be the organization’s first foray into competitive Dota 2.
Certainly a gutsy move from a newcomer, given how bloody the SEA competitive scene can be year in and year out. Only time will tell whether they will find success or drown in the shark tank. But considering that this roster is composed of four out of the five players that represented Talon Esports at TI12, we’re thinking they’ll be just fine.
We will update this tracker as more news from the shuffle comes in.
