DreamLeague Season 26 is well underway with its first set of group stage games, with one thing sticking out so far in terms of the broadcast: there’s a team that ESL are calling Flipster Talon. Now, Dota 2 fans will be familiar with Southeast Asian squad Talon Esports, but just in case you’ve been wondering what the “Flipster” part is, I know you’re not alone.
So what the heck is up with the name change, anyway?
Simply put, Talon Esports’ Dota 2 roster will be called Flipster Talon for a whole year, starting on May 8th, 2025, as part of a new sponsorship deal with cryptocurrency exchange Flipster. Founded in 2021 and based in Panama, Flipster claims to have over one million users across 200 countries.
TALON Dota out, Flipster TALON in.
We’re thrilled to welcome @flipster_io as our all-new naming partner!
A bold new chapter begins for our Dota 2 squad — and for the future of esports and crypto.Catch the full story: https://t.co/fQdsWj9Lfs#SOARWITHTALON #Dota2…
— TALON (@TALON_ESPORTS) May 8, 2025
The partnership was announced on the same day, through a press release posted on Talon’s official website. Although the full name change will take effect only for Talon’s Dota 2 division for now, the announcement does indicate that a “full rollout” of the partnership is scheduled for June this year.
“The full Flipster Talon rollout is set for June, including player signings, co-branded content, and a launch video to mark the partnership’s debut,” said Talon Esports on their new sponsorship.
Naturally, Talon Esports went into this deal with the hopes of securing funding for their day-to-day operations. As far as their Dota 2 team is concerned, they haven’t exactly performed that well in the current competitive season, with their best result this year being a top 6 finish at FISSURE Playground Belgrade.
Set up for the late game, but they didn't allow us to reach it. 🥲
Game one problems solved, time to work on back-to-back wins!#SOARWITHTALON #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/u3HqEqDrOe
— TALON (@TALON_ESPORTS) May 19, 2025
Their other LAN outings haven’t been so great. They placed joint 9th/10th at BLAST Slam 2, joint 11th/12th at ESL One Raleigh (literally last place by map score), and they also bombed straight out of PGL Wallachia Season 4. Whether or not the Flipster sponsorship will help them improve their results for the rest of the season is anyone’s guess, but things are rarely that simple in esports.
For now, they ought to focus on not just tripping over themselves at DreamLeague Season 26. As of the time of writing, they’ve tied one of the best-of-two matches, grabbing one map win against AVULUS. They’re facing ESL One Raleigh champions PARIVISION in their next set, though, which I’m definitely not betting on them to win.
Actually, no, they aren’t playing with the exact same roster that they had before Flipster came in and sponsored Talon. Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, on loan from OG, stepped into the carry role for Talon Esports on May 10th, replacing John Anthony “Natsumi” Vargas. Natsumi spent just a little over four months with the squad, himself replacing Eljohn “Akashi” Andales a few months after The International 2024.
23savage is a proven carry player from Southeast Asia, and should bring some much-needed firepower to this lineup as they the final stretch of the season. It’s not really surprising that Talon was among the teams invited to TI. Now knowing that they will have to go through the Southeast Asian regional qualifiers for TI14, 23savage’s expertise is certainly going to come in handy when navigating that inevitable bloodbath.
Anyway, the full Flipster Talon roster for DreamLeague Season 26, in order of role, is as follows:
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