Team Falcons announced just three days ago that Quinn “Quinn” Callahan would replace Stanislaw “Malr1ne” Potorak at ESL One Raleigh due to visa issues — and now it’s Team Liquid’s turn to do the same with Michał “Nisha” Jankowski and Jonathan “Bryle” de Guia.
Liquid coach William “Blitz” Lee posted to this effect on his X account, saying that Nisha was unable to secure a US visa in time for the tournament, which starts tomorrow, April 7th.
Due to visa issues, @nishadota won’t be able to make Raleigh, in his stead we have @bryledota who was gracious enough to last minute stand in. Nisha will return for all remaining tournaments, Ty for understanding and cheer for bryle yasss
— William Blitz Lee (@Blitz_DotA) April 5, 2025
As mentioned, this is now the second instance of a player having to skip out on playing this event, throwing a spanner in our ESL One Raleigh Power Rankings. In Malr1ne’s case, it wasn’t all that shocking given his nationality and the fact that he hadn’t gone to the United States to play professionally prior to Raleigh. Nisha’s case is quite surprising, though, considering that he had been to the US in an official capacity just two years ago when Liquid placed within the top 6 at The International 2023.
At this point, one would expect that Nisha would at least have a current multiple entry tourist visa — but it’s either he was never issued one or it has since expired, necessitating a renewal attempt or an entirely new application. Nisha also being a Polish citizen makes his application rejection even more puzzling, as Poland has not really had any strained relations with the United States historically or even lately.
Northerly Assistance
Nisha’s stand in Bryle can be unfamiliar to those that don’t follow the North American scene, so just who is he anyway? Hailing from Canada, Bryle has been a mainstay of NA Dota since he started his career in 2017. He plays the solo mid position (which tracks since he’s replacing Nisha), and at just 24 years of age he is definitely still on the younger side compared to some of Liquid’s players.
He last played for Tundra Esports on a very short three-week stint, from December 12th, 2023 to January 2nd, 2024. He has been teamless since then. He is perhaps best known for his time with TSM, with whom he spent nearly two years. Bryle’s best result with TSM came in the form of a second place finish at ESL One Stockholm Major in 2022, where he and the rest of the team fell to OG three games to one.
Bryle also managed to get all the way to the grand finals of BetBoom Dacha 2023, where he unfortunately had to settle for another second place result thanks to Gaimin Gladiators beating them in four games that series as well. But since he’ll be playing for Team Liquid at ESL One Raleigh, there’s a pretty good chance that he’ll finally get to lift a LAN trophy, given how Liquid have been performing lately.
He must feel good about the fact that they bagged first place at PGL Wallachia Season 3 just less than a month ago, so if Bryle shows up and puts in the work, it’s entirely possible that he’ll be rewarded handsomely with a LAN win. If nothing else, at least the American fans will have another player from their region at ESL One Raleigh — even if Bryle is actually from Canada and not the US.
