FISSURE Universe Ep. 6: Spirit to play with stand in

Team Spirit has released a statement on their official X account confirming that they will need to take part in FISSURE Universe Episode 6 with a stand in. The news comes just one day before the tournament is due to begin that Denis “Larl” Sigitov underwent surgery after Dota 2 at the Esports World Cup and has now suffered complications, although the org confirmed that everything is “fine” for now.

At this point, it seems touch and go as to whether Larl will even be able to take part in The International, let alone FISSURE, and for a team teeing up to potentially be the first in history to win Dota’s most prestigious event for the third time, this is a huge blow.

Mirele to stand in

The good news for Team Spirit is that Marat “Mirele” Gazetdinov from Yellow Submarine will take over the mid lane during FISSURE Universe. The bad news is that while talented, Mirele isn’t exactly used to playing on a team of Spirit’s calibre. He’s about to have a real trial by fire but if this was going to happen, it’s best that it happens before The International 14 kicks off on September 4th.

Spirit is a team that’s known for their diverse hero pools and ability to come back even from the very brink of destruction. If the likes of Yatoro can take Mirele under his wing, there is probably still a considerable amount of hope for Spirit for the rest of the year and I, for one, hope that they’re able to work with this change.

The Esports World Cup finished just a month ago and if Larl had surgery soon after, there’s a chance that Spirit have had some time to prepare to play with a stand in. The chance to play a tournament like FISSURE Universe before making their way to Hamburg in September may actually be a blessing in disguise.

Stepping into the mid lane is no mean feat in Dota and Larl has always played a significant role in Spirit’s success. The pressure may be off for now but it’s only going to mount if Larl is unable to return to competitive play before TI.