Post TI14 Roster Shuffle Tracker – All Confirmed Moves
Patrick Bonifacio
|
Share:
The International 2025 (TI14) is now but a fond memory for the Dota 2 community, which means it’s time for the yearly post-TI roster shuffle. Since Dota as an esport doesn’t use a franchise model, organizations and players alike are free to negotiate contracts with each other. We can therefore expect a bunch of moves to happen in the wake of TI14, as is tradition.
It can be difficult to keep track of major transfers and signings, but that’s why we’re here. If you’re looking for updates on the post-TI shuffle, we’ve got a handy tracker right here.
Quinn calls it quits
The first die of the TI14 shuffle was cast on September 17th, when Gaimin Gladiators mid laner Quinn “Quinn” Callahan announced his retirement from professional Dota 2. Quinn revealed his exit from pro play through a video posted on his YouTube account, saying that he would be stepping away from the game as a player — but would continue as broadcast talent and by writing pro-level Dota 2 guides.
And in an ironic, cruel twist of fate, Quinn had actually recorded the announcement before the whole debacle between him, his teammates, and the Gaimin organization went down prior to TI14. This means that Quinn had fully intended to retire no matter where Gaimin finished in Hamburg, only to end up not attending TI14 after all.
This of course leaves Gaimin Gladiators with a hole to fill in their roster, though given the situation, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them leave the organization completely or even disband and go their separate ways from here. The latter would be a huge shame, as they had been on the road to figuring out their chemistry with each other after the departures of Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov and Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp.
HEROIC says goodbye to Mangusu
Off the back of their inspiring top 6 finish at TI14, South American org HEROIC are releasing assistant coach Andrei-Vlad “Mangusu” Sateanu from the roster.
Today we bid farewell and thank @mangusupma for two incredible years. From lifting the first LATAM trophy in history to standing strong through the lows, it’s been an honor to have you with us. We wish you the very best in your future endeavors. pic.twitter.com/2Ad0e28Rqs
First acquired by the organization in early 2024, Mangusu was part of the coaching staff that helped propel the squad to a shocking first place result at PGL Wallachia Season 2 just under a year ago. This could very well be a sign of bigger things to come for HEROIC, as they could be moving to sign someone else to replace Mangusu in this role.
Crystallis and Saksa moved to Tundra Esports’ inactive list
Remco “Crystallis” Arets and Martin “Saksa” Sazdov will both be taking breaks for the foreseeable future, according to Tundra Esports on the organization’s official X account. Tundra saw a rather disappointing end to their run at TI14, finishing joint 7th-8th place with Team Tidebound after failing to put in even a single map win during the playoffs.
Saksa has been known to take leaves of absence every now and again, but this is presumably the first time Crystallis will be doing so since he started his career in 2020. With the latter stepping aside for now, I’m thinking Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov might be slated to return to the active Tundra roster.
Update (Sep. 20, 2025): Crystallis has been loaned to MOUZ, still playing the carry role. In fact, MOUZ has an almost entirely new roster, with four new players coming in for the next season.
23savage leaves OG
Thai carry player Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, who in the recently concluded competitive season was loaned by OG to Talon Esports, is no longer a part of the two-time International-winning organization. 23savage himself broke the news on his X account, thanking OG in the process for giving him a home this past year.
All road leads home,I am a free agent now Thank you @OGesports for the good experience 🩷
It’s likely that we’ll be seeing him return home to Southeast Asia, and knowing him, he’ll be back on a team much sooner than later.
Update (Sep. 26, 2025): 23savage has signed full time with Talon Esports, along with Worawit “Q” Mekchai and Chan “Oli” Chon Kien. This now completes their roster for the upcoming season.
…And so does Stormstormer
So following 23savage’s announcement, Daniel “Stormstormer” Schoetzau was also confirmed to be leaving OG. This leaves Indji “Shad” Lub, Mihajlo “MikSa`” Jovanovic, and Tamir “daze” Tokpanov as the remaining active OG players.
Today, we say goodbye to our captain and midlaner, @StormingStorm. Thank you for your leadership, humour and dedication to the team. We wish you all the best in your next chapter. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/xdTOo6zjbM
Knowing OG’s reputation for being a revolving door for pro Dota players, though, it’s more than likely these three won’t even be in the team for much longer.
4nalog exits HEROIC
HEROIC mid laner João Gabriel “4nalog” Giannini Santos is seemingly seeking greener pastures for the upcoming competitive season, as the organization announced his departure from the team on September 19th.
Today we say goodbye to @4nalog, you were a big part of bringing LATAM and your country the biggest achievements in DOTA.
We part ways with deep gratitude for everything we built together, and with nothing but respect for you and your journey ahead.
4nalog was a big part of HEROIC’s sixth place finish at TI14, which leads me to believe he might have gotten a nice contract offer from a different club. I’d say he deserves it if so. I am a bit sad that the TI14 roster won’t be sticking together as such, but I am fairly confident that the HEROIC organization will find a suitable replacement for 4nalog before long.
Wisper follows suit
Okay, this is starting to get a bit concerning, but frankly this is such a South American thing to do: finish above the top 8 at The International, then proceed to let players go after the tournament is done. The latest in this regard is Adrián “Wisper” Dobles, offlaner for HEROIC and one of the more creative players on the scene.
The roster shuffle continues, and today we announce that @Wisper_dota2 has decided to step away from his position as offlaner in HEROIC. Whatever the future holds for you, we know it’s gonna be a fckin banger pic.twitter.com/cmNwuSHDtN
He was known for playing Pudge in the offlane in official matches — something that he did on occasion at TI14. Could he possibly be joining 4nalog wherever he’s going as well?
Update (Sep. 22nd, 2025): Wisper has re-signed with HEROIC, but will play the solo mid role in replacement of 4nalog for the upcoming season.
MOUZ back at it again
German esports organization MOUZ will be entering the upcoming competitive season with an almost entirely new roster, but one still built around captain Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp.
Image credit: Valve
We have the full story in a dedicated article here.
Virtus.pro signs old Shopify Rebellion players and more
Armenia-based organization Virtus.pro have reentered the pro scene with a significantly retooled roster, led primarily by members of the 2022-2023 Shopify Rebellion roster. Enzo “Timado” Gianoli, “Azel “Abed” Yusop, and Tal “Fly” Aizik joined the team on September 22nd, with Kanishka “BuLba” Sosale serving as their coach once more.
New Virtus.рro Dota 2 roster 😎
We are announcing an international roster for the global stage. The current squad will play under the VP.CIS tag.
Rosters will compete in different regions, with the possibility of internal transfers.
Nikita “Daxak” Kuzmin and Vladislav “Antares” Kertman stay in the lineup playing the offlane and soft support roles respectively. The three members displaced by Timado, Abed, and Fly have since moved to VP.CIS — those being Alik “V-Tune” Vorobey, Ivan “OneJey” Zhivitsky, and Vladislav “Rein” Kosygin. They will be joined by Andrey “Serenada” Kushnarev and Ivan “мистер мораль” (rough translation: “Mr. Morality”) Ilichev.
Personally, this roster kind of reads like an April Fools’ joke to me, mainly because it’s just a weird mix of possibly washed up players and two Russian holdovers from the previous VP roster. At any rate, I’m not too sure we’ll be seeing much of them at the top level, but I guess strange things happen in Dota all the time — so we’ll just have to see if they’ll be hanging around or disbanding in just two months.
SabeRLight- steps aside from Team Liquid, loaned to AVULUS
Jonáš “SabeRLight-” Volek will be playing for AVULUS for the upcoming season, as part of his benching and moving to the inactive list by Team Liquid — the organization he is still signed to.
Our #Dota2 roster for the start of 2025-26 Season:
Speaking of AVULUS, they will also be entering the new season with a retooled roster, featuring three new faces (including SabeRLight-) and one returning player.
Jhocam steps away from Talon Esports
Longtime Talon Esports member Tri “Jhocam” Kuncoro left the organization on September 22nd, leaving the Southeast Asian team without a soft support player.
Actually, the team is now without a carry and hard support in addition to that, because 23savage and Carlo “Kuku” Palad both exited the roster at the end of July, after they missed out on qualifying for TI14. Jhocam is just the latest in this regard. Rafli “Mikoto” Fathur Rahman and Chung “Ws” Wei Shen will remain, though whether or not the entire squad will disband from here is still up in the air.
Nemesis takes ponyo on trial run
Team Nemesis, after having lost every match they participated in during the TI14 group stage, will be putting Pang “ponyo” Sze Xuan in the hard support role on a trial basis for the upcoming season.
Interestingly, captain Erice “Erice” Guerra is still in the roster despite this, which leads me to believe that Nemesis might turn him into the squad’s coach if the trail with ponyo goes well.
Update (Oct. 1st, 2025): Both ponyo and Erice have left Team Nemesis. Kuku will stand in for them in the hard support slot for the PGL Wallachia Season 6 qualifiers.
PARIVISION keep the pace
The TI14 third placers PARIVISION will retain their entire roster, including carry Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov and coach Filipe “Astini” Ribeiro, for the upcoming competitive season.
Copyright: Helena Kristiansson, ESL FACEIT Group
Absolutely great to hear from a continuity standpoint, especially for the 17 year old Satanic who is still learning the ropes despite winning a few premier LANs and coming third at The International. Full story here.
Cy- makes the first move out of Gaimin Gladiators
Gaimin Gladiators coach Aske “Cy-” Larsen has left the team that he led to so many tier 1 LAN victories between 2023 and 2024, marking what might be the first of many changes coming out of the organization in this offseason. He has since signed with Na’Vi as their coach for the upcoming season.
Gaimin Gladiators withdrew entirely from TI14 prior to the event due to contract disputes between the players and the organization itself, forcing Valve to replace them with Yakutou Brothers. And given Quinn’s sudden retirement from competitive play, it’s looking more and more likely that Gaimin’s Dota 2 squad will be a thing of the past soon enough. We’ll be keeping tabs on any developments in this regard.
Pure sits on the BetBoom bench
Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko, one of the best carries of the previous season, will be taking a break under BetBoom Team for the upcoming season. The BetBoom organization announced his sidelining on their official Telegram group on September 28th, leading me to believe that they might be cooking something up while he’s on sabbatical.
Copyright: Pawel Bastrzyk, ESL FACEIT Group/Esports World Cup Foundation
After all, BetBoom were consistently near or at the top of the tier 1 scene last season, and it would be a waste to not leverage their success in order to develop further.
Update (Sep. 30th, 2025): Ilya “Kiritych” Ulyanov has come in as the new carry for BetBoom, joined by Roman “rmN-” Paley as the team’s new coach.
Ari jumps into Tundra to replace Saksa
Matthew “Ari” Walker is Tundra Esports’ new soft support player, as announced by the organization on September 29th.
Ari is one of the more promising new prospects coming out of the Western European scene, having played previously TSM, OG, and most recently Na’Vi. His best result thus far as far as tier 1 tournaments are concerned: second place at BetBoom Dacha 2023 with TSM. Last season, he finished in the top 6 at PGL Wallachia Season 5 with Na’Vi, and stood in for Team Liquid until they were eliminated in third place at that same tournament.
Since he will be replacing Saksa as Saksa goes on vacation this season, Ari will have some very, very big shoes to fill. Whether or not the young British player will be able to handle the pressure is up in the air right now, but it will at least be interesting to follow his development from here.
Xtreme Gaming changes things up, takes on fy as he comes out of retirement
TI14 second placers Xtreme Gaming will be running a different roster heading into the next season, with Xu “fy” Linsen being the most notable new player in their lineup.
[XtremeGaming Roster Announcement]
After thorough communication and friendly negotiations, and with full respect for the players' personal wishes, XtremeGaming is making the following adjustments effective immediately:
The legendary support player is coming out of his (unofficial) retirement to try for the Aegis of Champions one more time, along with Team Tidebound’s Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang in the solo mid position. Meanwhile, Yap “xNova” Jian Wei is signing with XG full time as well.
Vici Gaming follow in XG’s footsteps
Vici Gaming is back, and this time they’re looking like they mean serious business.
Image credit: PGL
They’ve signed a squad revolving primarily around Guo “Xm” Hongcheng and Cheng “Ws” Wei Shen, and it seems like they’re in it for the long haul rather than just for a single qualifier tournament. Whether or not this team performs well is of course still up in the air, but I’m all for the big name brand Chinese organizations fielding Dota 2 rosters again.
Insania ends his legendary career
Former International champion and exemplary support player Aydin “Insania” Sarkohi has retired from professional play, as announced by Team Liquid on September 7th. Many including myself are hoping he becomes an analyst from here on, but Insania has mentioned on several occasions that he just wants to live life away from Dota in his retirement.
After 6 unforgettable years with Team Liquid, @insan1a is retiring from professional Dota 2.
His story comes full circle after lifting the Aegis at TI 2024, a moment that will always be a defining part of our team’s history. We’re so honored to be the team where he chose to… pic.twitter.com/41R8qKGPqW
Whatever he chooses to do from here, he leaves behind a storied legacy of grit and perseverance. This does leave Team Liquid with two holes to fill in their roster for the new season, including the one that used to be filled by SabeRLight-.
Aurora Gaming mix it up, sign Oli and take Mikoto as stand-in
Now here’s an interesting move: Eastern European squad Aurora Gaming will be going with Chang “Oli” Chon Kien as their new mid laner for the new season, replacing Nikita “panto” Balaganin in the hard support slot.
😊 We are happy to announce that Chang @jackchantheoli Chon Kien joins Aurora Gaming!
Also, Rafli @mikoto347 Fathur Rahman will play with us as a stand-in in the upcoming FISSURE Universe: Ep.7.
Also, they’ll be playing at FISSURE Universe 7 with Rafli “Mikoto” Fathur Rahman, in place of Gleb “kiyotaka” Zyryanov — who is being benched for now alongside panto. Putting Southeast Asian players alongside CIS players is nothing new, but I can’t help but wonder if this move might present some communication issues. We’ll have to find out over the next few weeks if it all works out in the end.
kpii transfers to Aurora Gaming from Team Liquid
Speaking of Aurora Gaming, they have a new coach: Damien “kpii” Chok. The former Team Liquid assistant coach, who helped lead them to the title at TI14 alongside William “Blitz” Lee, has gone over to the Eastern European side for the upcoming season.
Another chapter closes as we say farewell to one of our Dota 2 coaches @kpiidota.
kpii’s role in our TI 2024 run can't be overstated, he was a huge part of that success and his impact was evident through the seasons he spent with us. His calm presence became an integral part of… pic.twitter.com/bOajeq1hjD
Given that there are now Southeast Asian players in Aurora, though, kpii’s experience working with players from the region is probably the reason why the organization signed him — aside from his expertise as a coach, of course.
Ace and tOfu join Team Liquid
And just like that, Team Liquid have a complete roster once again, thanks to Marcus “Ace” Christensen and Erik “tOfu” Engel. The legendary offlane duo will replace SabeRLight- and Insania from here, and the fit couldn’t be any better if I’m being honest.
Two players always on the same wavelength, now flowing as Liquid.
I say that, but this does present Liquid with a dilemma: where does Samuel “Boxi” Svahn go from here? Ace and tOfu probably came in as a package deal, so I’m thinking Boxi might move to the hard support position alongside Michael “miCKe” Vu.
Miposhka goes on sabbatical, replaced by panto in Team Spirit
Two-time International champion Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov will be taking a break from competitive play, according to Team Spirit’s official announcement on the matter.
Welcome Panto! 🙌
Nikita "Panto" Balaganin becomes the new hard support in the Team Spirit Dota 2 roster 💪
Yaroslav "Miposhka" Naidenov has decided to put his career on a pause, joining the reserves 🫂 pic.twitter.com/SwkW2Ht3rf
He will be replaced in the upcoming season by Nikita “panto” Balaganin, who will also take on the role of captain for the squad.
n0tail returns to OG’s active lineup to replace Lelis
Legendary player and back-to-back International champion Johan “n0tail” Sundstein is jumping back into the hot seat with OG, stepping down from his role as the squad’s coach in the process.
OG would like to thank Rodrigo 'Lelis' Santos for his efforts during his brief tenure with the squad. He will be replaced on the active roster by Johan 'Notail' Sundstein going forwards. pic.twitter.com/5tKIHk1oNm
He joins Indji “Shad” Lub, Igor “Stojkov” Stojkov, Mihajlo “MikSa`” Jovanovic, and Tamir “daze” Tokpanov for the upcoming season. Incidentally, he is replacing Rodrigo “Lelis” Santos, who played position 5 for OG for a mere three weeks after joining them late last month on a trial basis. Naturally, since n0tail is one of the bosses at OG, he can do pretty much what he wants — but is he truly ready to get back into competing full time?
Saksa joins Team Yandex temporarily
Just when I thought the shuffle was about to die down at the start of the new season, it finds another way to surprise me. Saksa is apparently now a part of Team Yandex, although just temporarily for now.
He is technically still on break as of October 15th (the date of Yandex’s announcement), so I’m not sure this will last for very long. But anyway, definitely a weird and unexpected move, even if it’s just for a short while.
Malady and watson leave Gaimin behind, join Team Yandex
Gaimin Gladiators’ Dota 2 roster is officially out of commission, as both Arman “Malady” Orazbayev and Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov are now part of Team Yandex.
Image credit: PGL
They both replace the now-benched Aybek “TA2000” Tokayev and Alexey “prblms” Parshukov respectively at the carry and position 4 roles.
Patrick has been playing Dota since the dawn of time, having started with the original custom game for WarCraft III. He primarily plays safe lane and solo mid, preferring to leave the glorious task of playing support to others.
