Dota 2 2023 Season Transfers and Rumors: Part 1 - Western Dota
Yuriy SheremetThe main tournament of competitive Dota 2, The International 2022, is over. Tundra Esports raised the Aegis of Champions over their heads and went on a well-deserved vacation.
If for the champions of The International the autumn period is a time to exhale and start preparing for the next season, then you can’t say the same about other clubs. A big reshuffle period has begun in Dota 2, one of the most interesting periods of time in an esports year.
We decided to talk about the most high-profile reshuffles in the teams that have already happened, as well as dream up about future ones. Let's guess.
ATF left OG – who will replace the star offlaner and where will Ammar play?
On November 3, OG announced the transfer of the 17-year-old ATF Jordanian to the bench. On paper, Ammar is still an OG player, but let's be realistic - obviously, he will leave OG and will soon name a team with which he will conquer the European scene in 2023.
The fact that Ammar will play in Europe is a fact. The region suits him perfectly according to the philosophy of DotA, and it is irrational to leave: the best teams of the season play here, including the reigning world champions.
Another question is where Ammar will play, and another one – in what position. Here is where to roam.
The network is full of unconfirmed rumors about the transition of ATF to the carry position. It would look quite natural: Ammar in OG almost always played the role of a full-fledged core on signature Slardar, Razor and characters with an aggressive playstyle. Adds credibility to the fact that ATF plays carry after The International 2022 ends.
If ATF changes position, he may end up in Team Liquid - MATU just ended his career there and now the club needs to find a player of the first position. However, the transition of ATF to conditional Nigma is easily seen. It is clear that after a disastrous season, the team is waiting for changes, and serious ones: they say that Miracle will take a break, and nothing is clear with other players of the roster either.
Joining ATF to Nigma looks very logical also due to regional proximity: this way Ammar will be able to play with his fellow citizens GH, and upon the return of Miracle, who will easily return to mid, Nigma will immediately have 3 representatives of Jordan.
Topson may join Team Liquid - the future of the two-time The International champion is in doubt
After The International 2019, the two-time world champion Topson took a well-deserved break to make a resounding comeback this August. Or try to do it.
On August 16, 2022, Topson became a T1 player, with whom the Finn did not work out: Topias, in the camp of the South Asian club, flew out of the qualifiers for The International in the SEA region on the third line.
So far, Topson and T1 have not announced their farewell, but it won't be long before that. The club has two players left in the active roster (Topias and his friend ana), but most likely the Dota 2 division is waiting for a complete restart or closure. From this, the question arises - where will the star mid player continue his career?
There are many options, but Topson's transition to Liquid seems to be the most realistic. The vacant position of MATUMBAMAN needs to be filled, and if not by ATF, then by Topias.
When the Finn moves to the “liquid” camp, the question of the distribution of roles will arise: Topson is unlikely to leave the central lane, and miCKe has already taken root there, but it doesn’t matter. The Swede once played carry, and you can always go back to basics.
What will happen to Evil Geniuses?
After The International 2022, Evil Geniuses is on everyone's lips: the team at the main tournament of the year started in good health, but ended as usual. Evil Geniuses took the TOP-12 at TI 22 and it doesn't fit into any gates.
A wave of reshuffles in EG after The International 10 did not help EG gain a foothold in the TOP, and therefore changes in the roster are actually inevitable. And in the case of the “evil geniuses”, the field for work here is huge.
The options are as follows: a complete dissolution of the composition or a total restart of the unit. There will likely be a combination of these actions, based on the latest rumors floating around after The International 2022 ends.
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According to the latter, EG will migrate to South America. The updated roster of “evil geniuses” will include two ex-players Beastcoast Wisper and Chris Luck, and they will be accompanied by the backbone of Thunder: Pakazs, Matthew and Pandaboo. Here, Thunder also disbanded the roster in a timely manner, which hints at imminent high-profile announcements.
Who will take the place of Solo and No[o]ne in NaVi?
Eastern European Dota 2 is also stormy, and Natus Vincere is in the foreground. The team has already left two players.
After the failure in the Last Chance Qualifier, the yellow-black roster lost the captain Solo, and then the mid laner No[o]ne. Finding a replacement is no easy task.
Virtus.pro players fall into the spotlight, but the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine puts such a shuffle into question. It remains the option to look for a replacement from the young and I would not discard such an option.
Instead of embarking on an endless vicissitudes with the search for those worthy to carry the legacy of the born to win, you can raise such. Just recently, NaVi opened the Dota 2 academic roster.
The practice of academies pays off in CSGO, League of Legends and other title disciplines, so why not resort to them in the dota division as well?
However, apparently NaVi decided to follow the beaten path: there is no question of any youth team. At least that's how it seems after Swedenstrong, position 4 player of NaVi, showed the roster during one of his broadcasts.
New Alliance
The question of the new composition of Alliance remains open. Having completely failed the entire last season and naturally having taken off from the qualifiers for The International, the Swedish club got rid of the international roster.
For the new Alliance, I see several options at once, and they are all American. There are vacant performers from EG who will soon lose their home, there is also the ex-roster of Soniqs, who recently said goodbye to their home.
Moving Alliance to North America may also be rational in terms of competitiveness in the region - it is clearly weaker there than in Western Europe, and therefore there will be less prospects for falling behind in the bottom of the standings, as it was last season.
Will Team Spirit be left without a midlaner? Who will take the place of TORONTOTOKYO
The speculation surrounding Team Spirit has not subsided since the win of The International 10, but now they have found solid ground. At The International 2022, the “dragons” finished ingloriously. Top 16 is not what you expect from world champions.
After the failure at The International, the club hastened to announce that the five of Yatoro, TORONTOTOKYO, Collapse, Mira and Miposhka will return next season, but there is no certainty about this.
The network is full of rumors that mid-laner TORONTOTOKYO will leave the team, whose game form is associated with the disgusting performance of Spirit at TI. It is easy to believe in such a scenario, given the temperament of the players Spirit and TORONTOTOKYO in particular.
What about replacement? There are several options here.
One of the free agents now is No[o]one. Volodymyr excelled in the NaVi roster, and has always been a strong mechanical performer. Add here his experience of playing in the international arena and get a worthy replacement on paper.
Another option is Larl. Recently, BB Team disbanded the Dota 2 roster, which in this case means that the former BBs will not stay together.
Another potential roster is a hodgepodge of “downed pilots”, but young ones. It seems that NAVI is again stepping on the same rake as always.
What else?
It is impossible to list all the rumors, but some of them are still worth a separate mention. Basically, they are all about VP:
- DM will leave the VP roster and play for OG;
- gpk will reunite with Nightfall and save. The trio will play outside VP;
- The NO SORRY mix will be missing two players. Perhaps VP scout young performers.
The veracity of this pack of conjectures will show time. With Western DotA, that's all for now, but don't scatter far - there is also China and Southeast Asia. It's also interesting there.
Yuriy Sheremet – Expert in mobile gaming and esports among shooters and MOBA games.
At EGamersWorld, Yuriy, as in 2020 when he joined the portal, works with content, albeit with adjustments to his area of responsibility.