After two weeks of intense speculation, the post TI shuffle is now over.
The teams are locked and the community is impatiently looking forward to the next big events where the newly-formed rosters will be put to the test.
Here are some of the most interesting changes that have emerged.
Europe
ana (OG)
OG were the team that last year signed Miracle- from lower level Dota and it proved to be a brilliant move as he is now considered one of the best Dota 2 players in the world. Having lost him to Team Liquid, OG are pinning their hopes on Australian Anathan “ana” Pham as their new midlaner. Previously, he was a substitute for Chinese team iG. His strongest heroes are Invoker, Morphling and Earth Spirit.
jonassomfan (Alliance)
While he has been on the Dota scene for a while, having been on the roster of seven teams in two years, this will be the strongest outfit for which Jonas “jonassomfan” Lindholm has ever played. He will fill in for Akke and is an offlaner who plays a more ganking and teamfight oriented playstyle.
SEA
Velo (MVP)
Korean team MVP were one of the pleasant surprises of the past season and it’s no wonder that MP and Forev were subsequently snatched by Team Secret. As a result, Kim “Velo” Seon-yeob will be the new offlaner for MVP. Born in Australia, he is fluent in Korean and likes to play farming orientated heroes such as Faceless Void, Timbersaw and Nature’s Prophet. Before joining the MVP organisation, he played for Australian team Spac_Creators.
eyyou (Fnatic)
Nico “eyyou” Barcelon has already gone under the spotlight at TI6 after his TnC team eliminated the super-favourites OG. His talent was not left unspotted and he has now joined the ranks of Fnatic, alongside two of his former teammates, DeMoN and Raven. eyyou has already helped his new team to finish 4th in the MPGL. Playing as a position 4 support, eyyou is handy with Vengeful Spirit, Phoenix and Bounty Hunter.
China
Apart from TI6 winners Wings Gaming, China was one of the regions where the most roster shuffles occurred as a great number of veterans decided to take time off or retire.
Sccc (Newbee)
With players such as Mu, Hao and Chuan absent, Song “Sccc” Chun was promoted as the new mid player from Newbee Young. A pace-controlling mid, he can dominate the game with heroes such as Invoker, Queen of Pain and Shadow Fiend. He is currently leading the solo MMR ranking in China with 9209 and set the world record with 9218 earlier this month.
Ame (LGD)
LGD completely disbanded apart from Maybe, who the team was built around. Due to this, he was given the privilege of selecting his teammates and one of his choices was CDEC.Youth’s Wang “Ame” Chunyu. Ame is a real threat with heroes such as Sven, Lycan and Juggernaut. With a current score of 9020 MMR, he is the second best in the Chinese region rankings.
NA
canceL^^ (compLexity Gaming)
compLexity were one of the teams that had a year of ups and downs last season. For a brief period they were considered the strongest NA team, but ultimately they failed to qualify for the TI6 main event. The team lost its Swedish contingent and swindlezz had to rebuild. As a result, Romanian player Mihai “canceL^^” Antonio found a spot on the roster. Having a diverse pool of heroes, he is more than capable with dominating mid heroes such as Shadow Fiend, Storm Spirit and Zeus. cancel^^ played for Kaipi prior to joining compLexity.
In conclusion, a number of seasoned veterans have retired and the opportunities to become the next Miracle- are out there for the newbies. While not as many pubstars as the fans hoped were signed by the top level teams, a tide of young blood poured into Dota 2 in almost every region and it will be fascinating to see who will do well when competition begins.
