On February 4, 2023, the transfer window closed, the exact dates of which Valve somehow forgot to announce publicly. Perhaps it would not be an exaggeration to say that this reshuffle became the loudest in several seasons – at least in the CIS. In this article, I will summarize all the major transfers and try to figure out how the balance of power on the Dota 2 professional stage has changed before the qualifiers for the third major of the season.
Source: OG
OG: mid-mid and mid-chase
Despite how much controversy caused the reshuffle in Virtus.pro, the most serious changes before ESL One Los Angeles 2023 undergone OG: three players changed at once in it. Now instead of memetic Essay JerAx Vainikki The “four” two-time champions The International became Martin Saksa Sazdov, which everyone had long forgotten about, Offlane unexpectedly took a changing position Zheng MidOne Yek Naiinstead of young talent Anatana ana fam will play on the light line … no less young talent Saeed Samail SumaiL Hassan – I know, it’s hard to believe, but they really are the same age.
Two-time champions of The International decided to abandon the well-functioning “find a puber and make it a star” methodology and now gathered peculiar “galactos” among free agents under their tag. OG fans such a change of course should alert: Johan n0tail Sundstein and Sebastian Ceb Debs have already proved that they are the best scouts of the professional scene, so why suddenly abandon the work scheme? Does SumaiL listen to teammate tips during the draft? Can MidOne maintain a positive attitude by losing its priority on the farm? And does Saksa remember what a professional “Dota” is?
Source: DreamHack
OG already tried to play in an incomplete composition: without ana, the roster hardly passed to the minors, and without an0 to EPICENTER Major 2023 took 7-8th place. Such results are unlikely to suit SumaiL. Twitter former midmer Evil geniuses GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) called itself “the best of all time” for a long time, OG has not yet met such ambitions.
No less dark horse is MidOne, which – it seems – has left Team secretto spend more time in Malaysia, but six months later decided to return to Europe. On the streams, the new OG offlander showed the Gyrocopter the third position, and therefore I am scared to imagine what experiments he had in store for official matches. At the same time, it cannot be denied that MidOne is one of the most creative players on the professional stage, which alone has changed the perception of the role of mid-player. In Team Secret, he repeatedly sacrificed himself for the team – he collected atypical artifacts, imposed fights, created a space. If he does such a trick on offline as well, then OG will start each match from a position of strength – the very fact of the presence of MidOne in the first time will knock opponents out of their comfort zone. Well, or we will see the offensive Gyrocopter on offline – nothing can be guessed with this team.
Reshuffle rating: 5 out of 10
OG received superstars, but lost command chemistry. The matches of the new roster will be interesting to see, and there is a chance that he will still be able to succeed. However, the best roster in the history of Dota 2 will never play in Valve tournaments again, and it is unlikely to be replaced.
Source: StarLadder
Virtus.pro: now – out of competition
In October 2019 Alexey Solo Berezin saidthat VP will give young players a chance to prove themselves and support them in case of failure. Failure on the other hand DreamLeague Leipzig Major literally shouted that roster needed a change – and that voice was louder. Eventually Egor epileptick1d Grigorenko and Vitaliy Save- Miller returned to the public (retaining contracts with Virtus.pro), and the club received newcomers – Bakyt Zayac Emilzhanova and Zaura Cooman Shakhmurzaev, simultaneously weakening the main competitors for the slot on ESL One Los Angeles 2023. So, a good reshuffle?
Of course, but only at a long distance. Now we have a team in which the Quartet and Kerry have changed – two units that greatly affect the overall dynamics of the game. In this case, in a few days VP will have to speak at the qualifiers, and immediately after them – with optimal results – go to the major, but probably only to take the last line there.
Source: DreamHack
However, the Zayac transfer strengthened the team anyway. The inexperienced Save-, who had evaporated from the map in the final Virtus.pro match at DreamLeague Leipzig Major, was replaced by perhaps the best “four” of the CIS # right now. Zayac has experience playing in major tournaments (even managed to play at The International), knows how to perform on non-standard heroes (Doom, Techies), and is not afraid to take responsibility – apparently, the last point for Solo will be very useful. During the season, there were a lot of questions to the draft and VP team, now some of them can quickly disappear.
It is important to remember that Cooman in the roster is just a stand. Everyone expects that immediately after the major, his place will take Danil gpK ~ Skutin, and if the rumors turn out to be true, now Virtus.pro is simply wasting time playing qualifications with such a roster. At the end of ESL One Los Angeles, the club will only have two tournaments to score enough points to enter The International, and competition will increase significantly by then.
Reshuffle rating: 7 out of 10
With the advent of Zayac in VP, a second player with a voice appeared, who should improve in-game communication and save Resolut1on from single trips to the throne, as was the case with Team Liquid. At the same time, the roster took the stand on the major, and therefore, postponed effective training for an indefinite period. In the current state, clubs from the CIS may not be able to cope even with this version of Virtus.pro, but the team has a long way to go to play on the world stage.
Source: Beyond the Summit
Natus Vincere: Reshuffle involuntarily
NAVI noticeably weakened following the results of the winter transfer window: the team left Zayac, which not only was an important link in the club’s system, but also played the role of captain. He took over his duties Semyon CeMaTheSlayeR Krivulya, and on paper this replacement looks good. The problem, as in the case of VP, is that starting from February 9, the club will have to perform in the closed qualifiers for the third major of the season. Whether Krivuly will be able to rebuild the team in such a short time is a big question.
Do not forget about the words of Yevgeny Zolotarev, who said that the departure of Zayac “drove the tilt” of the leadership, coach and players. The psychological component of e-sports is still poorly understood, but you should definitely not underestimate it. Having lost two captains during the season, the NAVI roster may lose faith in their strength and lose the qualifiers simply “minus morality”, despite the high individual level of their e-sportsmen.
Positive in the situation is difficult to find, but still possible. Zayac himself said that the captain’s duties knocked him out of his comfort zone. There is a chance that with CeMaTheSlayeR, who voluntarily agreed to lead the team, NAVI will suddenly be able to shoot and unleash the potential of the squad. The group stage of DL Leipzig Major showed the audience that Idan MagicaL Vardanyan and Vladislav Crystallize Kristanek can play and replay opponents from other regions. Who knows – maybe with Krivuly they can do it more stable?
Reshuffle rating: 5 out of 10
The team lost the captain and playmaker in the person of Zayac, and now she has only a few days to completely rebuild the game. Such changes may unexpectedly help NAVI take a step forward, but I would not bet on it.
Source: StarLadder
Gambit: Forward to the Past
Gambit, like NAVI, suffered from Virtus.pro’s aggressive transfer policy, having lost the most promising player in the CIS – midp gpK ~. He refused training with the team and will now be forced to vegetate on the bench at least until the end of the qualifications. When choosing a replacement Artyom Fng Barshak did not become creative and again turned to Rostislav fn Lozovoy, which rescued the composition in a similar situation a year earlier.
Despite the fact that the situations of Gambit and NAVI are similar, the position of the Russian club seems to me much more comfortable. Of course, the discord in the team and the loss of the objectively brightest player in the roster is bad, but fn seems to be, if not equivalent, then very close to this replacement gpK ~.
Lozova rarely enters the professional scene, but this does not stop him from showing good results every time he appears: with Virtus.pro he won Adrenaline Cyber League 2019, and with Gambit I was able to reach the finals on the go StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor. Fn easily adapts to new conditions and demonstrates a stable game – and these are ideal qualities for a stand. Of course, Gambit also has little time to prepare for the qualifiers, but among the big three of the CIS, this team was in a better position.
Reshuffle rating: 8 out of 10
The team lost the best player, but quickly found him a quality replacement. After the announcement, Fng openly admitted: given the general level of teams in the CIS, it would be foolish for Gambit to miss these qualifiers. I agree with him and I think that we will definitely see the team at the tournament in Los Angeles.
Source: The Pango
FTM: GeneRaL Lunar Quarries
Six months after returning to eSports Victor GeneRaL Nigrini finally found a team and joined the roster FlyToMoon. Support was also transferred to the team with him. illusion and kerry Naive-, thus turning the FTM from an obscure stack into a real contender for the ESL One Los Angeles qualifier.
A year ago, Naive- was called the most promising carry in the CIS, but since then the player has not been able to gain a foothold on the tier-1 scene. Having walked through the various stacks, he ended up in FlyToMoon, and it seems that this roster is Tokaev’s second chance to really break into the professional scene.
About GeneRaL talk is unnecessary. The protagonist of the meme about Vitya Mashina was disappointed in the competitive Dota 2 after an unforgettable adventure with Odiumbut a year later decided to return to the game. At the beginning of the season, there were rumors that Virtus.pro was interested in its transition, and this says a lot about the level of Nigrini. With all the shortcomings of the esportsman, today he is perhaps the only one who can impose Pavel 9pasha Khvastunov fight for the title of best offlainer in the CIS. When i add here Andrey ALWAYSWANNAFLY Bondarenko and Bogdan Iceberg Vasilenko, I want to repeat that the current FlyToMoon is the main contender for … to compete for the slot. And this is a big deal!
Reshuffle rating: 10 out of 10
FlyToMoon did not turn into a top club, but still became noticeably stronger. Perhaps the roster does not look like a real competitor for top clubs, but Virtus.pro, NAVI and Gambit in full-time meetings may well surprise at a short distance qualifiers.
Source: Epic Esports Events
Ninjas in Pajamas: Daxak Adventures in Europe
The most unexpected transfer of the winter window was the transition Daxak under the wing ppd. Why Dagger suddenly decided to take a chance with a Russian-speaking player is a mystery, but now NiP matches in Russian-language streams will become much more popular. I will not argue – Kuzmin looks like a great upgrade compared to Gunnar, but ppd made other permutations that do not make me optimistic.
Roster replenished Lelis – A good esportsman by the standards of the South American scene, who managed to play the “five” during his career, and then switched to offline. The problem is that playing with ppd can be very different from what Lelis is used to. At the end of 2018, he was already trying to leave his native region, but after playing a couple of months with EternaLEnVyimmediately ran back to Brazil. “Four” in the new roster became UNiVeRsEwhich is paired with s4 for the second year already, all the fans have been sent “retired.” I wish Daxak and ppd success, but it is unlikely that this roster will be able to get enough shape to survive in a European meat grinder.
Reshuffle rating: 6 out of 10
Daxak is a much stronger carry than its predecessor, but other NiP replacements do not look so straightforward. The team has not become worse, but its prospects seem to me very vague. The composition could compete for a slot, play it in America, but ppd chose Europe, and therefore I think that this roster will fall apart at the end of March.
