Upamanyu Acharya
This roster shuffle was the most unpredictable shuffle in the history of Dota. With tons of new, unheard of team combinations being formed and a ‘back to the roots’ transformation in most major teams, it seems players are taking a step back and realizing that a star-studded lineup isn’t all you need to win tournaments. That doesn’t mean that none of these teams are absolutely stacked, however. The major players are still juggernauts and should be scary to face, but there are also a lot of new personalities in the scene who are sure to imbibe the new meta with something different after the roster locks.
America
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Chaos | Resolut1on | w33 | Moon | Saksa | MiSeRy♔ |
| compLexity Gaming | Justin | canceL | Moo | Zfreek | Swindle |
| EvernovaS | mason | FLee | Sneyking | wayto | Jason |
| Evil Geniuses | Arteezy | Suma1l | UNiVeRsE | Zai | cr1t♔ |
| FDL | Beesa | 747 | MJW | 04 | Stan King♔ |
| Team Freedom | Boris | WwD | ixmike88 | Jubei | Eagle |
| Infamous -_^ | Benjaz♔ | Kotaro | Krtk | Accel | BanG |
| Team Leviathan | Monib | Shiibbyy | Jenkins | Newsham | jaH |
| Pain Gaming | 4dr | hFn | Tavo | KINGRD♔ | c4t |
| Not Today | Scofield | Atun | Greedy | Sword | Jerry |
| Team NP | Aui_2000 | EternaLEnVy♔ | MSS | SVG | 1437 |
| T Show | Therence | Cys | Mandy | Baga | Gambling |
America might be home to the biggest betrayals of the season, with Digital Chaos dropping Moo for Moon. The extra letter probably increases their chances to win a TI by 50%. Evil Geniuses notably brought Arteezy back for the third time, with Fear living the old man life in retirement and PPD climbing the corporate ladder in the Evil Geniuses management. Team NP is EternaLEnVy’s new creation, playing alongside the victim of last season’s biggest betrayal, Aui, and American veterans MSS, SVG and Theeban (1437). This team definitely has a shot at winning it big, but it’s still an NA team, so you never know.
China
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDEC Gaming | Shade | June | demons | September | Flyby |
| EHOME | Sylar | old chicken | eLeVeN | LaNm | Guardian |
| EHOME.X | QD | Puer Tea | zExBinGo | DDR | LT |
| Invictus Gaming | BurNing | Op | Xxs | boboka | Q |
| IG Vitality | Yuno | Fran | InJuly | super♔ | dogf1ghts |
| LGD Gaming | Ame | Maybe | Jixing | Xz | Victoria |
| LGD. Forever Young | Monet | Super | Yao | xiao8 | LPC |
| Newbee | uuu9 | Sccc | kpii | kaka | Faith |
| Wings Gaming | shadow | bLink | Faith_bian | y’♔ | iceice |
| Vici Gaming | END | ghost | yang | fy | ddc |
| Vici Gaming J | Agressif | NoNo | rOtk | Fenrir | HYM |
With MMY taking a “six month break” and Maybe continuing on the LGD roster, the team has a few new players. Mu from Newbee has retired, with Hao and ChuaN leaving as well. This leaves Sccc and uuu9 to join Newbee from the Newbee.Y squad. Agressif joins Vici Gaming J along with rOtk who’ll be playing with Fenrir. The TI winning Wings roster stays together. BurNing goes back to IG and will team up with Q and former IG.Vitality players.
CIS
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DX | Arszeeq | Scandal | Ax.Mo | Sh4dowehhh | Øxn |
| Elements Pro Gaming | Swiftending | BadrHari | Mitch | MiLAN | LeBronDota |
| Team Empire | ALOHADANCE | G | Ghostik | Miposhka | KingR |
| FRIENDS | AfterLife | Undershock | yoky- | Nofear | AWF |
| The MoonSight | Funn1k | Immune | art | D3XTR | creat1ve |
| Natus Vincere | Ditya Ra | Dendi | GeneRaL | SoNNeikO♔ | Artstyle |
| Vega Squadron | fn | Iceberg | Mag~ | fng♔ | Cema |
| Virtus Pro | RAMZES666 | No[o]ne | 9pasha | Solo♔ | Lil |
9pasha is back, but this time with Virtus Pro. Alohadance, Ghostik and G join Team Empire. Funn1k creates a new team called The MoonSight after a rather tumultuous few months on the sidelines. Na’Vi stays together completely and doesn’t poach any new players, which is good. FNG is back, but this time with Vega Squadron, who picked up fn, Iceberg, Mag~ and Cematheslayer.
Europe
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ad Finem | Madara | ThuG | SkyLark | Maybe Next Time | SsaSpartan♔ |
| Alliance | Loda♔ | Limmp | jonnasomfan | EGM | Handsken |
| Escape Gaming | Era | qojqva | KheZu | YapzOr | syndereN♔ |
| The Imperial | Ace | 13abyKnight | HeStEJoE- | NoiA♔ | Ryze |
| Kaipi | bOne7 | Singsing | TheCoon | SexyBamboe♔ | FLUFFNSTUFF |
| Team Liquid | MATUMBA | Miracle- | MinD_CtRL | BuLba | KuroKy♔ |
| LVLUP | kole | Wagamama | pwN | Emperor606 | dnz |
| OG | n0tail | Ana | S4 | JerAx | Fly♔ |
| Prodota Gaming | Garter♔ | Pingvincek | Kefka | CWM | Biver |
| Team Secret | MP | MidOne | FoReV | Puppey♔ | pieliedie |
Looking at these rosters leaves me dumbfounded; I never thought I’d see the day when Alliance is a team without Akke, Loda and Bulldog. After the team of friendship and fury split up, s4 joined OG and OG’s very own 9k, Miracle, joined Liquid. Team SEAcret picked up FoReV, MidOne and MP and will hopefully combat some of their difficulties with a strong but less experienced squad. Escape Gaming stay together and FluffNStuff joins Kaipi for yet another incarnation of one of SingSing’s never ending tier 2.5 rosters. Liquid pick up Bulba after the old Secret departed, JerAx will be joining OG from Liquid, and a new face, Ana will be joining OG.
SEA
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Execration | Gabbi | Abed | Rapy | DJ | Kim0♔ |
| Team Faceless | Black^ | Jabz | iceiceice | xy- | NutZ |
| Fnatic | Raven | Mushi♔ | Ohaiyo | eyyou | DeMoN |
| Mineski | Meracle | Raging Potato♔ | RR | Julz | NinjaBoogie |
| Mineski-X | Kecik Imba | Zai’ | WinteR | InsidiousC | XtiNcT |
| MVP Phoenix | Febby | QO | Velo | ReiSeN | DuBu♔ |
| Rave | Ab1ng | Kevz | WHPH | Tims | flysolo♔ |
| s1 Lykos | P- | Nando | Yaj | Erice | Yabish |
| Signature Trust | LaKelz♔ | MyPro | aabBAA | Boombell | tnt |
| Team Tangerine | Syeonix | Kecik Imba | Roddgeee | ADTR | xNova- |
| TNC Pro Team | Teehee | Kuku | Sam_H | ryOyr | Cast |
| White Fries Gaming | kyxy | YamateH | hyhy | Big_A | net |
Jimmy “I won’t be joining Fnatic” Ho joins Fnatic, who also pick up Raven and eyyou for their new roster. Black^ and iceiceice leave their panelist and semiprofessional troll professions to form Team Faceless. MVP Phoenix pick up Velo and ReiSeN to make up for the players who moved to Secret. Some shuffles all around leave TNC, White Fries Gaming, Mineski and Rave with formidable rosters, which should make for a very interesting post TI6 season of Dota 2.
Note: All credit for the roster tables goes to reddit user /u/HAPPYSADPERSON, who did the entire Dota 2 community a favour by compiling the list in his reddit thread.
