Team Empire Takes Break from Dota 2 Until The International 10 Ends
Team Empire, one of the oldest CIS competitors in Dota, has decided to take an extended break from the game until The International 10 concludes. The organization recently moved its entire lineup to the inactive roster, weighing its options for future competitions.
Over the past nine months, Empire has been a consistent presence in competitions, consistently placing in the top eight since January. Despite their strong performance, they narrowly missed out on qualifying for TI10, losing a heartbreaking game five to Team Spirit in the Eastern Europe Qualifiers.
In their most recent tournaments, Empire secured a seventh-place finish at ESL One Fall 2021, defeating PSG.LGD, beastcoast, Team Liquid, and SG esports. They did, however, face defeat against B8 in Dota 2 Champions League 2021 Season Three, finishing fourth after an impressive performance in the group stage.
Following this recent loss, the organization has decided to step back and make roster decisions for the post-TI Dota scene. As a result, the roster has been moved to an inactive state, with only Gleb “depressed kid” Zyryanov confirmed to be staying for now, amidst rumors of other players leaving the team.
“Recently, there have been a lot of rumors around the Dota 2 team composition of Team Empire,” said Alexander “StrangeR” Solomonov, Empire’s Esports Director. “Regarding depressed kid, I have already said and will repeat that, at the moment, he remains in Team Empire. For the rest, I can say that there will be changes in the squad and they will be global, but for now, due to the lack of tournaments, the squad is being transferred to inactive.”
Here is the current roster that has been moved to inactive status while Empire makes internal decisions: Alexey “Smiling Knight” Sviridov, depressed kid, Oleg “sayuw” Kalenbet, Ivan “VANSKOR” Skorokhod, and the team’s coach Vladimir “Chappie” Kuzmenko.
More details about the future of Empire’s Dota team and roster moves will be shared after TI10, which takes place from Oct. 7 to 17. The organization wants to take its time with the decision and see which players might become available in the post-TI roster shuffle.
Team Empire, Dota 2, The International 10, CIS competitors, roster, inactive, tournaments, post-TI, internal decisions, rumors, Alexander “StrangeR” Solomonov, Gleb “depressed kid” Zyryanov, Alexey “Smiling Knight” Sviridov, Oleg “sayuw” Kalenbet, Ivan “VANSKOR” Skorokhod, Vladimir “Chappie” Kuzmenko, roster shuffle