The period following The International is always an intriguing one. Before Valve‘s transition to a Major system, roster shuffles were archaic and all too frequent in their occurrence. Teams would pick-up and drop players throughout the year as they geared towards The International. With Majors now offering substantial prize-pools throughout the year and the Seattle-based game developer implementing rules on roster shuffles, the Dota 2 scene has become significantly more stable.
The Fall Shuffle 2016 has now formally concluded. #FallShuffle pic.twitter.com/vpuUiV8eVX
— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) September 18, 2016
The roster system was altered again by Valve this time around. With the addition of a drop-phase and a pickup-phase it assured greater protection for players ahead of roster locks. Shanghai Major winners Team Secret famously removed both Aliwi “w33” Omar and Rasmus “MiSeRy” Filipsen from their roster just four days before the lock. With just four days to find a new team to compete for the Manila Major and The International 6, it left two top players with extreme doubt as to whether or not they would find a team and be able to compete. Under Valve’s new system, players have to be dropped from a roster before a predetermined date and then additions were permitted until 18th September.
The new set of rosters are now set and there’s a real sense of intrigue amongst the tight-knit Dota 2 community. North American juggernaut, and winner of The International 5, Evil Geniuses saw veteran Clinton “Fear” Loomis and captain Peter “PPD” Dager take up management positions whilst making way for five of Dota’s biggest names. What’s more intriguing is the first real merge of the East and West, with Team Secret picking up three of the finest talents in South East Asia to join forces with Clement “Puppey” Ivanov – arguably the most esteemed captain in Dota 2 history. Meanwhile, Wings Gaming, the winner of the recent International remain unchanged.
The first glimpse of the new rosters will come at Mars Dota 2 League which gets underway on September 28.
For a full list of Dota 2 rosters ahead of the Fall Major, click here.
Header image: Valve.
