Cover-Credits:
9Pandas Esports is the new home for HellRaisers' former roster after two weeks of being without an organization. As part of the announcement, 9Pandas Esports announced the signing of the five players via a YouTube video on 17th April 2023, featuring them in their new jerseys. The roster was undefeated in the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Eastern Europe (EEU) 2023 Tour 2: Division I, taking the top rank but had to split with the HellRaisers organization since it was not ready to continue being involved in esports. Additionally, 9Pandas Esports has also retained the team's former support staff including coach Aleksandr "Nofear" Churochkin and sports director Maria "Inverno" Gunina.
9Pandas Esports recruits former HellRaisers lineup featuring RAMZES666 and Solo
“The New chapter of 9Pandas has begun! In this exciting video, we reveal the highly-anticipated new Dota roster of 9Pandas, featuring the best players from Eastern Europe,” the Serbian organization wrote.
9Pandas Esports' roster includes the following players in positions one to five:
Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev
Gleb "kiyotaka" Zyryanov (formerly known as “depressed kid”)
Matvey "MieRo`" Vasyunin
Vladislav "Antares" Kertman
Alexey "Solo" Berezin
Despite nofear remaining as the coach, former HellRaisers' CEO Aldar "Jamba" Dzhambinov will now be the team manager, and Inverno becomes the organization's Chief Strategy Officer.
According to Adalyat "Krookie" Mamedov, CEO of 9Pandas Esports, the organization was working on adding top esports professionals in the past month, and the new Dota 2 team is just the beginning with more announcements on the way. At the time of writing, 9Pandas Esports also owns a CS:GO team.
In the wake of the official announcement for the signing of the new roster, RAMZES666 and the rest, they will likely be driven to bring their A-game back after they came up short at the DreamLeague Season 19 where they finished 13th-14th. However, some players were struggling with a virus which may have played a role in the lackluster results at the event.
In the second Dota 2 Major of the year, ESL One Berlin Major 2023, 9Pandas Esports will make its competitive debut. As far as securing DPC points to qualify for the International 11 (TI11) is concerned, this will be an important event. Kiyotaka is a player to look out for as he has elevated his game to another level in recent months. He will be aiming to give the team a head start from the midlane. The Major begins on 26th April.
