Alliance Parts Ways With Handsken and Coach okcya

Division 1 in Western Europe (WEU) has seen its first roster change as the season is about to end. Alliance has parted ways with position five/captain Simon "Handsken" Rasmus Haag and coach Niklas "okcya" Koskinen. This change was announced via the organization’s Twitter while CEO Jonathan "Loda" Berg provided a detailed explanation as to why Handsken and okcya left. Alliance had a disappointing result in Division 1 of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) WEU 2021-22 Tour 1, finishing seventh and therefore getting relegated to Division 2.

Alliance looks to rebuild as Handsken and coach departs

“Today we say farewell to @Handsken1 and @okcyadota,” Alliance wrote as it thanked the two for their contributions to the team.

Alliance’s new Dota 2 roster following the roster shuffle will be:

• Nikolay "Nikobaby" Nikolov

• Ondřej "Supream^" Štarha

• Rodrigo "Lelis" Santos

• Adam "Aramis" Moroz

• TBD

Alliance had finished in the 9th-12th position at The International 10 (TI10), which Loda stated was a good result for some players but not enough for others. Following TI10 the roster was changed and three new players were added along with coach okcya, with Nikobaby and Handsken leading the way. Handsken also assumed the captaincy and switched from position four to position five.

According to Loda, some problems arose as the season progressed with the new roster.

“There was a breakdown of trust within the team itself and the org was requested to step in. We worked hard to remedy the situation but early this year it became clear that some players within the team were not willing to keep moving forward with and we decided that Handsken was benched and Okcya was removed from the roster,” he added.

A couple of stand-ins replaced Handsken during Alliance's final two series in the league.

Despite the fact that he was unaware of how many changes take place, Loda indicated that the team would rebuild going forward. “The one thing we know is that we need to have a group that is motivated not demotivated by going to Division 2,” he noted.

Towards the end of the statement, Loda expressed gratitude to Handsken for his time. “Even though things didn’t work out as we hoped this time you have been a true professional during your whole stay with us. It pains me that we couldn’t make it work as we hoped to but sometimes things change, people change and that’s ok.”

Handsken had established himself as an integral member of Alliance's Dota 2 roster, having joined the squad back in October 2019. Over the course of his two-year tenure, Alliance's greatest accomplishments were a victory at the DreamLeague S12, fourth place at DreamLeague S13, first place at DPC WEU 2021 Season 2, and 9th-12th place at TI10.

With Alliance looking to rebuild, it faces a tough road to TI11 because of its relegation to Division 2. There is a long way to go before the next Tour, so it will be interesting to see how the organization changes its roster.