As ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 approaches, rosters in Southeast Asia (SEA) are beginning to come together following an intense period of changes. In a recent development, the former Dota 2 roster of Talon Esports has been signed by the Serbian esports organization Aurora. This iteration has a slight change as Rafli "Mikoto" Fathur Rahman is not a part of the team, and the midlane will now be occupied by former Team Secret player Armel "Armel" Tabios. Aurora is expected to compete in the closed qualifier of ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 to qualify for the main event.
Aurora signs ex Talon Esports roster with Armel as the new midlaner
“New season, new players and new challenges for us! We are excited to announce the arrival of a brand new division in our organization - the Dota 2 roster,” Aurora wrote on Twitter.
The following players make up Aurora's Dota 2 lineup for the 2024 competitive season.
Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon
Armel “Armel” Paul Tabios
Anucha “Jabz” Jirawong
Worawit “Q” Mekchai
Chan “Oli” Chon Kien
Over the past two years, this group formed the most successful SEA team and was expected to continue playing together. Talon however parted ways with them and said, “After discussions with the team, we have come to the agreement to mutually part ways to allow other opportunities to be explored.”
In their time with Talon, the team qualified for The International 11 (TI11) despite a mediocre year and then carried on the form to record a successful year in 2023.
The organization finished third at the Lima Major 2023, fourth at DreamLeague Season 20, and then third at Riyadh Masters 2023, a win that earned Talon a whopping $1,700,000 USD in prize money. From there, the team's form declined, and they finished 9th-12th in TI12.
Mikoto will miss out on the new team since he has opted to take a break from professional Dota 2. During a recent livestream, he expressed his desire to take the next few months easy and will most likely be unavailable until the first major event in 2024.
It will be intriguing to see how Aurora performs now that Mikoto has left. He was one of the team's most improved players, providing flawless starts from the midlane against some of the greatest players. Mikoto was also named the MVP at Riyadh Masters 2023.
Armel, on the other hand, is a veteran who takes his position and is returning to SEA after spending some time with Team Secret in Europe. He will have some techniques under his sleeve, learned in the region, and will try to execute them here.
On the other hand, Lee "SunBhie" Jeong-jae formerly coached this team. It is uncertain whether he will coach them again.