Cover-Credits:
Tour 1 of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2021-22 has just concluded in all six regions, and it's now time for Dota 2 teams to evaluate their options and reorganize their rosters. So far, there has not been much noise in other regions about roster changes, but Southeast Asia (SEA) has already started to draw a lot of attention. TNC Predator captain Kim "Febby" Yong-min made some intriguing disclosures during his livestream on Tuesday regarding the upcoming roster changes in SEA. According to Febby, some of the teams that will reportedly undergo roster changes are BOOM Esports, T1, and Motivate.Trust Gaming. However, the most surprising part was his hint that two-time The International (TI) champion Anathan "ana" Pham might be returning.
Febby teases ana’s return in his SEA roster shuffle leak livestream
Febby announced during his livestream that teams playing in the Regional Finals next month are practicing with new players and a different version of their rosters will be visible there.
As the top four seeds in Division 1, BOOM Esports, T1, Fnatic, and Team SMG will compete in the Regional Finals, but Febby did not immediately mention which of these teams will be changing. He later mentioned that BOOM Esports, who finished first in Division 1, would be changing its roster, though he did not mention the names of the players that would be replaced.
Febby also hinted that ana might be returning to competitive Dota 2.
“Okay, three things about the roster shuffle. SEA roster shuffle. Ready? You guys ready? Three things - A-N-A. Okay, that’s three things.”
Ana retired from competitive Dota 2 in June 2021 after he had a middling season with OG in the second regional league of the DPC 2021. Before this, ana had taken extended competitive breaks while on OG's inactive roster but this time, he finally decided to step away from pro Dota 2. After being away from the game post-retirement, he has started playing a lot of pubs again over the past few months. In fact, this activity has seen a monumental rise in the past week. At the time of writing, ana had played 120 games in the past eight days as per Dota 2 Pro Tracker, which is 15 games per day on average.
Febby continued by saying that T1, who finished in third place in the league, is trying out a new player and he further went to say that Motivate.Trust Gaming is also changing its roster.
In the past few days, there have been rumors floating around the community as well as among players and team management regarding the roster changes in a number of SEA teams. But, there has been no official confirmation of these rumors.
As for Febby himself, he endured a very disappointing season in Division 1 of the DPC with TNC Predator and the team was relegated to Division 2. Also, it remains to be seen whether he will remain as part of the team and whether the organization, which has been largely successful in the past, will make any changes as a result of the poor results.
In the leadup to Tour 2, here is a roster change tracker that will allow you to know about all roster changes occurring in SEA as well as other regions.
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