While The International 2022 (TI11) is still ongoing with the Last Chance Qualifiers, some teams have already started rebuilding their rosters for the upcoming season. One of these teams include Alliance, who had an abysmal Dota Pro Circuit campaign this season with relegation to Division II for the upcoming season.
While most of its released players are still looking for teams for next season, Nikolay "Nikobaby" Nikolov has stated in his latest stream that he will no longer be playing in the competitive scene after this season as he wanted to pursue other opportunities.
Nikobaby to create a podcast; first guest will be Loda
Nikolay "Nikobaby" Nikolov previously made his presence known when he got signed to Mineski for The International 2019 (TI9), achieving a top twelve finish at the event. Ever since then, the Bulgarian carry signed for Alliance on a multi-year contract.
However, the contract has recently come to an end as Alliance announced that it has released its roster to rebuild for next season. While the majority of the players are still free agents, Nikobaby has decided to end his professional career in favor of a streaming career as he revealed in his latest livestream.
Nikobaby also said that apart from focusing on his streaming career, he will be creating a podcast show in the near future. He also noted that his former boss in Alliance, Jonathan "Loda" Berg will be the first guest on the podcast once the details are finalized.
“My plan is to stream for now, and do a podcast. I’m already working on the podcast, thinking about the questions and the contents that should be in the podcast but like I said, the first episode will be with Loda.” said Nikobaby.
Nikobaby also added on by saying that he is “not going to continue being a pro player, 100%” after his time with Alliance came to an end following a disappointing season.
Similar players have made the transition to the streaming scene following their professional career, most notably Henrik "AdmiralBulldog" Ahnberg & Max "qojqva" Bröcker and found great success.