Cover-Credits:
taiIn one of the biggest roster announcements since the post The International 10 (TI10) shuffle began, Talon Esports, an Asian esports organization, declared its entry into competitive Dota 2 with Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte and Tal "Fly" Aizik. This new team features some of the biggest and most talented players in professional Dota 2. Perhaps most notable is that Fly will be playing for his first SEA team in his long Dota 2 career. Talon Esports will compete in the Southeast Asian regional league of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2021-22, and is likely to begin its journey at the open qualifiers.
Talon Esports announces entry into competitive Dota 2 with Gabbi, Mikoto, kpii, Hyde, and Fly
Talon Esports announced its international lineup in a blog post on its website. This team will compete out of Manila, Philippines.
Talon Esports’ Dota 2 roster:
Kim "Gabbi" Villafuerte
Rafli Fathur "Mikoto" Rahman
Damien "kpii" Chok
Brizio Adi "Hyde" Putra Budiana
Tal "Fly" Aizik (Captain)
Sean Zhang, CEO of Talon, said on the announcement of this roster:
"DOTA 2 has been a game that we have long sought to enter and finally in 2021, we have arrived. The Philippines will be the home of our new squad and we look forward to embracing the passionate fan base of the country.”
Fly, one of the most storied players in pro Dota 2, moves from North America to SEA to join this new group. His exit from Evil Geniuses concludes a period when the team, despite not being able to close it out, had a number of top three finishes in international events and was a formidable presence in regional events. At the time of writing this article, Evil Geniuses has yet to announce the departure of its captain.
Gabbi, who had been seeking a new team for some time, has finally landed with Talon Esports. Having spent three years with TNC Predator, he parted ways with it in Sept 2019. Mikoto and Hyde last played for BOOM Esports. After failing to qualify for TI10, the team went through a drastic roster change, parting ways with almost all of its players.
Kpii last played for Team SMG during the second half of the DPC 2021-22. He had spent a considerable amount of time playing with Gabbi at TNC Predator before joining Team SMG.
Out of these five players, only Fly had qualified for TI10. Furthermore, Fly's performance with Evil Geniuses was rather underwhelming, as the team placed 9th-12th despite high expectations.
In their quest to qualify for TI11, these five players from Talon Esports will soon be seen in action in the open qualifiers of the SEA DPC. The details of the open qualifiers have not yet been announced.
