Cover-Credits:
The roster shuffle season continues to provide us with twists and turns as the Eastern Europe (EEU) region began to provide new rumors surrounding its teams. Alexander "TORONTOTOKYO" Khertek is rumored to be leaving Team Spirit to create a new stack alongside Nightfall and Save-. Despite having won The International 2021 (TI10), TORONTOTOKYO along with Team Spirit were unable to defend its championship at The International 2022 (TI11) after it saw an early exit against BOOM Esports in the lower bracket.
Following its disappointing title defense, TORONTOTOKYO could be looking to break away from Team Spirit and might be looking to join forces with new teammates for the upcoming season.
TORONTOTOKYO rumored to leave Team Spirit after two years of service
The off-season continues as the roster shuffle season in the EEU region is underway, with Team Spirit’s Alexander "TORONTOTOKYO" Khertek heavily rumored to be leaving his current team after two years of service. TORONTOTOKYO had managed to win TI10 & the Arlington Major with Team Spirit. However, he was unable to defend his TI championship at TI11 as the team saw an early exit from the tournament at the hands of BOOM Esports in the lower bracket.
According to Nemiga Gaming’s manager Eduard “zverHDD” Ashurkievich on Telegram, he stated that TORONTOTOKYO will be leaving the team in favor of creating a new stack for the upcoming season.
“Team Spirit is one substitute/replacement that many people know about despite the claims of the organization.
The information that Torontotokyo will change position and join the new roster with EpilepticKid [aka Nightfall] and Save- is not fiction,” said Eduard “zverHDD” Ashurkievich. However, he added that he cannot confirm how this lineup will actually materialize.
He also said that TORONTOTOKYO’s newest roster will include Evil Geniuses’s current offlaner, Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko & former Virtus.pro (VP) captain Vitalie "Save-" Melnic. TORONTOTOKYO is also rumored to be swapping his current role in the mid lane for a new role, however this is unclear at this point.
The roster could realistically happen, as Virtus.pro are reportedly looking to rebuild its entire roster, which includes the release of Save- from the roster. Nightfall is also expected to return to Eastern Europe as Evil Geniuses are also reportedly looking to rebuild. Should the roster come to fruition, here is the potential lineup for TORONTOTOKYO’s new team.
Egor "Nightfall" Grigorenko (carry/offlane)
Alexander "TORONTOTOKYO" Khertek (mid-lane/offlaner/carry)
Vitalie "Save-" Melnic
TBA
TBA
As of now, both Team Spirit or TORONTOTOKYO have neither denied or confirmed the rumors. However, with the way that the roster shuffle season has been going anything could be possible.
