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Tundra Esports, The International 2022 (TI11) champion, shocked its fans and the Dota 2 community after announcing the release of four players and the coach from its roster after just twenty days of signing. The roster under the team name of Team Undying was signed by Tundra right ahead of the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 tournament.
With this latest development, only Matthew "Whitemon" Filemon, the position five support, remains on the active roster. Tundra Esports took to X to announce the official departure of the four players and the coach on 2nd January.
Tundra Esports Undergoes Another Major Roster Change
On 2nd January, Tundra Esports officially announced the departure of Enzo "Timado" Gianoli, Jonathan Bryle "Bryle" De Guia, Ilyas "kasane" Gainullin, Aleksandr "Immersion" Khmelevskoi, and coach David "MoonMeander" Tan. This came as a shock for Tundra fans and the Dota 2 community as the roster was signed less than a month ago. As of now, position five support Whitemon is the only player remaining on the active roster of the team.
The decision to release these players from the roster has not yet been disclosed but it is not the first time that a major roster change in a short period has taken place recently.
This is the second time in two months that Tundra Esports is undergoing a major change in its Dota 2 roster. Tundra Esports parted ways with its The International 2023 (TI12) squad after the conclusion of the tournament where it only managed to secure a disappointing 13th-16th finish. Left with no roster for the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023, Tundra Esports adopted Team Undying’s roster just a day ahead of the start of the ESL tournament. Notably, it managed to secure a 7th-8th standing and earned 780 EPT points.
The now former roster of Tundra Esports was let go from TSM after the conclusion of The International 2023 when TSM announced its departure from the North American region. The five players then decided to play as Team Undying at the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023.
Interestingly, an earlier tweet from Timado foreshadowed this change. He simply tweeted “LFT,” (Looking For Team) on 31st December 2023. It seemed like he was the sole player to leave Tundra Esports but unbeknownst to the community, a major change was underway.
Also, in another notable incident, rumors suggest that Ivan “Pure~” Moskalenko’s could join Tundra Esports as its carry player.
BOOM Esports pulled off a similar stunt when it disbanded its Dota 2 roster post-TI12. It then adopted a South American stack that included two players from Evil Geniuses (EG) and Thunder Awaken each, and the last player from beastcoast. This roster was promptly disbanded after less than a month together. Recently, BOOM Esports announced a new roster on 27th December.
