Cover-Credits:
Team Bald Reborn, comprised of popular Dota 2 livestreamers, has been bolstered with the addition of two-time The International (TI) runner-up, Aliwi "w33" Omar ahead of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 202-23. A rather surprise addition, Janne "Gorgc" Stefanovski announced it during his recent Twitch stream. In his explanation, Gorgc explained why Team Bald Reborn's midlaner Steve "Xcalibur" Ye had to leave and how, at the last minute, they invited w33 to the team which he surprisingly accepted. During the Western Europe (WEU) DPC 2022-23 Winter Tour, Bald Reborn will compete in Division 2.
W33 replaces Xcalibur in Team Bald Reborn
As the top teams in WEU made some drastic changes, Team Bald Reborn also made sure to step up by recruiting W33.
For the Winter Tour of the DPC 2022-23, Team Bald Reborn consists of the following players.
Janne "Gorgc" Stefanovski
Aliwi "w33" Omar
Ovidijus “ZipZaper” Vaicikauskas
Axel “Pablo” Källman
Lukas “Bengan” Jonathan Hansson
According to Grogc, during his livestream on 9th December, he was initially unsure about playing with Team Bald Reborn, but had to change his mind once he realized former TI winning OG members would be reuniting and likely playing in Division 2. The possibility of defeating the reformed OG lineup, however faint, prompted him to continue playing professionally rather than sell the slot.
“We weren’t sure whether or not we are gonna play this season. It was a lot of talk because I wasn’t sure if I had time. That’s when we heard - especially I heard Old G was coming into Division 2, I was like - I kind of want to play, I want to beat N0tail and Ceb, you know. That’s gonna be fun.
That would even be a bigger one than beating Alliance last season right, for TI? I wanna gatekeep them as well for fun. We got to try at least. So, I was like - f**k it, I’ll try. We are not gonna sell the slot.”
When Gorgc and his teammates decided, Xcalibur, the team's midlaner, received another offer (from Arkosh Gaming) and relocated. Due to the fact that this happened at the eleventh hour, Gorgc says they got anxious about the situation. The team took a chance on w33, who was a free agent, and he, to their surprise, agreed to join the team.
“It was a little bit stressful finding a midlaner and then I was like - a shot in the dark, let’s ask a little man - a big man, a big man called w33. What’s he doing? What’s the big ‘W’ doing? Double TI second place player, millionaire, we are like - there’s no way he’s gonna say yes but he said yes. Now we have a new midlaner, it’s w33 boys in Team Bald.”
Although w33 joins Team Bald Reborn, the other members remain the same.
That’s hyper Pog for Division 2, at least for the first season, that’s the big announcement boys. We have the same roster as before, Pablo, me, Bengan, and ZipZaper, and then w33 for the midlane…I’m gonna put w33 against Topson mid and he’s going to revenge him, revenge him from TI9.”
In the coming season, it will be interesting to see how Team Bald Reborn fares. Initially something of a meme team, the squad has grown into something more competitive, marked by a famous win at The International 11's regional qualifier where it defeated Alliance. Since w33 has joined, the roster has only grown stronger, and some strong results shouldn't be shocking.
