We have seen many team accomplishments throughout the Dota Pro Circuit Tour 1. Gladiators win in Europe, Spirit dominates CIS, BOOM Esports won it all in the Southeast Asia region, while Thunder Predator delivered in South America.

Plenty of teams had disappointing showings in Tour 1, and as a result plenty of roster changes are expected in the next three weeks. As the DPC candidates head into the Tour 2 of DPC 21-22 soon, these are several notable roster movements to be wary of.

Tundra Esports signs Saksa

Meanwhile, the Western European teams seem to have a much different approach to improving their performance for DPC2021-22 Tour 2. There weren’t any notable roster changes, except for Tundra Esports, which kicked Adrian “Fata” Trinks.

This came after Tundra Esports lost at fourth place in DPC WEU Regional Finals to team OG, a supposedly inexperienced wildcard. As replacement, Tundra Esports recruited former OG support player, Martin “Saksa” Sazdov. Fans have seen Saksa’s plays, notably as Windranger, and his mechanics skill is a massive plus too.

With Fata, formerly captain, out of Tundra, Sneyking takes up the role as captain.

Martin “Saksa” Sazdov

T1 confirms Gabbi is here to stay

The South Korean powerhouse is among the rising stars at DPC SEA Regional Finals, coming in close at second place. It’s not too shabby for a relatively young team, that only debut in their first International 10 (TI10) last year.

However, despite the victories, T1 recognizes that they aren’t in their prime form. This concern brings us to Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, the team’s ace in TI10 and DPC2021-22. While 23savage is a prodigy in his carry role, his young, volatile attitude makes him an easy target for opponents to shut down.

23savage’s short-tempered demeanor is never really mentioned, so do take this rumor with a pinch of salt. Regardless, T1 has already begun try-outs with Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte Santos before the DPC SEA Regional Finals. Then, proceeded to play with Gabbi in the regional finals. It’s evident that Gabbi synergizes well with T1’s playstyle, so T1 now looks like a more mature formation.

Joe Marsh, T1 CEO pretty much confirmed Gabbi is here to stay.

Meanwhile, we can expect 23savage to play for Motivate.Trust Gaming in upcoming games as he has been playing as sub frequently.

BOOM Esports tries something new

BOOM Esports’ decision to replace their hard carry player came as a surprise, considering BOOM outperformed its competition in DPC SEA Regional Finals. However, upon deeper analysis, perhaps BOOM wasn’t too pleased with Justine Ryan Evangelista “Tino” Grimaldo’s farming efficiency.

In most games, BOOM’s mid-player scales at least fifteen percent more than Tino, the hard carry, who’s given all the space and support he needs. Perhaps what’s more surprising is that the freshie, Souliya “JaCkky” Khoomphetsavong got the role. JaCkky isn’t a seasoned player as well, and his participation in DPC2021-22 in Motivate.Trust Gaming was lacklustre too.

Regardless, BOOM seems to have high hopes for their latest addition, and likely want a change in pace. Oftentimes, strong teams don’t just fall off because they were underperforming, but the opponents merely figured them out. For instance, Invictus Gaming’s two-year-old roster was overwhelmed by every opponent they faced in DPC2021-22 China.

Team SMG new captain?

Yet another top seed candidate, Team SMG decides to have a new hard support player, and presumably captain. Michael “ninjaboogie” Ross Jr is a veteran player in the SEA DPC scene, so surely he’s an ideal option for SMG’s young line-up. A change in drafts and playstyle will open up how SMG can rival other prominent powerhouses, such as BOOM and T1. That said, ninjaboogie’s drafts aren’t always effective, and even unorthodox compared to today’s meta.

In hindsight, it’s always a good sign of a thriving Dota 2 betting scene when even the top competitors are consistently adapting. After all, a month-long bootcamp and hours of studying an opponent can make wonders when it comes to devising a plan.

Brame reunites old friends

We saw the remnants of Ad Finem join forces once more in Brame. Namely, the Greek players, Dimitris “ThuG” Plivouris, Kharis “SkyLark” Zafeiriou, and Giorgos “SsaSpartan” Giannakopoulos make up the squad.

It’s always a heart-touching sight to see such a charismatic team return for a second round, but the Greek team does have blatant caveats. Brame’s drafts and aggressive playstyle put them at a disadvantage in terms of what strategies they can use. Hence, Brame often gets outdrafted due to their ineffective hero combos.

Alliance up in the air

Alliance, on the other hand, will have to climb out of the trench next Tour. Specifically, the recent DPC2021-22 EEU Division 1 saw Alliance being delegated to amateur bracket, Division 2. Alliance’s complete roster is still unannounced, but don’t expect Simon “Handsken” Rasmus Haag, Ondřej “Supream^” Štarha, and Rodrigo “LESLÃO” Santos to be around.

Thunder Predator

Just when we assumed Thunder Predator is unstoppable at DPC SA Regional Finals, both beastcoast and Infamous swept the favorites. They are replacing their offlane player, Oscar David “Oscar” Chavez Jimenez, in exchange for Rafael “Sacred” Yonatan from Infamous.

While it’s not mentioned that it’s a swap, Oscar filled the slot in Infamous. An offlane player change isn’t the most popular around, plausibly because offlane roles aren’t impactful. Regardless, with the two teams swapping their offlaners, perhaps the DPC2021-22 Tour 2 will be more entertaining soon.

On a different note, NoPing e-sports’ Dota 2 division has disbanded, to quote them, “the current dota 2 lineup is done.”

In hindsight, we might anticipate a formidable class of SEA representatives in the next DPC2021-22 Tour 2. The fact that they aren’t maintaining their roster means that they are doing things differently to rival other regional opponents. If the recent roster shuffle piqued your interest, consider Dota 2 Fantasy, where you can create your fantasy team and win prizes.