Team Spirit’s new squad, Xtreme Gaming’s coaching drama, Sundabule goes to “OG University”: Dota 2’s controversial week

There was no scarcity of spicy roster shuffles, controversial opinions, and behind-the-scenes drama within the Dota 2 scene this previous week.

I’ve spent the time digging round boards and socials to current you with probably the most impactful tales from the previous few days. One factor’s for positive, Dota 2 esports is rarely quiet.

If there was one managerial technique Crew Spirit has continuously relied on each time issues begin trying shaky, it’s digging into their pseudo-academy roster, Yellow Submarine, and selling gamers to the primary squad.

It’s no secret that the two-time TI-winning group has not regarded like its traditional selves all through 2026, and modifications have felt inevitable. Because of this, the squad has benched their latest recruit, Nikita “panto” Balaganin, in favor of Yellow Submarine prospect Alexey “not me” Kosmynin. The transfer has additionally shifted Aleksandr “rue” Filin to the place 5 position, whereas not me has stepped in because the group’s new place 4.

At its first rodeo at DreamLeague Season 29, Crew Spirit is beginning to appear like it’s discovered its rhythm once more, going 6-1 in teams and already locking in a top-six end on the time of writing.

Not me has instantly regarded like an excellent match for the roster, continuously working across the map like a shark and searching for performs. Because of this, we’ve seen Crew Spirit simply take the fights they had been at all times so good at profitable. It looks like they’ve returned to their outdated identification, and it’s at all times a deal with to look at.

The group remains to be trying to find its first trophy of the 2026 season, and with how they’ve been enjoying at DreamLeague, this wait won’t final for much longer.

Whereas the brand new Crew Spirit roster is off to a roaring begin, one celebration that bought the brief finish of the stick was Panto, who obtained the dangerous information after solely seven months with the group. Fortuitously for him, it didn’t take lengthy earlier than the European squad MOUZ got here calling, signing him because the group’s new place 5 participant on mortgage.

MOUZ lately parted methods with three-time Main-winning captain Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp, who determined to hold up the mouse and retire from professional play completely. In my eyes, there actually aren’t too many robust place 5 gamers in the marketplace proper now, which explains why the German group wasted no time bringing Panto on board. 

On paper, the transfer is smart for each side. Panto will get one other shot on a aggressive roster, whereas MOUZ provides probably the most skilled gamers obtainable – somebody with loads to show after his brief stint on Crew Spirit. 

After profitable PGL Wallachia Season 6 in November final yr, MOUZ have but to submit any notable outcomes. With the Esports World Cup and The Worldwide proper across the nook, it’ll want this roster transfer with Panto to work out. 

All of us love a bit of little bit of drama, proper? Chinese language superteam Xtreme Gaming hasn’t had the best exhibiting at DreamLeague Season 29, particularly of their group stage sequence towards Nigma Galaxy.

In the first game, star carry Wang “Ame” Chunyu was picked off across the 31-minute mark, and instantly rage-quit regardless of the sport nonetheless trying playable. He instantly typed “gg” in all chat, forcing an early concession. 

Positive, issues had been trying bleak within the sport, however the group may have at least gone for one final hurrah earlier than Ame ripped the 2 letters. 

Based on Chinese language insiders on Telegram below the deal with “Chinese language Muesli,” the group has been sad with how coach Zhang “xiao8” Ning has dealt with drafts, which can have contributed to inside tensions in the course of the sequence. 

After the sequence, xiao8 was not seen drafting within the following matches, with the group’s assistant coach Wang “Maps” Yutian taking the helm as an alternative.

This does appear like a really messy state of affairs, contemplating how lengthy xiao8 and the Xtreme Gaming core have labored collectively. Seeing such a long-running partnership doubtlessly collapse mid-tournament is one thing you hate to see, particularly for Chinese language followers.

Tundra captain Neta “33” Shapira was introduced in for a post-match interview after a sequence in DreamLeague Season 29, which additionally occurs to be a qualifier for the upcoming Esports World Cup. 

With Tundra Esports locking of their spot for the occasion, 33 was requested for his ideas main as much as the match. As an alternative of giving the standard PR solutions, the two-time TI winner had one thing a bit of completely different to say:

“EWC is a good match, I get pleasure from enjoying there, however this time there’s solely 2 million {dollars} on the road. That’s like profitable BLAST and DreamLeague championships inside a few weeks. It’s not an important match. Sorry for saying this on ESL’s stream.”

And actually, the person’s bought a degree.  The one factor EWC actually had going for it was its monumental prize swimming pools. The 2023 iteration featured an insane $15 million prize, even exceeding The Worldwide’s that yr. Nevertheless, it has since dropped to $5 million, then $3 million, and now simply $2 million this yr. 

Sure, $2 million remains to be some huge cash – don’t get me mistaken – however the Dota 2 scene has million-dollar tournaments occurring nearly each month. So the upcoming EWC, with its present prize pool, does really feel like simply one other occasion; perhaps barely above a typical one at finest. 

33 shortly apologized for sharing his brutally trustworthy opinion on stream, however fans on Reddit had been largely in settlement along with his sentiment. One Redditor put it bluntly: “Truthfully, even that could be a bit an excessive amount of contemplating how low the viewers had been on the current tournaments. Gained’t be stunned to see them decrease the prize pool subsequent yr.”

To finish the recap on a lighter be aware, now we have a reasonably joke from REKONIX’s former coach Gregorius “Sundabule” Prasetyo.

Being Indonesian himself, Sundabule labored with REKONIX to assist revive the native Dota 2 scene, and was fairly efficient in doing so. The group certified for a number of S-Tier occasions, and though they completed final in most of them, they had been at the very least placing their nation again on the map. 

Nevertheless, the 25-year-old finally left the group in April, saying he needed to give attention to his grasp’s diploma. The group revered his choice and let him go. Properly, clearly there was a change of plans, as SEA rivals OG introduced his signing because the group’s new analyst. 

Indonesian followers have been memeing the transfer, joking that he’s now learning at “OG College.” It’s additionally hilarious that Indonesians and Filipinos have a long-standing, wholesome rivalry within the scene, and that Sundabule basically jumped ships. 

Jokes apart, OG, with their latest member Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek, nonetheless has loads of work forward of them. An additional pair of palms from an skilled coach like Sundabule will certainly assist the group determine issues out.