A lot happened in the Dota 2 offseason, but one of the biggest talking points was the former Evil Geniuses roster cutting ties with the organization and signing with Shopify Rebellion.
The roster, consisting of Artour “Arteezy” Babaev, Abed Yusop, Andreas “Cr1t” Nielsen, Tal “Fly” Aizik, and new addition Jonáš “SabeRLight” Volek, who replaced Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko, is giving it another crack this season, and Fly believes one change is proof they’ve finally righted years of wrongs: by signing a natural offlaner rather than a carry.
In response to a question from former EG captain Clinton “Fear” Loomis during coverage of the DPC 2023 NA Winter Tour Division I, Fly said he “wanted a natural offlaner” the moment he knew Nightfall was leaving.
It’s not because carry players can’t transition into the role, he explained, pointing towards the success they’ve had doing that in recent years. Instead, it’s easier for the team since there’s no “learning process” to wait for, which means success can come quicker.
What’s even better about SabeRLight, in his view, is he plays “weird offlane heroes,” which opens all kinds of doors when drafting. He mentioned Enigma and Dark Seer, which aren’t too weird, but he also plays Legion Commander, Axe, Beastmaster, Faceless Void, Magnus, Pudge, Doom, Mars, Earthshaker, Centaur Warrunner, Sand King, Pangolier, and more.
“So like whatever we want to draft for the offlane, he already knows how to play these heroes,” said Fly, which they’re not used to. “So, it’s amazing to have a natural offlaner in SabeRLight.”
Shopify Rebellion won their first series of the season against Thiuth Gaming pretty decisively. SabeRLight played Doom and Tusk, popping off hard on the latter with eight kills, zero deaths, and 21 assists. So, they’re off to a good start. But there’s a long way to go.
Only time will tell whether they’ve still got what it takes to be a top contender for the Aegis, but having a natural offlaner for the first time in years should, at the very least, make things easier.
