Tundra Esports has started decently at the Bali Major, but another hurdle has the reigning International Dota 2 champions facing a much harder road as Saksa was sent home due to undisclosed medical issues on June 30. His departure has left the team ringing up a familiar face to step in and help steady things for the final leg of the Dota Pro Circuit season—Aui_2000 himself.
After a 5-3 start to the Bali Major group stage, Tundra was looking like they would secure at least a decent seed for the playoffs after the upcoming weekend matches. Unfortunately, an internal decision was made to send Saksa back home to recover from an illness, with no further explanation available.
Losing a dynamic support player like Saksa on such short notice could have been an instant ticket to the bottom of the group stage for some teams. However, Tundra has one of the best backup plans in Dota.
Instead of needing to go outside of the organization for a stand-in, Tundra will play on with coach Aui in place of the ill Saksa. And, while he hasn’t played at the highest level of competitive Dota in a few years, he knows his team better than just about anyone else.
Aui has played 1,950 pro matches and boasts a 57 percent win rate during his professional career, highlighted by his role as captain during Evil Geniuses’ run to win TI5—but he hasn’t played a competitive season of Dota outside of a brief stint with Arkosh Gaming in 2020.
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With this move in place, Tundra still has to play Blacklist International, Team Aster, Execration, and the current group leader, Team Liquid before seeding is complete for the playoffs. Winning even one of those matchups will likely lock them a spot in the upper bracket since they have already split their series with Beastcoast and Team Spirit—who sit in a tie for third ahead of July 1’s matchday.
Aui has a chance to help lead his team to a Major title and close out the 2023 DPC on a high note before TI prep begins. He just has to hope that the meme about being kicked from his teams remains a distant memory once Saksa does return.
