Samuel “Boxi” Svahn is “taking time away” from competitive Dota 2 for personal reasons, Team Liquid announced today.
During that time, SumaiL will be joining the roster as a stand-in for the second season of the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit until Boxi is able to return to the main lineup.
The team did not give much information about the decision, only saying that he’ll be taking time away from Dota “to be with family” and asking fans to send him their support. There’s no timeline for when he might rejoin the team.
SumaiL, who last played for OG and the Just Error stack, will fill Boxi’s spot on the roster for the time being. He isn’t really an offlaner, so it’s very likely that Liquid will be swapping roles around or trying out a tri-carry strategy of some kind until they find what works.
Liquid’s director of esports, John “Tephus” Lewis, has confirmed that the organization has already spoken with Valve and gained permission to use SumaiL in more than four matches. But it’s still unclear how long Boxi’s absence will last or what action will need to be taken by the team or Valve moving forward.
“Talked to Valve about it already,” Lewis said. “It has potential to go beyond their rules, but they consider it extenuating circumstances and in the short term will create an exception.”
Boxi has been a part of Liquid’s Dota team since they were signed after The International 2019. He’s been playing with his current teammates in some form since 2017 when they were signed by Alliance.
