HellRaisers (HR) beat Virtus.pro in the race for the last Lima Major spot, but the team’s already set to receive a penalty that would cause them to forfeit over 50 percent of any potential DPC point earnings from the tournament due to a roster change.
Shortly after qualifying for the Major, HR parted ways with Nikita “Daxak” Kuzmin, the carry player of the EEU DPC squad.
According to rumors, Daxak has been on bad terms with HR’s coach Aleksandr “Nofear” Churochkin. The disagreements between the two apparently led to an ultimatum that ended in favor of Nofear.
Following Daxak’s exit from HR, the final EEU representative started trying out new carry players. Igor “iLTW” Filatov and Alik “V-Tune” Vorobey of NAVI look to be the leading candidates at the moment, as both were spotted in scrims.
Regarding the roster change, offlaner Matvey “MieRo`” Vasyunin commented that they were looking to find the best piece to fit their puzzle, as a new player could also mean a change in playstyle.
Unless HR chooses to attend the Lima Major with a registered substitute, they will lose half of the DPC points they may earn from the tournament. To become eligible for DPC points, HR will need to place in the top eight at the tournament.
Considering even a single DPC point can make a difference between qualifying for the International, the point penalty might come back to haunt HR later in the season just like it did Virtus.pro in 2022, where the team missed out on a direct invite to Fnatic by one DPC point.
