Topson wasn’t a name many Dota 2 fans expected to see hitting the free agent market after winning back-to-back The International titles with OG, but after he took a break from competing, he hopped right back into the thick of things.
OG allowed the Finnish star to sign elsewhere and play as a stand-in once he decided to come back to Dota during the last part of the 2022 Dota Pro Circuit—where he ended up jumping to Southeast Asia and teaming with former OG teammate ana on T1. But now it looks like he might be back on the move and heading home to Europe.
That roster had a lot of hype surrounding it as they prepared to compete in the SEA regional qualifiers and later the Last Chance Qualifier to make it into TI11, but neither run ended well for the hastily put-together T1 lineup. Their run ended very early, with a fifth-place exit from the LCQ ending the season before it really even began for two of the three players.
While TI11 was wrapping up, Kuku, Whitemon, and Xepher’s contracts all expired and they openly started looking for new teams. But the question still hangs over both Topson and ana—though the former is currently a hot commodity in the transfer market.
Related: ‘Dota is dead in NA’: ppd backs reports that Evil Geniuses will swap rosters and regions
With MATUMBAMAN officially retiring from competitive Dota after a third-place finish at TI11, there have been a number of reports pointing to Topson taking the place of his fellow countryman on Team Liquid.
On an episode of OG’s Monkey Business Show, Topson confirmed that returning to EU was his dream. And, while he wouldn’t confirm that a return to T1 is out of the cards, it appears that the ship has sailed and he is looking to move on in some fashion unless something major changes.
With how Toposon’s contract is currently structured, OG might have the final say in where he is actually able to sign unless a buyout is negotiated. But with how the organization operates, it is likely they will see Topson signing with an EU rival as a needed challenge.
There are still plenty of other dominos that need to fall in the post-TI11 roster shuffle, but this has been one of the most consistent rumors spreading around and also makes some of the most sense just from a one-to-one replacement for Matu. Gotta replace one TI champion with another, right?
