Following the surprising kick of the team’s captain and founder Fata, Tundra Esports has officially signed Saksa as its fifth player heading into the next Tour of the 2022 Dota Pro Circuit.
This isn’t a surprising move. Saksa is a top support player and was readily available as a free agent, having skipped competing in the Winter Tour, for Tundra to pick up as the org looks to shake up its roster in an ever-improving Western Europe region.
Saksa, who last played for OG up until the organization’s big roster change post-The International 10, brings multiple years and TIs worth of experience to an already seasoned roster.
“All of my teammates are really amazing and I think we can achieve great things together,” Saksa said. “In the short term, I will be trying to understand how everything works in the team and getting used to how everyone communicates. I’m hoping to see all the practice we put in achieve good results and hopefully maybe one day win TI.”
With this change, Saksa will be taking over position four, while Sneyking moves to position five and will head up the team as its captain moving forward.
Tundra is also aware of how the decision to kick Fata so suddenly despite solid results has reflected on the team. Fata said the decision involved his direct refusal of attempts to kick other players from the roster in the past for the player who eventually replaced him, meaning it had been in the works for some time.
But Tundra is still committed to its position on supporting players and providing stability, as long as it lines up with achieving results.
“We are very aware of the community’s response, especially in regards to the long-term contracts we have in place,” Tundra co-founder and esports and operations director Anthony Graham said. “We still believe that this offers more consistency and stability for our players that isn’t the norm in esports. And as we grow as an organization, we will continue to refine how we work with our players to try and ensure they feel supported while also looking at how we can achieve better results.”
In the end, the organization felt that bringing in Saksa would improve the team’s synergy and is hopeful he can take them to the next level.
Tundra will be competing in the upper division of the WEU DPC regional league for the Spring Tour, with the goal of improving on their third-place finish in the last stage.
