The largest Dota tournament outside of The International has become a fountain of insider information as of late. But the man in charge of one team involved says that fans shouldn’t get too excited about the most recent “leak.”
After revealing major Western roster shake-ups in the HTML code of its website, the Dota 2 Asia Championship has done it again, exposing Cloud9‘s latest iteration in its robust compendium. According to the digital booklet, Johan “BigDaddyN0Tail” Sundstein and Rasmus “Misery” Berth Filipsen will replace the recently departed Kurtis “Aui 2000” Ling and Johan “Pieliedie” Astrom, though on what terms is still unknown.
“Things technically are not sorted out yet,” Cloud9 owner Jack Etienne told the Daily Dot. “Technically they are standing in. It’s a work in progress as we sort out the details. I hope to have it sorted out soon.”
Teams have begun using the stand-ins as a test for long-term roster chemistry, rather than the more conventional use as a temporary measure for replacing unavailable players. Doing so prevents organizations and players from entering into formal agreements without first testing the longevity of the partnership. Team Empire recently deployed Ilya “ALOHADANCE” Korobkin as an extended stand-in before signing him to the roster in an official capacity.
For now, Sundstein and Filipsen will deploy their considerable talents as stand-ins when the team touches down in Shanghai. If the European pair can help break the team’s long-standing second-place curse, safe money rests on contracts to follow.
