Russian hopefuls HellRaisers are taking another shot at the crowded Dota 2 field, dropping their current team and acquiring the young Kompas Gaming lineup.
The organization’s original lineup failed to find any kind of foothold in European competition, finishing fourth behind Virtus.Pro Polar at the Excellent Moscow Cup Season 2 tournament and 6th in pool play at DreamHack’s Game Show League Season 1.
The former roster looked to be an inroad to the Dota elite for the small esports organization, but the veteran talent simply couldn’t find their rhythm. Former team captain Ivan “ArtStyle” Antonov’s résumé featured membership in the original Natus Vincere lineup that beat Chinese side EHOME for the first-ever International crown in 2011. His then-teammate, Maxim “Yoky” Kim, also demonstrated potential, but ultimately couldn’t carry the squad through rough drafting and unsynchronized execution.
HellRaisers newest lineup will instead look to new blood for their success. As Kompas Gaming, the team garnered titles in a number of smaller regional cups and also tied with Team Empire and Alliance in The Summit 2, this season’s premier competition. Just yesterday the team beat out North American side Cloud9 in a game that, while holding little bearing on the final standings, demonstrated their capacity for synergy and individual execution.
HellRaisers has made one modification to the original lineup, eschewing former Kompas Gaming player Andrey “PSM” Dunaev for demonstrated leader Andrey “Dread” Golubev. Golubev will pair with team standout Andrey “Afoninje” Afonin, whose carry play overtook the stubborn Cloud9 in one of several major victories this month.
With upcoming squads Team Tinker, Team Secret, and Power Rangers crowding the top of the standings, HellRaisers will have their work cut out for them. Fortunately for everyone involved, there’s still plenty of time to retool rosters before the Valve’s main event next summer.
