Tundra eSports is a well-known esports organisation headquartered in London, United Kingdom. They entered the world of Dota 2 in early 2021 and with the signing of mudgolems, they won the International in 2022 and have since gained more popularity than ever. But in a recent uncertain turn of events, Tundra’s decision has led to a wave of despair and dilemma among Dota 2 fans.
Tundra eSports first disbanded its roster in November 2023, just after they bombed out of the International 2023. Ensuing to that, they signed an ex-TSM team. But what was deemed to be a new strategic move has now turned out to have a different course of event in a mere time-span of 20 days.
Tundra eSports release Dota 2 line up
In the world of eSports, releasing of signed teams in a very short span has not been amusing to many. While releasing is a usual move, it has still left fans stunned. Tundra eSports had signed just recently its new roster on December 11, 2023, “Team Undying” after they were let go by TSM.
But just after 20 days of their association with Tundra, they got slammed with another release, leaving the organisation again without a roster. Team Undying, got a chance to play only a single tournament, ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023. They were expected to live upto their sponsor’s organisation, however they only bagged a 7th to 8th place finish.
Tundra officially announced on 2nd January 2023 on its Twitter handle the release of all the players of its roster except one. Enzo “Timado” Gianoli, Jonathan Bryle “Bryle” De Guia, Ilyas “kasane” Gainullin, Aleksandr “Immersion” Khmelevskoi, and coach David “MoonMeander” Tan have been released with a note of “Thank you for your time and dedication”. As of now, position five support Whitemon is the only player remaining on the active roster of the team.
With only Whitemon left in the roster, many fans have expressed their discontent on social media platforms. Some have even claimed that Tundra could have signed Tundra to fulfill sponsor obligations of 2024. It would be interesting to note how the complete roster turns out to be.
Details on Tundra eSports potential lineup in 2024
The organisations regardless of its sudden decisions, by the looks of it, still seems engaged to stay in the Dota 2 competitive world.
Whitemon’s retention could be a sign of Tundra’s intention of strong-arming the team, especially with remarkable free agents lurking in the market like Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov, and Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko. Additionally, Martin “Saksa” Sazdov and Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen currently being on the inactive roster could be added to the Tundra’s dream team.
The new developments surges a heated conversation on the future of the Dota 2 Esports teams. It has not developed a precedent to make aggressive moves by the sponsors but also has decayed the player retention authenticity.
What do you think of Tundra’s drastic move? Tell us in the comments.
