There’s a great disturbance in the force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror at least in Southeast Asia. The rumors are indeed true! Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen has joined Dota 2 team T1 in a quest for a third TI crown. That's not all. He's brought with him none other than Anathan "ana" Pham. The two are serving as stand-ins for the team. Ana has since stood in for Team Liquid at the Riyadh Masters 2022 and Royal Never Give Up at the Arlington Major. Meanwhile, Topson has become one of the Dota’s most popular streamers after opting to take a break in November last year.
T1 parted ways with former hard carry Kim “Gabbi” Villafuerte and midlaner Karl “Karl” Baldovino on August 11.
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| credits to Coach BYB |
T1 Dota 2 roster for TI11 SEA qualifiers
(1) Anathan “ana” Pham
(2) Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen
(3) Carlo “Kuku” Palad
(4) Kenny “Xepher” Deo
(5) Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon
Park “March” Tae-won (coach)
Kim “QO” Sun Yeob (analyst)
While ana will be an official T1 member, Topson will play for the team as a stand-in—leaving his status more open-ended. T1’s new acquisitions will have little time to gel with the rest of the team. In less than two weeks, the TI11 qualifiers are set to begin in a highly competitive region. The likes of Talon Esports, RSG, and Team SMG are gunning for a spot in Singapore. Fortunately for T1, BOOM Esports and Fnatic have obtained a direct invite to the tournament; two fewer teams to consider. As mentioned, it's still not going to be easy. Talon Esports and Team SMG remain and they can't be underestimated.
The good news about this is that there's time for Topson and Ana to practice with the team. The Regional Qualifiers are scheduled for September 3. In addition, there's also an update set to be released before the Qualifiers, so upcoming changes to the meta.
Of the two players, it’s safe to say that it’s likely Topson that is going to make the adjustments faster. It’s because since he returned to playing Dota 2 as a player and not competitively, he was doing it in SEA. He’s familiar with the gameplay and may even have played with his new teammates in pubs.
Meanwhile, Ana is a different story. Before T1, he returned to competitive play as a stand-in for two different teams; the results weren't that good. At the Riyadh Masters, he played with Team Liquid which ended up in 9th–10th place. In the Arlington Major, he was with Royal Never Give Up which exited the tournament at 9th–12th place. Hopefully, he’ll be able to perform better with T1, especially with Topson.
What are your thoughts on this roster move? Does T1 have a chance of winning the Regional Qualifier?
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