Steven R. June 22, 2019
The qualifiers to The International 2019 are fast approaching and organizations are looking for a way to sneak into the event.
Among that lot is Chaos Esports Club. The former South American staple’s move to Europe didn’t pay off with a spot in the Epicenter Major and that has the team making big changes ahead of TI9. The organization has announced the acquisition of former Team Liquid core player Lasse Aukusti "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen.
“This time of the year is always chaotic and we are constantly in search of veteran talent to help guide and foster growth among the younger talent on our teams,” Chaos CEO Greg Laird said in a statement on the team’s website. “Matumbaman is a rare example of such talent, bringing with him a world-class record of achievement and a wealth of experience. Welcome to the team, Lasse, we are lucky to have you.”
Matumbaman joins following a sudden end to his prolonged run with Team Liquid. Alongside Ivan "MinD_ContRoL" Ivanov and Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi, Matumbaman helped establish Liquid as one of Dota 2’s elite teams by winning a number of prominent tournaments including The International 2017.
Though Liquid has been solid in recent months, the squad has looked far less dominant than in its heyday. This prompted them to shake things up by dropping Matumbaman in favor of former Chaos mid Aliwi "w33" Omar, who split from the team in May.
Chaos reentered Dota 2 in January with the acquisition of the former PaiN Gaming team. Though the squad consistently qualified for majors, they never reached higher than ninth place. That lack of success coupled with the organization’s struggles to plant roots in South America led the team to dump two of its South American players and start over from scratch as a European squad. During that time, W33 announced he was on hiatus from the team.
Though Chaos had compiled an interesting new roster, they failed to clear the Epicenter Major’s open qualifiers in Europe. Still, there is a strong assortment of talent on the team and the addition of Matumbaman could be a difference maker.
Though Matumbaman’s addition is an exciting one, it is currently unclear what the new Chaos lineup will be. Matumbaman situationally played as both a carry and mid with Liquid and could step into either role for Chaos. That is going to leave either William "hFn" Medeiros or Nico "Gunnar" Lopez without a team.
A definitive answer should come on Chaos’ roster over the coming days. Meanwhile, Liquid and W33 are currently competing in the Epicenter Major.