Steven R. March 8, 2019
Veteran Dota 2 player Mason "mason" Venne has a new home.
The North American journeyman is packing his bags and heading south to join Peruvian esports organization Infamous. The announcement was made by the team on Twitter.
Mason is likely a familiar name for any longtime Dota 2 fan. Best known for his 2014 stint with Evil Geniuses that included a third-place performance at The International, he has periodically popped up with various short-lived teams in the North American region. His only extended run with a team since his foray with EG came in 2017 when he was with Team Onyx, which was eventually acquired by Digital Chaos.
Though he has struggled to remain steady with a team at any point in his career, Mason might actually be able to provide Infamous with a measure of stability.
Despite being positioned to compete in prominent events at the start of the 2018-2019 Dota Pro Circuit season, Infamous has been repeatedly affected by roster turnover. In August 2018, three of Infamous’ players departed to form the short-lived Braxstone team. Infamous managed to finalize a new roster before the new season began but was hit again when captain Farith "Matthew" Puente suddenly left the team in October.
When the new lineup struggled to qualify for events, the organization made the surprising move to add CompLexity Gaming defectors Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao and Jingjun "Sneyking" Wu. That move lasted less than a month when the pair departed to form Flying Penguins, and Infamous was once again left looking to plug holes in its roster.
Mason is expected to take on the carry role with the team, replacing Sebastian Cerralta "Robo-Z" Velarde.
Mason likely represents an upgrade for Infamous, but the squad will have little opportunity to gel as a new unit. The revised roster’s pro debut comes in just a week’s time at the Stockholm Major.