Alliance gets new Dota 2 team before MDL Chengdu Major qualifiers

Steven Rondina Published 03/10/2019

Alliance lost its Dota 2 roster following The International 2019, but the organization isn’t going to sit back and watch the first major slip by without making a move.

The organization has announced the signing of the Cool Team roster, which consists of a number of compelling European talents.

The new roster was formed around a pair of former Ninjas in Pyjamas players, Adrian “Fata” Trinks and Neta “33” Shapira. Both are proven at the top levels of Dota 2, with 33 having success at a number of majors and Fata playing for a slew of top organizations including Cloud9, Team Secret, and Team Liquid. 33 will continue playing as an offlaner while Fata, who has spent the bulk of his career as an offlaner or in the mid lane, will move to a support role.

Taking on duties in the mid lane is Linus “Limmp” Blomdin. The Swede is returning to home soil after spending the vast majority of his Dota 2 career with Complexity Gaming in North America. He reunites with Simon “Handsken” Haag, who played with him for both Complexity as well as on the 2015 iteration of Ninjas in Pyjamas. Handsken will be playing as the team’s roaming support.

Rounding out the lineup is Nikolay “Nikobaby” Nikolov. The Bulgarian is returning to the European scene after spending a year in Southeast Asia. He most recently played for Mineski at The International 2019.

The lineup is a very solid one, but will face tough competition in Europe.

Alliance adds new roster after losing players to Team Liquid

Alliance had a strong year in 2019 that saw it return to the major tournament scene after an ugly two years prior. But that success was followed by its roster being picked up by Team Liquid, which was dealing with similar troubles after Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi led an exodus from the organization.

The new Alliance roster could have the makings of a high-end team. Limmp is a strong mid player that was burdened by the constant changes to the Complexity roster, while Nikobaby proved himself as a serious talent at TI9. Both are playing on the strongest rosters of their career and could be in a position to shine as a result.

Still, it is hard to put too much faith in any one organization in Europe.

OG, Team Secret, and the former Team Liquid roster are still around and will return to action later in the season. Meanwhile, Ninjas in Pyjamas, the new Team Liquid, and Godsent are all fielding solid rosters that could make an impact.

The new Fata-led Alliance will have a great opportunity to gain early traction in the 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit season as OG, Secret, and the ex-Liquid roster are all set to sit out the first major. They will make their debut in the qualifiers to the MDL Chengdu Major next week.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.

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