Falcons enters Dota 2 with new skiter, Cr1t- stack

Falcons is looking to shake up every esports with enough money to buy any player, and the sponsor’s new Dota 2 has no expense spared.

Saudi esports venture Falcons is the central talking point of multiple esports in 2023, with a highly-anticipated CS2 roster in the works and planned entries into multiple games. Dota 2 is a fan favorite in Saudi Arabia, so it makes sense that the newest MOBA team would be full of superstars.

Now, with a simple registration on FACEIT, the team has revealed its lineup for the 2024 Dota 2 season.

The roster was officially announced on November 11, 2023, through Falcons’ official social media channels. However, eagle-eyed viewers noticed an earlier announcement via an official FACEIT team registration on November 9. The team consists of the following five players pulled from the Western European, Eastern European, and North American circuits.

• Oliver “skiter” Lepko
• Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak
• Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf (Captain)
• Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen
• Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu

Falcons is almost inarguably a superteam, with Major and The International champions. It takes full advantage of the splintered Western Europe scene, pulling skiter and Sneyking from Tundra as well as ATF from Nigma Galaxy. Cr1t- became available due to the effective disbandment of Shopify Rebellion in NA. Malr1ne is the least proven player, running mid for Nemiga Gaming from mid-2022 to now. Notably, no coach has been announced for this roster.

How good will the Falcons Dota 2 team be in 2024?

Falcons Esports’ Dota 2 lineup is expected to perform very well in the 2024 season, with top players taken from all over the globe.

In terms of sheer talent, almost every player is cited as one of the top three players in the world. skiter proved his insane carry skills on Tundra Esports throughout and helped Sneyking pilot Tundra to an Aegis at The International 2022. Multi-Major champion Cr1t- needs no introduction, and ATF is considered a monstrous win condition from the offlane even after leaving OG. 19-year-old Russian mid Malr1ne is less established, but he could surprise fans by playing to the pedigree of his teammates.

However, the team also has a serious wildcard with the captaincy of ATF. The offlane extraordinaire is equally famous for his aggression in-game and out. The decision to give him the captain position could lead to conflict, especially with experienced shot-callers Sneyking and Cr1t- also in the stack. The decision was likely cleared with the rest of the team, so problems may be avoided. The lack of a coach also indicates that ATF will be in charge of drafting, so expect lots of last-pick offlaners from the Falcons.