J.Storm seemingly loses Dota 2 team, possibly dissolving

Steven Rondina Published 07/02/2020

The J.Storm esports organization seems to be done with Dota 2, and it might be shuttering entirely.

An eagle-eyed Redditor spotted that the team currently has zero players attached to its roster on the official Dota 2 major registration page. The team previously attached to it, headed by veteran Clinton “Fear” Loomis, is currently operating under the handle of “business associates.”

Neither the players nor the team have acknowledged any sort of split on social media. This follows J.Storm’s release of Fortnite players Tylar “Tylarzz” Sherwood and James “Painful” Garrod.

J.Storm’s roster at its last Dota 2 event included the following players:

1. David “Moo” Hull
2. Leon “Nine” Kirilin
3. Braxton “Brax” Paulson
4. Joel Mori “MoOz” Ozambela
5. Clinton “Fear” Loomis

J.Storm roster still heading into ESL One Los Angeles Major qualifiers

J.Storm was founded in 2018 by former New York Knick basketball player Jeremy Lin. Lin is an avid Dota 2 fan and was previously featured in Valve’s first Dota 2 film, Free to Play.

Lin initially entered the Dota 2 esports scene in a collaboration with Chinese organization Vici Gaming. The two partnered to create a secondary brand to Vici Gaming, entitled VGJ. VGJ featured two teams, with a Chinese division named VGJ.Thunder and a North American division named VGJ.Storm. VGJ.Storm enjoyed a fair degree of success in its lone season, most notably placing second at the MDL Changsha Major and top-eight at The International 2018.

New regulations from Valve prevented Vici Gaming and other organizations from having a financial stake in multiple teams competing in official events. This saw Vici Gaming shuffle together players from its primary roster and VGJ.Thunder, and release the entirety of VGJ.Storm. VGJ.Storm would largely remain intact, eventually signing with Forward Gaming.

Lin was still committed to competing in Dota 2 however and signed a sponsorless North American squad led by former MVP Phoenix captain Park “March” Tae-won in 2018.

The possible release of the team actually comes after the team’s best showing to date. The team placed top-six at the MDL Chengdu Major and currently ranks in eighth place in the Dota Pro Circuit standings.

Regardless of whether the team remains sponsored, Fear and company are likely to stick together for a while longer. The team is set to return to action in the qualifiers for the ESL One Los Angeles Major, an event they have a strong chance of qualifying for.

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.

View full profile

Read Also

Dota 2

ESIC hand down ruling in EWC Dota match-fixing case: Lifetime ban for coach as DarkMago gets a nickel Michael Hassall South American Dota 2 player Gonzalo "DarkMago" Herrera will be banned for five years from competitive Dota 2, with his coach Juan "Vintage" Angulo banned permanently, following the results of an The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) investigation. ESIC handed down the findings and rulings from its investigation into match-fixing allegations leveled at members of South American Dota 2 team PlayTime during the Esports World Cup on Sep. 10, in a ...

News

Polystrike Turns a Dota 2 Mod Into a Standalone Tactical Shooter Hannan Mundia After the community-made mod found success within the community, developer and publisher Robin Entertainment has decided to turn Polystrike into a proper standalone game. Community-made mods of games finding success within the respective game’s community is nothing new. However, only a handful of those mods are able to go on and become a standalone game. One of the more recent examples is The Forgotten City, which started as a mod ...

Dota 2

Team Spirit wins TI15 to lift a record third Aegis of Champions Michael Hassall Team Spirit has defeated TEAM VISION in the grand finals of TI15, The International 2025. In a full five-game series on Aug. 23, Spirit pulled out all the stops and narrowly defeated an incredible VISION team in a back-and-forth series in Shanghai, China. With Spirit’s victory, Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk and Magomed "Collapse" Khalilov become the first ever three-time TI champions, and Team Spirit becomes the first ever organization to lift ...

Dota 2

The International 2026 (TI15) Finals Preview and Predictions Michael Hassall The International 2026, TI15, has reached its final day, and just three teams remain in the fight for the Aegis of Champions. With the lower bracket final and Grand Final still to come, everything comes down to one final day of Dota 2 action. The lower bracket finalists will first battle for the right to reach the main event’s final series, while the winner will advance to face the upper-bracket ...

Dota 2

TI15’s opening ceremony weaves a tapestry of emotion for Valve’s storied title Michael Hassall The main stage of The International 2026, TI15, kicked off today with the traditional opening ceremony heralding the start of the biggest celebration of Dota 2 on the calendar. On Aug. 20 fans in Shanghai, China, and at home, were treated to a rousing 11-minute series of performances and video packages, introducing TI15’s main stage show. Here’s how the magic unfolded: The ceremony began with a graphic which quite literally ...

Dota 2

The International 2026 (TI15) Playoffs preview and predictions Michael Hassall The Group Stage of The International 2026, TI15, is in the books and we’ve whittled down 16 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams to just eight finalists. One of these talented lineups will be the ones lifting the Aegis of Champions come Sunday, Aug. 23, but until then, there’s plenty of playoff shenanigans that could go on. Below we’ve put together a preview of the upcoming Playoff Games, along ...

News

The Esports Nations Cup Has Been Postponed to November 2027 Ben Boland The 2026 Esports Nations Cup has been suspended until 2027. The Esports Foundation announced the delay on August 18, citing ongoing regional uncertainty. The inaugural competition was scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprising over 100 national teams and featuring 16 different games, including League of Legends. According to the Esports Foundation, this decision follows ongoing developments in the region and consultation with key stakeholders. Moving the event ...