Confirmed Dota 2 roster changes post International 2014

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

The post International roster shuffle is well under way with nearly every team seen at this year's event being open to the idea of a roster change with the exception of a couple.

Below you can find all of the confirmed changes that have happened so far. We will be keeping this post up to date with any new confirmed roster changes made.

Confirmed Roster Changes

Team Empire

After losing Ivan 'VANSKOR' Skorokhod to Natus Vincere, Team Empire have quickly announced Aleksey 'Solo' Berezin as his replacement.

"Hello! I am sincerely glad to have the opportunity to join such a strong team as Team Empire. This year I like to prove myself and become the best in the new, but already well familiar to me, the role of support. Over a couple of weeks I was able to play together and feel the atmosphere in the team and I think we will succeed. I send huge greetings to all my fans and fans of Team Empire! I will not let you down ;)"

Aleksey 'Solo' Berezin

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/aleksey-solo-berezin-joins-team-empire-to-complete/1100-2138/

Natus Vincere

Kuro 'KuroKy' Salehi Takhasomi

"I want to thank everyone of Na`Vi for the the time we spend together. The times together are unforgettable memories of mine, I will cherish them as long as I can. We shall see each other soon again."

Kuro 'KuroKy' Salehi Takhasomi

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/kuro-kuroky-salehi-takhasomi-departs-from-natus-vi/1100-2112/

Natus Vincere have also lost their captain Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov after spending just over three years with the team attending every single International event.

"Today, I announce that I am leaving the Na`Vi squad. It has been a great road of success and I have no regrets looking back. Though, things have to change and stories have an end, my career in competitive Dota will not. I thank Na`Vi for the time we shared and hope them the best. Also, I would like to thank all of my fans and Na`Vi supporters who have kept us going."

Clement 'Puppey' Ivanov

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/clement-puppey-ivanov-departs-natus-vincere/1100-2118/

Ivan 'VANSKOR' Skorokhod from Team Empire and Artem 'fng' Barshack the captain from Power Rangers have joined the Natus Vincere squad as the replacement for KuroKy and Puppey.

“I am very pleased to be noticed by Na’Vi guys. It being a great responsibility I undertake to perform at the best level. I hope we’ll do our best as a new squad!”

Ivan 'Vanskor' Skorohod

“I am very glad to have an opportunity to play for Na’Vi team. I hope I won’t disappoint people that believe in me. I am grateful to the team ESFX.PR for their support and for the time I spent with them. I do not know what lies ahead of me, but this is the path I choose.”

Artem 'Fng' Barshak

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/ivan-vanskor-skorokhod-and-artem-fng-barshack-join/1100-2130/

Cloud9

After the loss of SingSing Cloud9 have quickly picked up Adrian 'FATA' Trinks as a replacement for him who will play in the mid lane for the team.

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/adrian-fata-trinks-joins-cloud9s-dota-2-team/1100-2116/

WehSing 'SingSing' Yuen has parted ways with the Cloud9 organisation after rumours regarding his future there started to circulate shortly after he appeared in the new "Team Tinker" roster that is competing in the i-League tournament.

"It has been one of the most exciting and fun periods in my life... Thanks to Cloud9 and my former team mates! I wish you good luck for the next season of DotA 2 and I will be forward looking to play against you as well. My new team is already in the works, but like many teams, only time and experience will tell it's success.

A big shoutout to all the people who have followed me through my esports journey all the way and of course the ones who have tagged along halfway through. And once again, thank you Cloud9 for taking care of me during my stay on the team!"

WehSing 'SingSing' Yuen

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/wehsing-singsing-yuen-departs-cloud9/1100-2092/

Mousesports

Adrian 'FATA' Trinks is now confirmed to have left the team after joining Cloud9.

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/adrian-fata-trinks-joins-cloud9s-dota-2-team/1100-2116/

Vici Gaming

Vici Gaming's captain Bai 'rOtk' Fan has announced his retirement from professional Dota and will now form a new casting duo with Team DK's recently retired Xu 'BurNIng' Zhilei.

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/team-dks-xu-burning-zhilei-vici-gamings-bai-rotk-f/1100-2110/

Team DK

Xu 'BurNIng' Zhilei has announced his final retirement from playing professional Dota. He will be forming a new casting duo with Vici Gaming's recently retired Bai 'rOtk' Fan.

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/team-dks-xu-burning-zhilei-vici-gamings-bai-rotk-f/1100-2110/

Zhang 'LaNm' Zhicheng has also announced his retirement from professional Dota stating that he intends to settle down and start a family.

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/zhang-lanm-zhicheng-has-confirmed-his-retirment-fo/1100-1972/

Moscow Five

Moscow Five have announced their comeback to the Dota 2 scene after spending over two years away with a new lineup consisting of their former players Igor 'Nexus' Lisakovsky, Ivan 'Vigoss' Shinkarev and Sergey 'ARS-ART' Revin along with two new additions to the Moscow Five family, Maxim 'Tron' Vernikov and Vladislav 'Blowyourbrain' Morozyuk.

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/moscow-five-announces-their-new-dota-2-lineup/1100-2075/

NVMI

A new team has been formed under the name of NVMI by returning player Alexander 'DkPhobos' Kucheria. The team includes former RoX.KIS captain and ex-Natus Vincere coach Artur 'Goblak' Kostenko along with the recently departed Ilya 'IllidanSTR' Pivtsaev.

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/dkphobos-goblak-illidanstr-form-a-new-dota-2-team-/1100-2076/

Virtus.pro

Ilya 'IllidanSTR' Pivtsaev & Sergey 'ARS-ART' Revin have both left the Virtus.pro team after being unable to advance past the Wild Cards bracket at this year's International.

LGD-Gaming

Xie 'DD' Bin has officially announced his retirement from professional Dota 2 after spending a total of nearly three years with the LGD-Gaming outfit. DD intends to remain in the Dota 2 scene giving casting a try.

"Today is a sad day for our club as Xie “DD” Bin has officially announced his retirement. DD has been with us for almost three years and helped us take gold in prestigious competitions such as G-1 Champions League Season 4, The Asia 2012, ECL 2013 Dota 2, National Electronic Sports Tournament and D2L Season 4. He was also part of the line-up that took third at The International 2012.

Not only was he an outstanding player, he was and will always be a close friend to the organization. We had ups-and-downs, but DD always believed in our values which made our club what it is today. We will miss him, but it was his own decision to put an end to his long and successful career. However, he will probably not leave the Dota 2 scene completely as he is now interested in casting.

LGD-Gaming would like to thank him for everything he did for the club since the summer of 2011. We are proud to have had this fantastic run with you. We wish you nothing, but the best."

LGD-Gaming's Statement

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/lgd-gaming-confirm-that-xie-dd-bin-is-retiring/1100-2077/

Zhou's New Team

After announcing his retirement earlier this year Chen 'Zhou' Yao has returned to Dota 2 with a new casual fun team made up of retired players and CIS-GAME's Lin 'June' Shiyang.

"We are a for fun team, as long as everyone has fun then it's good... any fans want to help think of a team name for us, one that suits us?"

Chen 'Zhou' Yao

Zhou's New Nameless Team

• Chen 'Zhou' Yao
• Huang 'LongDD' Xiang
• Jiang 'YYF' Cen
• Lin 'June' Shiyang
• Zou '820' Yitian

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/chen-zhou-yao-announces-his-comeback-with-a-new-ca/1100-2061/

Team Zephyr

Kevin 'Purge' Godec has shifted from his support role within the team to full time manager for Zephyr and as a temporary standin ex-professional player Ben 'Merlini' Wu will join the team for the duration of Korean Dota League season 3.

RelaxDota

Ivan 'Artstyle' Antonov who was part of the Natus Vincere squad that won the first International is making a return to Dota 2 by joining the RelaxDota squad.

Team Liquid

Jimmy 'DeMoN' Ho has left the Team Liquid squad after his short term contract expired with them.

"I would like to thank Team Liquid’s management and the rest of the squad for trusting me as a player and giving me this opportunity. Both the team and I were at a crossroads when I joined, and I think that everyone involved benefited from this collaboration. The roster is made up of fantastic players, some of whom I consider close friends, but I feel I need to seek new challenges to grow both stronger as a player and a person. I have genuinely enjoyed this small journey we’ve had with one another. Thank you guys, again."

Jimmy 'DeMoN' Ho

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/team-liquid-contract-ends-with-jimmy-demon-ho/1100-2022/

Peter 'Wayto' Nguyen has also left the team as he wishes to take on a different path in his career and life.

"I had a great time playing under Liquid with the rest of my teammates, I wish you all the best of luck in the future you guys are all amazing players. I would like to thank all my fans and friends who have supported me throughout the year I will try my best to get back up there one way or another. For now I plan on going back to school in September and returning when the time comes. Still expect to see me around this year for I do not plan on retiring anytime soon, once again I want to give a big thanks towards my friends, fans, and the rest of the dota community you guys are awesome."

Peter 'Wayto' Nguyen

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/peter-wayto-nguyen-parts-way-with-team-liquid/1100-2059/

Evil Geniuses

Mason 'mason' Venne has been released by the Evil Geniuses and confirms for the moment he has no intentions to continue playing professional Dota.

"The day after the afterparty (Tuesday) my team held a meeting without me, and I was unaware of it for a while (someone I knew knocked on their door and said they were having a meeting in my room while I was chilling with some other people). There they discussed some things about the future of the team, as well as my future with them. In shorthand, I was kicked from the team."

Mason 'mason' Venne

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/i-have-no-intentions-of-playing-dota-professionall/1100-2012/

Newbee

The winners of this year's International have confirmed that Zhang 'xiao8' Ning will be taking some time off from the scene and will be seeking a standin for their upcoming tournaments.

"Even though I am reluctant, I have still decided to temporarily leave this stage. I am very lucky, I have accomplished my dream. I am very thankful for every teammate and opponent that has grown alongside me, along with the fans that have supported me all along. Because of all of you, my life has been more exciting."

Zhang 'xiao8' Ning

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/xiao8-to-take-some-time-off-from-the-scene/1100-2015/

CIS-GAME

After being unable to advance past the wildcards at The International 2014 Dominik 'Black^' Reitmeier has confirmed he will be departing the Chinese based CIS-GAME team.

"Hey, after the disappointing performance at TI4, the team and I got together and decided changes needed to be done. I will be leaving the team, but I sincerely believe they are all very talented and have a bright future ahead of them. Thanks for all the good good times!"

Dominik 'Black^' Reitmeier

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/dominik-black-reitmeier-departs-from-cis-game/1100-2017/

Natus Vincere US

All five players of the Na'Vi.US team have been confirmed to be sticking together by Braxton 'Brax' Paulson on his personal Twitter.

Meet Your Makers

Andreas 'Cr1t' Franck Nielsen and Jonathan 'UNicorn' Arge have both left the MYM team which has made way for Jon 'Babyknight' Andersen to join the squad. The team currently has one remaining spot to fill.

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/jon-babyknight-andersen-officially-becomes-part-of/1100-2023/

Invictus Gaming

After spending a length amount of time in the professional Dota scene the veteran Jiang 'YYF' Cen has announced his retirement from the game.

"From joining LGD in the beginning of 2010, to iG now, through my four year professional career I've experienced all aspects of life. Along the way, there have been the pains of defeat, and the joys of achieving dreams at TI2. Though these four years have not been perfect, there are no regrets, thank you to my teammates for accompanying me throughout, and thank you to the fans for their support. Retirement is one type of ending, and is also a new beginning, I will remain in the esports scene to fight for my next goal, I hope everyone will continue to support me. :)"

Jiang 'YYF' Cen

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/the-oldest-competitive-dota-player-in-jiang-yyf-ce/1100-1992/

Mousesports

After a short stint with the Mousesports squad Arif 'MSS' Anwar has confirmed that he will be taking a break from professional Dota in order to return to school which he put on hold last year.

http://www.ongamers.com/articles/mousesports-offlaner-arif-mss-anwar-is-returning-t/1100-1984/