ChuaN and pieliedie return to the professional Dota 2 scene 

Two veteran Dota 2 players Wong “ChuaN” Hock Chuan and Johan “pieliedie” Astrom joined new teams ahead of the Dota Pro Circuit 2022 Summer.

ChuaN, former TI champion and a Coach of Neon Esports, switched his coaching position within the organization to take the role of support. Meanwhile, pieliedie will be playing for Team SMG.

ChuaN returns after four years 

While the 30-years-old Malaysian wasn’t competitively playing for four years straight, he has plenty of experience and achievements behind his back, one of which is the champion title from The International 2012, or the first-place finish at the ESL One Frankfurt in 2014. After retiring from competitive play in 2018, he returned back in November 2021 to coach the Filippino-based Dota 2 team Neon Esports. 

Under ChuaN’s leadership, Neon Esports reached fifth place at the DPC SEA 2021/2022 Tour 1: Division I, while lacking only one tiebreaker to enter the recent ESL One Stockholm Major. During the second DPC tour, the squad fell into the Second Division and because of lack of DPC circuit points, didn’t manage to qualify for the next The International.

Following the underwhelming season, ChuaN seemingly decided to take matters into his own hands and carry the team through the regional qualifiers of the third DPC tour. 

Here’s the current Neon Esports Dota 2 roster: 

• Wong “ChuaN” Hock Chuan
• Joshua “avataRmod3” Marano
• Tamir “Bell” Gankhurel
• Michael “Enryu” Roi Ladines
• Tugstur “Se” Dashzevge

Pieliedie will play for Team SMG 

While Team SMG didn’t officially announce the latest roster change, the information about pieliedie’s signing by Team SMG appeared on the DPC registration page, stating that he will be playing for Team SMG starting May 29. Pieliedie will supposedly replace Michael “ninjaboogie” Ross, who was recently kicked from the team because the organization allegedly expected a drop in his performance as a result of the death of his mother. 

Pieliedie is one of the oldest Dota 2 players on the scene, as he started his competitive career in 2007. He reached the 5th-6th finish at The International 2014 with Cloud9 and won The Shanghai Major 2016 as a part of Team Secret. The last squad he competed with was Team Bald Reborn.

Here’s the current Team SMG roster: 

• Johan “pieliedie” Astrom
• Yeik “MidOne” Nai Zheng
• Tue “ah fu” Soon Chuan
• Ryan “Raging Potato” Jay Qui
• Kam “Moon” Boon Seng

The qualifiers for DPC EEU 2021/2022 Tour 3 will take place between May 30-31. The next big Dota 2 event is PGL Major 2022, which will be held between August 4-14 in Arlington, Texas. The event will see 18 teams fighting for the $500,000 shared prize pool and DPC Points need to qualify for the next The International scheduled for October.

Images credit: Dota2.net, Cybersport.ru