The North American organization has released its offlaner from the active roster. It was a mutual decision made by Saberlight and the remaining players on the team.
The Shopify Rebellion Dota 2 team has made its second roster change in the span of two weeks. Just recently, the team kicked their position four player, Thiolicor, and brought in skem from Southeast Asia. This move forced Kitrak to play in the position four role, while skem would lane with Arteezy as the fifth position.
Unfortunately, the most recent iteration of Shopify Rebellion did not perform well at DreamLeague Season 23, as they were eliminated in the Group Stage. The international roster could only win three out of seven matches, exiting the tournament in 9-10th place out of 12 participants.
Saberlight felt like the roster was not going anywhere anytime soon and decided to take his talent elsewhere. The Shopify Rebellion organization made an official announcement on its Twitter account:
“Today we are announcing that Jonas “Saberlight” Volek is assessing his future options outside of Rebellion; he will be put on paid leave. This was a mutual decision between Jonas and the rest of the team.
During the last few months our Dota roster has been struggling to find its footing. While everyone involved in this team has been trying their best to find a way forward it has become apparent that our current configuration isn’t working as we’d all like. Therefore we’ve decided it is best for everyone involved to move forward.
We appreciate everything Jonas has contributed to our team. His positive spirit and outstanding skill will be well remembered at Rebellion. We wish him all the best for his future endeavors and will support his transition smoothly.”
The 24-year-old joined the team in December 2022, a year and a half ago. Unfortunately, the star-studded roster barely achieved any results during Saberlight’s tenure. Their best placings were:
- 4th at the Lima Major 2023
- 3rd at DreamLeague Season 19
- 2nd at DreamLeague Season 21
Saberlight temporarily stood in for Team Liquid at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023, where he helped the team finish 3rd.
The now-teamless player also tweeted his thoughts on the situation. Some of the most important information include:
- He has nothing bad to say about the organization, as Shopify Rebellion goes above and beyond for their teams and players.
- He claimed his chemistry with a certain member of the roster was “too mismatched to make it work.”
- He still believes all his teammates are extremely skilled Dota players and all of them tried their best to make the team work.
- He highlighted Yopaj who has been nothing but incredible in-game and outside the game.
- He claimed it was hard for him to improve with the team, as his opinions were often met with backlash and “caused more harm than good.”
- He thinks a new offlaner in the team could play better than they ever could with him.
As for the future, Saberlight mentions everything remains uncertain. He reflected on his time at Rebellion and mentioned he had lost himself and went too far from who he really is. He feels the best move is to take a step back, regain his passion, and come back stronger.
Saberlight is looking to take a break from professional Dota and begin streaming on Twitch. Finally, he ended his statement defending the team’s coach, Bulba, who has been receiving heavy backlash for the longest time.
Header: Saberlight
