Shopify Rebellion reveal their new Dota 2 roster

After the departure of Fly, Cr1t-, and Abed from Shopify Rebellion, there was a glimmer of hope that they would be replaced by strong players who had the ability to perform as well as they did or even better. But the new roster looks quite weak compared to the previous one.

The players who joined are Yopaj-, Thiolicor, and Kitrak. Thiolicor is a well-known and very respected Brazilian player, but the other two are far less accomplished. They’re not bad players, but they’re not better than the previous ones either.

This means that Shopify will struggle to qualify for big events in 2024. They already missed ESL One Kuala Lumpur because they didn’t have a roster to compete in the regional qualifiers. Until the next tournament, they will likely need to wait at least three months.

And when it finally takes place, North America will likely get just two invites. With Fly still in the region competing for nouns, and TSM being a formidable team at the moment, Arteezy’s chances don’t look too great.

Introducing Shopify Rebellion Dota 2024

⚔️ @Arteezy
⚔️ @Yopajdota
⚔️ @jonas_volek
⚔️ @Thiolicordota
⚔️ @kitrakdota
🗡️ @BuLbaDotA_

See you soon 😌 pic.twitter.com/kmbwVKDzFK

— Shopify Rebellion (@ShopifyRebels) November 21, 2023

Why the new Shopify roster is likely to fail

In Dota 2, very much is decided by the prowess of the team’s captain. Right now, we don’t know who Shopify’s captain is, but the answer is most likely Kitrak or Thiolicor. This means that the team doesn’t have an edge against the other strong competitors in the region.

Shopify will likely come to regret the decision to remove three formidable players from the previous roster just because they didn’t succeed at The International 12. Sure, their salaries might have been a lot bigger than those of the new players, but at least they stood a chance against the world’s best teams. The new roster seems doomed even regionally.

One thing that complicates matters is the competitive delay. Because of the lack of tournaments, the new roster will not be put to a real test for a long time. And by the time it gets tested, it will already be too late to figure out that things aren’t likely to work well. This will lead to a completely failed season for the club.

But, to be fair, it might end up being a failed season for Dota 2 in general. Because if nobody steps in to fill the void left by Valve, we won’t have that many opportunities to watch professional Dota in 2024.

Header: SabeRLight-