T1 leaves Dota 2

T1 is probably the most famous esports organization in League of Legends. Its LoL team won Worlds three times and played in five World Championship Grand Finals. It also won numerous regional trophies.

In 2019, after the end of The International 9, T1 decided to venture into Dota 2 and attempt to do something that no other esports club has managed to do: win the world championship in the two biggest MOBAs that dominate this industry.

T1’s results and rosters

When T1 first joined Dota 2, it signed a relatively modest roster. So for an entire year, T1’s results were almost irrelevant. They didn’t qualify for a single Dota Pro Circuit Major, they missed The International, and even in the small tournaments they attended, their performance was poor.

Then, in 2021, T1’s management decided to change the approach. Strong players like Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, Carlo “Kuku” Palad, and Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon were signed and for the first time since the start of its journey, T1 was relevant.

In 2021, the renowned LoL club had a lot of good results, including these:

• Third place in DPC 2021 SEA (S1)
• First place in DPC 2021 SEA (S2)
• Third place at WePlay AniMajor
• First place at ESL One Summer 2021
• Fourth place at ESL One Fall and OGA Dota PIT Invitational
• Seventh-Eight place at The International

Arguably, this was a very good season for T1. The team’s balance sheet was almost certainly positive at the end of the year and expectations were high for 2022. But, as it often happens in Dota 2, things went off the rail.

T1’s 2022 roster included Kuku, Whitemon, Kenny “Xepher” Deo for the first seven months. Then, two former OG members decided to join to replace some T1 players who were dragging the team down. These former OG superstars were Anathan “ana” Pham and Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen.

When they joined, the objective was to qualify for The International 11. Because the results throughout the year had been poor and T1 made very little money up until that point. The only thing that could save them was a good result at TI.

Topson and ana played well, but ultimately failed to achieve their goal. They finished third in the regional qualifier for the tournament and then fifth-sixth in the Last Chance Qualifier.

T1’s decision to quit Dota 2

Many have regarded T1’s decision to quit so early as rushed. But the organization probably did the math and realized that it needed a top eight place at The International 2023 to make money in the current Dota Pro Circuit. And against regional competitors like Blacklist International, Fnatic, and Talon, that would have been a very hard task.

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