Team Aster makes a huge roster downgrade

It’s probably safe to say that Team Aster has capitulated. After the disappointing results obtained in 2023, difficult decisions had to be made. Of course, nobody expected the organization to release the entire roster.

But the fact that Dota 2 is no longer a proper esport and needs to be saved by tournament organizers that probably won’t do this puts pressure on every organization that isn’t already very prosperous.

It’s doubtful that Team Liquid and other wealthy orgs will quit Dota. But we’ve already seen what happened to Talon Esports, Evil Geniuses, and other big names. If there’s no money to be made from tournaments, you can hardly call it an esport.

The irony is that Dota 2 is the epiphany of what an esport should be. It’s highly entertaining to watch, unpredictable, and well-designed in every respect. It’s absolutely baffling to see Valve letting Dota 2 die as an esport. The game’s community still numbers around eight million people. The number of average concurrent players is 440.000, which is quite healthy.

But when the tournaments are rare and offer little money to most competitors, it’s a bit challenging for orgs to justify to their investors why they’re involved in this esport. Having a good team means paying high salaries to players. And those salaries far surpass the prizes won from events. So how can it work? It can’t.

[Team Aster Personnel Change Announcement]
In preparation for the upcoming ESL qualifiers, after amicable negotiations with the players, The team has made the following adjustments to Team Aster’s lineup for the new season:

Position 1: YSR-04E (Yang Shaohan)
Position 2: Echozz… pic.twitter.com/jkvmPcP1pq

— Team Aster (@CN_TeamAster) November 11, 2023

Team Aster’s decision

Team Aster probably didn’t want to give up on the brand completely and remove it from Dota 2. So what they did is this: they released all of their star players, who were presumably paid a good salary, and brought in a lot of outsiders.

Obviously, the likelihood of this roster to succeed internationally or even regionally is extremely low. But nobody cares as long as Team Aster continues to exist in Dota 2.

With the removal of the Dota Pro Circuit, it remains to be seen what tournament organizers will do to determine who gets invited to their events. Will they hold qualifiers or will they simply offer direct invites based on what they think is right from a business perspective?

Aster’s new lineup looks like this:

• Erika
• Echo
• Frisk
• Xiao Yihu
• Yu Yajun

There’s not a single name on that list that inspires confidence in the team’s potential. However, there is a slight chance that Aster will do reasonably well in the region. The players are young and their hunger for success could prove to be enough.

Header: Team Aster