With Evil Geniuses moving on from its previous roster, five of the best players that played in North America last season have hit the free-agent market at once. But, with some insistence that at least a few players will stick together, there are rumblings of a great new 2023 Dota 2 roster heist on the horizon.
It’s mostly based on a single interaction that has been turned into a meme surrounding the community detective’s in the Dota 2 community; Cr1t has fans thinking 100 Thieves might make the leap into the competitive scene for the first time.
Yesterday, Cr1t returned from an extended vacation in Japan and stated that he would be back to the Dota and stream grind soon.
But, in response to 100T’s VP of esports Jacob “Maelk” Toft-Andersen asking if 100T.Cr1t could be a thing, the ex-EG player simply responded with the 100 emoji.
This is pretty clearly a joke between two Danish Dota-heads. Maelk is a former professional player who also played for EG—in an era before Cr1t—and acted as the chief gaming director of OpTic Gaming during a portion of the team’s stint in Dota.
With those connections clear, it is unlikely anything substantial will actually come from this despite the sleuthing… unless?
While this would be a very on-the-nose way to tease a roster signing, former-EG captain Fly has already openly stated that at least some of the previous roster will remain together and play in North America in the upcoming DPC.
Related: Fly says former EG roster could mostly stick together in NA for 2023 DPC season
Additionally, he owns the DPC slot for Division I, so whatever form the team ends up taking post-EG will instantly be contending for a top spot in NA again.
Cr1t has also teased EG moving on is just the “start of a new era for North American Dota” despite the lack of big named sponsors following EG’s departure for South America and Soniqs dropping the former Quincy Crew roster just days after TI11 ended. This would be a perfect opportunity for 100T to enter Dota 2 for the first time or for another interested party, potentially like Cloud9, to swoop in and sign a potentially uncontested top-tier roster in a shifting region.
Whatever happens, TSM plans to stick around in Dota 2 and compete for the NA crown and it appears at least one other juggernaut lineup will be present along with revamped looks at teams like nouns, wherever that QC lineup splits to, and, of course, Arkosh Gaming.
