Tundra Esports, the reigning champions of The International 2022, hit a major setback in their pursuit of another Dota 2 championship title at the Lima Major as they crashed out of the tournament in ninth place, which has since forced them into making a big change.
After the disappointing performance, Tundra made the decision to send three players home amid burnout concerns, according to Sneyking.
Tundra’s captain spoke on the topic in a post-game interview that took place after they beat OG. In the interview, Sneyking explained the changes Tundra has made.
One of the biggest changes at Tundra is that the team is playing with two players, Sneyking and Neta “33” Shapira, on-site, while the other three of their players are going to be playing from their homes remotely for the foreseeable future.
This solution was locked in after Tundra’s psychologist Dan Abrahams—who famously helped the team overcome their problems and lift the Aegis at TI11—identified the growing burnout concerns.
After recognizing that the team could have been burned out by excessive training at bootcamps that caused them to overlook their mental health, Abrahams offer up the remote solution. Being in the comfort of their own home should help players take their minds off Dota 2 when they aren’t busy training, he explained.
Considering Oliver ”Nine” Lepko, Leon “Nine” Krilin, and Martin “Saksa” Sazdon all live in and close to Europe, they can still participate with low ping values from their homes and Tundra isn’t risking much at all to try out this solution.
On the contrary, if this break ends up working, Tundra might even be looking at cutting costs since the organization won’t need to house and provide supplies for five players or the remote members return refreshed from the switch.
They already beat the new-look OG with this hybrid setup and are slated to face Nigma Galaxy in Division I for the WEU Spring Tour on March 17 for their next test.
