European Dota 2 squad Entity has joined the likes of PSG Quest, Team Liquid, and OG in the great roster shuffle of 2023, benching mid-laner Daniel “Stormstormer” Schoetzau after the team struggled to leave a mark this season.
The 25-year-old German was moved to the Dota 2 squad’s inactive list on Nov. 6 after a little more than two years in the role. Entity has not announced a replacement for Stormstormer yet and is likely waiting out what is proving to be a region-wide roster shuffle for the ages as teams retool their squads for next season.
Stormstormer subsequently announced his intention to remain in pro-Dota and is open to offers. “As one chapter ends, another one will open. My dedication to this game and being a good teammate is just like before,” he said.
Stormstormer’s career took shape throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and he competed with mixed squads Hellbear Smashers and Creepwave in the online era. Indian organization Entity signed the Creepwave squad in late November 2021 and thus began their rise to Europe’s top tier.
Within six months, Entity was taking on the region’s best, landing a fourth-place finish in just their second season of the Dota Pro Circuit Division One. Stormstormer was an essential piece of Entity’s rise through online competition and the team’s success on LAN, posting back-to-back top-six finishes at the PGL Arlington Major and ESL One Malaysia.
In their first TI in Singapore, Stormstormer and Pure led Entity through a tough group stage and a 100-plus-minute behemoth match against a COVID-ravaged Royal Never Give Up, ultimately bowing out short of the top eight.
Entity hadn’t kept their form in 2023, however. The departure of Pure to BetBoom ahead of the season meant the squad needed to adapt, and try as they might, Stormstormer and co. struggled over the course of the year.
They ran the gauntlet at the TI 2023 WEU qualifier, downing Nigma Galaxy and Team Secret on their way to the final spot in Seattle, but in the pinnacle event, they couldn’t improve on their 2022 result after a loss to Virtus Pro in the lower bracket.
Stormstormer will undoubtedly have an abundance of suitors with teams and orgs the world over resetting for the next Dota 2 professional season, which will see the end of the DPC as we know it and a return to an open circuit.
