T1’s foray into Dota 2 hasn’t quite gone as planned, but the Korean esports organization isn’t giving up yet after making two surprising acquisitions last night.
T1 added Laotian Souliya “JaCkky” Khoomphetsavong and Indonesian Kenny “Xepher” Deo to finalize its lineup consisting of players from four different Southeast Asian nations.
Both players just faced off against each other in the grand finals of the latest SEA online tournament, the Dota Summit 13 Online. Former enemies will now need to learn to work together to try to turn T1’s fortunes around.
JaCkky was the carry player for Motivate.Trust Gaming, who were making waves in the online SEA Dota 2 scene. With usual titans Fnatic and TNC Predator still reeling from poor form and having rosters in flux, Motivate.Trust recntly won the BTS Pro Series season three and the Dota Summit 13 Online.
Xepher will reunite with former Geek Fam teammate Karl Jayme, who was separately recruited to the T1 roster a month ago. Before Geek Fam was forced to release its roster, the organization was a fixture in the region and had qualified for several offline tournaments in the Dota Pro Circuit before it was canceled.
T1’s journey in Dota 2 hasn’t gotten off to a smooth start for an organization used to dominating another MOBA. But with the DPC finally getting an official start date on Jan. 18, 2021, T1 is setting its sights on establishing itself with a collection of some of the region’s newest talents.
