
On September 21, Team Spirit announced that Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov and Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov were taking a break from their careers. Their spots on the Dota 2 roster were filled by Bogdan “Batyuk” Batyuk and Ilya “Illidan” Pivtsaev. The Russian-speaking community on social media commented on the roster changes for the “Dragons.”
Quotes are reproduced with the original spelling and punctuation from the sources
Analyst Alexander “Santa” Koltan believes that Illidan will be a good fit for Team Spirit:
I don’t understand the skepticism regarding the coach. Ilya is a great coach. He’s a unique person, a die-hard workhorse, ready to do monotonous tasks in any quantity just to win (and he hates losing just as much as the character he named himself after). That’s the best quality for someone who compiles statistics and devises strategies—plus, Illidan Old is someone all the players and management know well and trust. I think everything will go smoothly
Commentator Gleb “y0nd” Vainov highlighted Batyuk’s performance and also spoke positively about Illidan’s appointment as coach:
ILYUHA HAOSKON (illidanstr) takes over as coach for Team Spirit
Also: -Collapse (on leave)
+batyuk.
I’ll miss Magi in the top lane, but Batyuk has been showing his best side recently!
AND ILYUKHA ILLIDAN IS RUNNING FOR POWER. An unreal hard-gamer and workhorse who will definitely bring an improvement to Spirit!
Analyst Khaled “sQreen” El-Habbash, on the other hand, had negative things to say about the “Dragons’” new coach:
I thought Milan was the worst thing that could happen to Team Spirit
It turns out I was wrong
Commentator Daria “Eiritel” Morozova gave a positive assessment of Illidan’s work with Team Spirit’s academy roster:
Illidan actually made a very good impression on me while coaching Team Spirit’s academy team
So, ILLIDARIANS, LET’S GO—Killjeden is doomed this season <…>
You’ll say I’m crazy again, but Illidan >>>>>> Milan
Team Spirit’s revamped roster will make its debut at BLAST SLAM VIII. The tournament will take place from September 29 to October 11: the group stage will be played online, and Malta will host the playoffs. The prize pool will total $750,000.
Photo by Patrick Strack, ESL.