Storied European Dota 2 organization Alliance today (December 2) unveiled their new roster after weeks of teasing and speculation. In a post on their official social media, accompanied by a reveal video, Alliance introduced us to their new roster.
Returning to Alliance are Gustav “s4” Magnusson, and Simon “Handsken” Haag. With them is fellow swede Charlie “aQua” Arat . Joining this trio are Remus “ponlo” Goh and Ng “ChYuan” Kee Chyuan to round out the roster.
The move is essentially a fusion of the former goonsquad roster from last year (with Linus “LIMMP” Blomdin and Petu “Pesku” Vaatainen removed) with Singaporian standout Ponlo, and for Fnatic staple ChYuan.
In a dramatic reading during the announcement video team owner and founder Jonathan “Loda” Berg explains that “Alliance was born in a triumph, and ever since that day, we’ve been fighting to return.” He then goes on to elaborate that “With the help of an old friend and with a touch of something new, they have rebuilt stronger, together.” The announcement ends weeks of speculation about the team’s upcoming roster.
How Alliance’s new roster was formed
Months before the new Alliance roster was formed, it was known from both interviews and tweets that team owner Loda had wanted to get back to the team’s roots in their next iteration. What perhaps the organization hadn’t anticipated was the surprise retirement of Nikolay “Nikobaby” Nikolov. A standout for the team in past seasons, Nikobaby stepping down meant a full rebuild was on the table for the organization.
This led to an aggressive scouting mission to Singapore during TI11, that saw Loda, and then coach, now team principle, Leon “Arthur” Lee Wei Yip liaise with Ponlo — as witnessed by our on-the-ground reporters. Presumably, the then Fnatic player ChYuan was also scouted at this point.
Then, in November, Kelly Ong, the team’s co-owner and chief strategy officer travelled to Malaysia and Singapore to sign two then-unknown players.
Now, after these weeks of tantalizing details, we have our full roster:
Pos 1 – aQuaPos 2 – ChYuanPos 3 – s4 (Captain)Pos 4 – ponloPos 5 – Handsken
For more information check out the official post on Alliance’s website.
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