Players have come and gone, results have waxed and waned but the one constant has been the persistence of the Empire to rebuild each time it has been knocked down.
After missing out on The International 6 last year, Team Empire will once again fly their banner in the halls of Key Arena in Seattle - this year sending in five International debutantes to wage war. No doubt they are arriving as dark horses, all hopes pinned on their unpredictable and extremely versatile strategic arsenal.
Rise and Falls of an Empire
Team Empire is one of the premier teams in Russia and the CIS across all esport titles. Situated in Moscow, the organisation was established in 2004 and would switch its HON (Heroes of Newerth) division over to Dota 2 in December of 2011 with a roster that included player Roman 'scandal' Sadotenkov.
Almost one year later with insufficient results and after a few roster changes, the team went through a major overhaul in September 2012 and enjoyed a dominant few months, seizing almost exclusively first and second place finishes in eight matches in approximately ten weeks. Unexpectedly, Gleb 'Funn1k' Lipatnikov left the team in February 2013 and both Airat 'Silent' Gaziev and Artur 'Goblak' Kostenko followed suit in April, citing poor results. The team had fallen from grace and a new roster was once again recruited and assembled.
Being only a shadow of the team it was, the new roster would not have any achievements since their inception. Their TI3 qualifier results were devastating, ending last in their group phase without a single victory. Exit stage left - another major shuffle in the roster occurred.
Silent returned to the team and rebuilt the roster, achieving minor success in smaller cups and tournaments - enough to keep afloat. But with the addition of Roman 'Resolut1on' Fominok in mid November the team would start to rise again. Starting in December of 2013, the team would conquer tournament after tournament with eight first place championship titles, three second place finishes and another couple of third place positions in the 14 tournaments played together until The International 4. A surprising and disappointing finish of 13th at TI4 would mark yet another significant roster change.
Once again in the wake of the new year of 2015 Empire would assume control of the entire CIS region and dominate in the vast majority of tournaments they attended. In early January they would assert their power and seize first and second place finishes at major LAN events over the course of the next few months. As had been the pattern, the team was not able to translate their success through the year into a notable achievement on the International arena floor. The team took a disappointing 9-12th place finish at TI5 and opened the gates to another changing of the guard.
After several months of revolving door roster changes, almost too numerous to keep track of, he 2015-2016 season was riddled with peaks and valleys of success. Resolut1on parted ways to play with the North American team, Digital Chaos in a surprising and unprecedented move. The team struggled to fill the gaping hole left by the carry player and the consequences were dire - another dissolution of the lineup during the Manila Major/TI6 roster lock period.
Team Empire had rebuilt their entire roster in March 2016, including bringing back Scandal. Initial results were promising and strong, but the team failed to sustain their efforts and clinch the titles when it mattered most. The decorated and veteran player was let go after a subpar and disappointing team performance at the TI6 qualifiers. Shortly after, Roman 'Ramzes666' Kushnarev - the young star of Team Empire moved to Virtus.Pro and the cycle started up again.
For the new Fall Major 2016 season, Team Empire began to form their squad around their two remaining players Yaroslav 'Miposhka' Naidenov and Rinat 'KingR' Abdullin. The team again struggled to make any progress – including falling short in the Boston Major open qualifiers and the inevitable shift was once again upon them.
The Empire Strikes Back
After a period of trials, it wasn’t until January 2017 that the team took in the last two players they needed. The organization pinned new hope on the roster with the addition of Rostislav 'fn' Lozovoi and Vladimir 'Chappie' Kuzmenko. An expectation that would not let them down.
Almost immediately the team began to show flashes of brilliance and strength to carry them to victory. In Feb 2017 Team Empire had barreled through the DAC 2017 CIS qualifiers to claim their spot in the main event where they ultimately take 5-6th place later in April.
Hovering somewhere between making and breaking their entrance into the season with a couple of podium finishes in major tournaments and qualifiers, it was in May that the team made one final change that would end up pushing them over the edge. Making a swap with rivals Team Effect, KingR was replaced by Vladimir 'RodjER' Nikogosyan.
The exchange occurred in enough time for the Loot.Bet Invitational that would send one lucky team to Los Angeles for Dota Summit 7. Team Empire edged out Vega Squadron 3:2 in thrilling grand finals and punched their ticket to the United States. Eventually, the team took a 7-8th place finish at the event but didn’t let that dampen their spirits.
Barely two weeks later the team charged into battle for the one highly coveted CIS spot for The International 2017. Empire had a strong showing in the group stage, boasting a 7:2 score which put them tied with the other three teams that would advance to the playoffs. What was expected to be series of close matches turned out not to be, as Team Empire rose above the rest, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
Without dropping a single match, the team surged forward leaving Vega and Team Spirit in tatters. Empire’s matches were not quick and decisive battles, they were long and drawn out wars that tested the limits of their stamina and resilience. The first two matches against Team Spirit both lasted just under one hour long each. Dusting themselves off the team endured another 49 minutes long game against Vega before breaking records with their second match which lasted a staggering 2 hours and 20 minutes - becoming second longest professional Dota 2 game in history.
Threatening and durable Empire rotations and coordination choked out Team Spirit's momentum in the Grand Finals time and time again. Empires’ initiation and prowess were spectacular displays of talent and skill often led by fn and Chappie. The team swept through their rivals with a triumphant return to greatness.
Riding in on a Dark Horse
To truly be considered a dark horse, the team must be seeded below a certain threshold that would give a hint or suggestion that the team could pull ahead of the favorites. They must be considered a long shot, an outside chance.
The odds have been placing Team Empire in the bottom five of the 18 teams. However, year after year the International has seen teams emerge from the basement and crush the competition in the playoffs, all the way through to the end. It happened at TI5 when CDEC made history at The International as the first time a Wild Card team had advanced into the grand finals. Then it happened again at TI6 when Wings Gaming rose from the Chinese qualifiers to become the champions in thrilling series over Digital Chaos, another underdog team that was written off as anything other than a real contender.
Since Team Empire has played with the current roster, finalized only days after 7.06 patch went into effect, the team has played 21 professional matches with a 71.43% win rate. They have played 42 different heroes - but more interesting is that it's not only the team’s diversity in hero pool, it’s their versatility in changing roles. What the stats won’t show lay out as such, is that Chappie and fn are known to swap roles and heroes at any time with success - creating chaos and confusion for the enemies in drafting.
With a tweak here and some polishing there Team Empire could easily be bound to the top of the playoff spots. There is a lot going on for this team in strategy and skill, which paired with their unpredictable manner that could easily pull off an upset or two. Their confidence gained from their success in the qualifiers and their experience gained at BTS could be planted on the solid foundation of their skill and style to build a formidable new empire.
Current Team Empire roster:
Vladimir 'Chappie' Kuzmenko
Rostislav 'fn' Lozovoi
Andry 'Ghostik' Kadyk
Vladimir 'RodjER' Nikogosyan
Yaroslav 'Miposhka' Naidenov
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