The squad features DeMoN reunited with TI4-Star Mason and former Evil Genius BuLba along with MVP Phoenix's beastly support player DuBu, with the last member of the team currently unknown.
After having left Fnatic in the middle of Valve's True Sight documentary series, Jimmy 'DeMoN' Ho's plans for the future remained uncertain. The same could be said for Sam 'BuLba' Sosale, who had been released by two-time major grand finalists Team Liquid after they failed to qualify for the Boston Major. Along with Mason 'mason' Venne who has remained low-profile for the last few years, and Kim 'DuBu' Doo-young, the support player for MVP Phoenix known for his Earth Spirit and a major role-player in MVP Phoenix's consistency, DeMoN formed Team Onyx and announced its formation in a tweet.
Team Onyx roster:
Mason 'mason' Verne
Sam 'BuLba' Sosale
Kim 'DuBu' Doo-young
Jimmy 'DeMoN' Ho
The team has been growing in popularity for a number of reasons. It features the return of Mason to professional Dota, as two and a half years have passed since he replaced Clinton 'Fear' Loomis in Evil Geniuses and went on to secure a historic third place with the team at the International 2014. During this time, mason subbed for a couple of teams, including Digital Chaos, and tried qualifying for tournaments with different North American teams, but to no success. It is interesting to note that it was DeMoN who introduced Mason into professional Dota when he picked him up for his team Take Five in late 2013. Also reuniting with DeMoN will be BuLba, who played with DeMoN on Evil Geniuses at the second edition of the International. After failing to secure a good placing at TI6 as the offlaner for Team Secret, BuLba joined Team Liquid as a support in the Fall Reshuffle, but he was released soon after they failed to qualify for the Boston Major. While it is most probable that BuLba will be returning to the offlane position in Team Onyx, there is also a slim possibility of him supporting and DuBu or DeMoN returning to the core positions they have played in the past.
The squad is expected by Dota 2 enthusiasts to be a top contender for the Kiev Major, with a major cause of that being the presence of DeMoN in the team. DeMoN proved himself in this year's International by battling with the Filipino TNC through the South East Asian Open Qualifiers all the way to the main event in Seattle and knocking out two-time major winners - OG. DeMoN was picked by Fnatic soon after the International along with a few other members from TNC, but they failed to qualify for the Boston Major, and left the team soon afterwards. While DeMoN has played numerous roles in the past, he is likely to play support in Team Onyx and also seems to be the most suitable candidate for handling captaincy. Joining DeMoN in the support role will presumably be DuBu, who has transitioned over the last year from an unknown Korean player to one of the best supports in the scene in the time that he spent with MVP Phoenix. During this time, MVP Phoenix consistently scored decent results in all Valve events except the Frankfurt Major, with their greatest accomplishment being their Top 6 Finishes at the Manila Major and the last International.
While Team Onyx appear to be one of the winners of this reshuffle, it might be too early to say so, since the last member of their team remains unknown. Many fans believe that this new member could be the young prodigy Abed Azel "Abed" Yusop, who recently left Execration "wishing to pursue his career in a different work environment". However, the team could also adopt the strategy OG has been succesful with and B)EARS have also done - picking up an individually-skilled player who has not played professionally before. The formation of Team Onyx has also left MVP Phoenix lacking a player with six days remaining till the end of the Add Period for the Kiev Major. It is yet to be announced which region the team will be competing in, but it seems most probable that it will be North America as that is where the majority of the players are from.
