The biggest upset in the current year has been Resolut1on changing from Team Empire to Digital Chaos. Some people have considered leaving one of the top teams in Europe for one in America to be a risky move. However, Resolut1on is not the first to do so. Here are some of the players who made a similar move:
Misery & Eternal Envy
Both players were in the North American team Cloud 9. They were runner ups at Dota Pit Season 3, finished third at MarsTV 2015 and Starladder season 12, and got 9th-12th place in the international 2015.
After TI 5, both have switched regions and became part of the Europeant team Team Secret. While in Secret, they‘ve won Nanyang Championships and MLG World Finals, and finished as runner ups at the first Dota Major and ESL One New York 2015.
Black^
After only achieving 4th place at Starladder Season 12 with Team Tinker, Black^ decided to join Mushi's crew and the team went on to become Fnatic. Fnatic became the best in the SEA region, qualifying for every tournament such as ESL One, Frankfurt Major and Starladder Season 13.
Sadly, Fnatic struggled in the international scene, losing all tournaments in the early stages. A string of underwhelming results caused Black^ to decide to leave the team. Currently Black is team-less.
Moonmeander, Fly and N0tail
Moonmeander and Fly attended TI5 as part of an American team, namely compLexity Gaming. N0tail did the same, as part of Cloud 9 at that time.
In the post TI5 shuffle, all three players came on European soil and formed OG (initially called Monkey Business) and became the team of the moment. OG won the first-ever Dota Major in Frankfurt. They also proved that it was not a fluke, with a first place finish at DreamLeague Season 4, a top five at the Summit 4, third place at Dota 2 Champions League and runner ups at The Defense Season 5. OG’s last achievement at a LAN event is the recent third place finish at MarsTV Dota 2 League Winter.
Fata & Jerax
Fata was in the Cloud 9 alongside EternalEnvy, MiseRy and N0t4il. Jerax, on the other hand, started the 2015 competitive year in Korea at MVP.HOT6. HOT6 only won the Mineski Pro League Season 7, and placed 13-16th at The International 5, which was not enough for Jerax. Fata and Jerax joined the new Team Liquid (formerly known as 5jungz), and won the Alienware Summers End Cup, The Defense 5 and Dota 2 Championships Season 6. In addition, they attended the Nanyang Championships and placed in the top five Starladder Season 13.
Jeyo
After the conclusion of TI5, the big reshuffle came. Jeyo, who had a less than perfect run in the SEA region decided to challenge the North America Dota with Team Fire. After placing 3-4th at the BTS America series, he left the team. Now he plays the carry role for Team Archon. So far, the team has enjoyed success, qualifying for ESL One New York, the Pro Dota Cup and the Canada Cup. The biggest achievement for Team Archon was winning the America Qualifiers for the Shanghai Major.
Limmp & Handsken
In the Swedish Stack of Ninjas in Pyjamas, Limmp and Handsken placed highly in tournaments including the Alienware Summer Cup, WCA Europe qualifiers and Dreamleague Season 4. After NiP disbanded, however, the two decided to switch to the US region and became members of compLexity Gaming.
So far, they have qualified for MarsTV and Starladder Season 12. The team fell short in the early stages of the tournaments. Now, they have another chance to shine - at the upcoming Shanghai Major, where compLexity claimed an Americas Qualifer invite slot.
Players are always looking for opportunities in other regions. This allows talent to be spread all over the world, and raises the level of competition throughout different regions. In the future, international players can help raise the popularity of Dota in regions such as SEA and Korea. If new top tier teams rise from within, people may take an interest in Dota where they didn't before, and the game will be better for it.
