Former Aurora Gaming player Panto was announced as Miposhka's replacement in Team Spirit.
Prominent Eastern European organisation 
Team Spirit have announced a massive change to its Dota 2 roster, transferring their team captain 
Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov to the bench as he takes a break from the Dota 2 professional scene. The former hard support of 
Aurora Gaming, 
Nikita “Pantomem” Balaganin, will be tasked to fill in the shoes of the two-time The International (TI) champion as he takes over Team Spirit's position 5 for the new season.
Team Spirit is arguably the best team in modern Dota 2. The team fielded a talent-packed roster that skyrocketed to prominence with a victory at TI 2021–which was impressively a debut TI appearance for most of the players. Since then, the Eastern European team have been consistently on top of the scene. In 2022, they claimed their first Dota 2 Major victory at the PGL Arlington Major. The following year, Spirit claimed three back-to-back major wins including their second champion title, winning: Riyadh Masters, DreamLeague Season 21, and The International 2023.
Despite maintaining strong form in the past two seasons, even claiming a strong win at the landmark Esports World Cup Dota 2 tournament this year, Spirit has struggled to perform on TI’s stage. The team bowed out of TI 2024 in 9th-12th place and TI 2025 in 9th-13th place, failing to show up to the Main Stage in both iterations.
Miposhka pauses competitive career
Heading into the new season, Team Spirit will see a foundational change in dynamics as experienced team captain, Miposhka, take a much-needed break from competitive play.
Miposhka has played for Team Spirit since 2021–essentially since the formation of the iconic squad. But unlike other members, he hadn’t taken any significant time off from competitions. 
Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk had taken a four-month break from September 2024 to January 2025. Meanwhile, Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov also took a vacation post-TI 2024 and returned in late December that year.
Team Spirit’s roster have always seen Miposhka at the helm, but the new season will unfold differently. Though Miposhka now sits on the bench indefinitely, we can speculate his return months from now, much like how the other members’ break occurred.
The announcement of Miposhka’s break follows the news of another major player doing so, as 
Nigma Galaxy’s 
Maroun “GH” Merhej pause his competitive grind ahead of the new season. More roster shuffles also occurred throughout the post-TI period, including the retirement of 
Quinn “Quinn” Callahan and 
Aydin “iNsania” Sarkohi.
Panto has big shoes to fill
Throughout Miposhka’s absence, we will see Panto (also known as Pantomem) take over the important tasks in the fifth position. Panto previously played for Aurora Gaming, fellow EEU team who have been one of the best of the region–though not quite on Team Spirit’s tier.
Panto is relatively new in the top-tier scene, having competed mainly in the Tier 2 scene under teams like L1GA TEAM and One Move. But his move to Chimera Esports in early 2025 saw breakthrough results, as the team clinched plenty of qualifier slots and notably placed 4th in DreamLeague Season 25. His performance was acknowledged by Aurora Gaming, who boarded him for the 2025 campaign alongside TI champions, Miroslaw “Mira” Kolpakov and Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek–ironically former Team Spirit players.
With Aurora, Panto experienced his best competitive run so far, claiming Top 6 finishes on various top tournaments including PGL Wallachia 4, BLAST Slam III, and the Esports World Cup Dota 2 tournament.
But his capabilities will be further tested as he joins the scene’s top echelons in Team Spirit. Eyes will be drawn toward his performance as he replaces one of the best position fives’ in the world.
Team Spirit to debut its shuffled lineup soon
Team Spirit will be kickstarting their new season with the newly-acquitted Panto almost immediately, as a packed end-of-the-year competitive calendar lies ahead. They have been invited to BLAST Slam IV, set to be the first major event of the new season, starting 14 October.
Other confirmed tournaments for Spirit are PGL Wallachia Season 6, BLAST Slam V, and DreamLeague Season 27.
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