Team Spirit sign 'not me' as new position 4 support

To make way for not me's entry, Spirit have shifted rue to the position 5 support role and parted ways with Panto.

Eastern European Dota 2 stalwarts Team Spirit announced its fourth roster change of the 2025-2026 season on Tuesday (12 May) with the signing of Kosmynin “not me” Alexey as their new position 4 support player.

The 22-year old not me has been a rising figure in Eastern Europe's Tier 2 scene since his professional debut with One Move in 2024. Prior to his move to Spirit, not me had been playing for Yellow Submarine.

With not me's entry into the team, Spirit's former position 4 support Aleksandr “rue” Filin has been shifted to the position 5 support role while Nikita “Panto” Balaganin has been moved to the inactive roster.

“Aleksei Kosmynin is the new position 4 support of our Dota 2 roster. Following a rigorous two-week trial, he displayed the best synergy with the team,” Spirit said in its announcement of this latest roster move.

Spirit shuffles its roster once again as their struggles continue

Not me's entry into Spirit, along with the other roster moves made to accommodate his entry, marks the fourth time in the 2025-2026 season that the team have made significant changes to its roster.

Following Spirit's disappointing 9th-13th place exit from The International (TI) 2025, longtime team captain Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov announced a break from competitive play and stepped down from the active roster in October 2025. Panto was signed as Miposhka's replacement, with Spirit showing promise under his leadership as they closed out the year with Top 6 finishes in FISSURE PLAYGROUND 2 and BLAST Slam IV as well as 2nd place finishes in PGL Wallachia Season 6 and DreamLeague Season 27.

The new year then saw another upheaval for Spirit as longtime coach Ayrat “Silent” Gaziev parted ways with the team in mid-January. Spirit started to struggle following Silent's departure, finishing second in FISSURE Universe: Episode 8 to start February only to bomb out of BLAST Slam VI and DreamLeague Season 28 in 7th-10th and 11th-12th place, respectively, later in the month.

Spirit responded to that suddent downturn by announcing Milan “MiLAN” Kozomara will trial as their coach ahead of PGL Wallachia Season 7, where the team managed a respectable fourth place finish. However, Spirit's results in their next three tournament appearances showed the team was still stagnant. They finished 5th-6th in ESL One Birmingham 2026 to end March then had to settle for back-to-back 7th-8th place finishes in PREMIER SERIES and PGL Wallachia Season 8 in April.

Spirit admitted that their results for the season so far have not lived up to their expectations. In their statement regarding the departure of Panto, the organisation said that “the current development vector and the recent results both mismatched our expectations.”

It remains to be seen if the injection of young talent in the form of not me, as well as rue shifting over to the position 5 support role, will deliver the improvement Spirit is no doubt looking for. The team is set to debut its new roster in DreamLeague Season 29, a US$1 million online tournament that will take place from 13 to 24 May.

Team Spirit Dota 2 roster: