MOUZ board Panto ahead of the Dota 2 Esports World Cup

Panto joins MOUZ for the team's end-of-season campaign.

Western European Dota 2 team MOUZ have announced their new position five player, Nikita “Panto” Balaganin, who will arrive on loan from Team Spirit. This roster move finally fills the long-vacant position left by the now-retired Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp.

Panto also arrives in time for the Dota 2 Esports World Cup (EWC), kicking off in over two weeks, as well as the crucial qualifier stretch for Dota 2’s The International (TI) ahead.

What is MOUZ’s current Dota 2 roster?

How have MOUZ performed this season?

MOUZ have endured a turbulent Dota 2 season so far–to put it simply. The team began with a historic first-ever victory at PGL Wallachia Season 6 last November, immediately putting themselves on the map among the top-tier teams after attempting so the past few years.

The team achieved decent finishes in the early season, with a Top 4 at BLAST Slam V and a Top 8 at DreamLeague Season 28. Their last promising result was a Top 8 placement at ESL One Birmingham in March. But after team captain Seleri opted to retire later that month, the team’s results began to decline further.

Recently, MOUZ competed with stand-in Alim “aik” Bespaev at both PGL Wallachia Season 8 and 1win Essence I, producing similarly disappointing 10th-11th place finishes.

Despite their currently rough form, the team can take a breather at the moment as they narrowly secured a direct invite to the Dota 2 Esports World Cup. But MOUZ will have to prepare for a much more daunting mission ahead.

The annual Dota 2 world championship, The International, is on the horizon, and with a direct invite seemingly out of reach, MOUZ will have to make it through the upcoming qualifiers.

Panto joins MOUZ for the end-of-season campaign

Panto will hopefully prove to be the missing piece for MOUZ. The Belarusian support player was recently removed from Team Spirit’s active roster after spending the past eight months delivering a decent season with the organisation.

During that period, he secured two runner-up finishes at major tournaments–PGL Wallachia Season 6 and DreamLeague Season 27–while also recording Top 6 and Top 8 finishes in recent events.

Now donning MOUZ’s red colour, Panto joins the team not only to assist in the lucrative EWC event but also in a bid to qualify for TI. While the qualifiers still have undisclosed dates, we can expect it to occur within July, a month before TI kicks off in Shanghai, China.

MOUZ’s next appearance won’t be until EWC begins on 6 July, giving the team ample time to adjust and strategise. Before the landmark tournament begins however, fans will get to tune into the ongoing DreamLeague Season 29 and the follow-up BLAST Slam VII event for high-tier Dota 2 action.

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Author

Sarah "KZ" ZulkifleeSarah “KZ” Zulkiflee writes for GosuGamers, where she channels a long-standing obsession with Dota 2 into her work. While still often lost in the depths of MMR grinding, she has been actively experimenting with games across every genre imaginable. Six years into her career, she still wonders how she miraculously ended up in her dream industry. Anyway, she’s just happy to be here.