Aurora Gaming bench Nightfall to make way for Skiter as new carry

Skiter joins Aurora Gaming following Team Falcons' exit from the Dota 2 competitive scene.

Eastern European Dota 2 powerhouse Aurora Gaming have joined the post-The International (TI) 2026 roster shuffle by benching carry player Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko to make way for former Team Falcons' Oliver “Skiter” Lepko.

Skiter joins Aurora following Team Falcons' exit from Dota 2

Skiter joins Aurora as a free agent following Falcons' exit from the competitive Dota 2 scene earlier this month. He was a key figure in the Falcons roster that recorded the most games played together for a single five-man squad in the history of Dota 2 at a whopping 799 games. They won 523 of their games together, which also makes them the game's most successful five-man squad ever with a whopping 65.46% win rate.

Skiter brings a wealth of experience to the Aurora roster as a two-time TI champion, having won his first with Tundra Esports in TI 2022 and his second with Falcons in TI 2025.

With Skiter joining as their new carry player, here's how Aurora's new roster looks like:

Nightfall exits Aurora after disappointing run in The International 2026

Nightfall joined Aurora in February 2025 as the team moved to Eastern Europe after two years of competing in Southeast Asia. After a disappointing run in 2025, Nightfall stayed with Aurora as the team pivoted to a mixed roster of Eastern European and Southeast Asian players for the 2025-2026 season.

Aurora grew into one of the most consistent squads in the scene during the past season, winning a Tier 2 tournament in FISSURE Universe: Episode 8 and finishing second in three Tier 1 events in DreamLeague Seasons 28 and 29, as well as PGL Wallachia Season 8.

While Aurora entered TI 2026 as a solid contender, their campaign in this year's world championship tournament ended in disappointment. They failed to capitalise on two opportunities to advance to the Playoffs, losing to Team Liquid in the final round of the Group Stage then falling to BetBoom Team in the Elimination Stage. As a result, Aurora were knocked out of TI 2026 in 9th-13th place.

Aurora are set to debut their new roster in PGL Wallachia Season 9, the first Tier 1 tournament of the 2026-2027 season, on 19 September. Aurora are also set to compete in PGL Wallachia Season 9 with Igor “Stojkov” Stojkov standing-in for mid laner Rafli Fathur “Mikoto” Rahman, who will sit out the event due to personal reasons.

Aurora's benching of Nightfall is the latest major roster change in the ongoing post-TI 2026 roster shuffle. Check out GosuGamers' post-TI 2026 roster shuffle tracker to keep track of how the competitive Dota 2 landscape will look like for the 2026-2027 season.