PlayTime complete Dota 2 roster with KJ and Astini for new competitive season

KJ and Astini will spearhead PlayTime’s campaign in the new competitive season.

Filipino organisation PlayTime has assembled an eclectic mix of players as Dota 2 enters its 2026/2027 competitive season. The team revealed the addition of prominent Brazillian names, Matheus Santos Jungles “KJ” Diniz and Filipe "Astini" Ribeiro, to round up the roster as position 5 and coach, respectively.

PlayTime now has a complete roster for the new season as the two join forces with Filipino midlaner Abed Azel “Abed” Yusop and Russian carry Andrei "bottega" Kopytko, who joins on loan from BetBoom Team. Fellow South American players Gustavo “fcr” Ribeiro and Yelstin “elmisho” Verde are part of the lineup, with the former shifting roles to position 4 to give way for KJ in the hard support seat.

What is PlayTime’s current Dota 2 roster?

A look into PlayTime’s new Dota 2 roster

PlayTime has assembled an intriguing lineup for the new season.

KJ, formerly the captain of Heroic and LGD Gaming, will now take charge as PlayTime’s position 5. The Brazilian player will be hoping for a better run this season after a disastrous previous campaign, which saw HEROIC disband mid-season. His subsequent stint with LGD Gaming also went south, with the team losing their midlaner just days before The International (TI) 2026 due to an integrity controversy.

Astini endured a similarly turbulent previous season. The coach enjoyed a successful period with PARIVISION during the 2024/2025 competitive season, when the team established themselves as one of the most dominant forces in the scene. However, following his abrupt departure in December 2025, Astini spent some time on the sidelines before briefly coaching Team Nemesis for its Esports World Cup 2026 campaign, which yielded disappointing results. He now returns to his home region for the new season.

Meanwhile, offlaner fcr returns to competition as a player after spending the past season assisting with coaching duties at HEROIC and LGD Gaming. He has a proven track record, having made his mark at TI 2023 with Keyd Stars, but he has largely remained within the South American scene since then.

Elmisho is the only member retained from last season’s roster, although he will now face the challenge of switching from position 5 to position 4. The Peruvian is a well-known support player in the region, having represented Hokori, beastcoast and, earlier this year, paiN Gaming.

PlayTime’s core lineup is where things get interesting.

Filipino midlaner Abed was officially brought into the team after his successful stand-in stint at Game of the Future 2026, where he helped secure PlayTime’s first tournament victory. Abed most recently played for Virtus.pro alongside Tal “Fly” Aizik and Enzo “Timado” Gianoli, a run that ended badly as they failed to reach TI 2026.

Bottega’s confirmation as PlayTime’s carry was a more surprising reveal, with the former Yellow Submarine player joining the team on loan from BetBoom Team. It remains unclear when the 17-year-old came under BetBoom’s wing, but he was loaned to Yellow Submarine last year and spent much of his competitive career with the team. The young carry is a major wildcard for PlayTime and could prove pivotal to the team’s performance.

PlayTime embark on a fresh start for second competitive season

Since forming its Dota 2 division in January this year, PlayTime has undergone significant roster overhauls. It initially fielded a Filipino squad before relocating to South America midway through the season.

During the Esports World Cup 2026, the team became embroiled in a controversy that saw two members, coach Juan “Vintage” David Angulo Nicho and midlaner Gonzalo “DarkMago” Herrera, suspended over suspected match-fixing. The controversy derailed the team’s tournament campaign, despite an otherwise promising showing.

PlayTime responded by immediately removing both players, who have since been sanctioned by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC). Vintage received a lifetime ban, while DarkMago was handed a five-year ban from ESIC-related events, including those organised by ESL and BLAST.

It marks a discouraging chapter in PlayTime’s first year in the scene, but the organisation is now looking to make a fresh start with a more internationally diverse roster.

The new PlayTime lineup will make its debut later today, 10 October, as they compete for a place in DreamLeague Season 30 through the South American closed qualifier. There, they will face competition from Hokori, Amaru Gaming, and the David Nicho “Parker” Flores-led Skyreavers stack.

PlayTime's team finalisation is the latest development 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.

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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.