Dota 2’s upcoming major event, ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023, has announced its four invitees. However, the reigning champions, Team Spirit, may not be able to compete due to problems with their roster.
Team Spirit’s manager, Dmitry “Korb3n” Belov, revealed that one of their players plans to take a break until January. While the team is open to attending the tournament, their participation depends on the rules set by ESL.
The exact number of substitutes needed for Kuala Lumpur is still uncertain as it is unclear how many Team Spirit members will be taking a break. Most Dota 2 tournaments typically allow only one stand-in, with a maximum of two if valid reasons are provided by the teams.
In a now-deleted Twitch stream, Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov expressed his desire to take a break without considering retirement. He mentioned that he wasn’t planning to leave permanently but needed some time off before the new season.
Team Spirit, along with Gaimin Gladiators, LGD, and Azure Ray, received invitations to the event.
With the absence of the Dota Pro Circuit, professional teams are starting the new competitive season earlier than usual, and ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 marks the beginning. While Team Spirit could choose to skip this tournament, they prefer not to do so as ESL tournaments serve as an important pathway to the Riyadh Masters, which currently holds the largest prize pool in Dota 2 since the reduction of The International 2023’s prize pool.
Kuala Lumpur is also a long flight from Eastern Europe, adding to the exhaustion for Team Spirit players who recently won The International 2023 in Seattle. However, none of the invited teams have announced their rosters for the Kuala Lumpur event, and they may wait until after the regional qualifiers to decide on their stand-ins.
Source: DOTESPORTS
