End of an era: Team Spirit replaces 2 TI winners with academy players

Team Spirit figured it was time to give two players from its academy roster, Yellow Submarine, a taste of the tier-one scene. The two-time TI-winning organization welcomed Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov and Aleksandr “rue” Filin to the main squad on Sept. 26. 

All good things come to an end. After leaving a mark in Dota 2 history as one of the most successful rosters ever, Team Spirit’s roster was bound to undergo massive changes when Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk (now Raddan) and Myroslav “Mira” Kolpakov took a break from professional play due to exhaustion from the packed schedules.

Though most fans in the Dota 2 scene would expect experienced and reputable players to replace such household names, Team Spirit had another approach and gambled on the young prospects it had developed in its Yellow Submarine academy project. 

Taking Yatoro’s spot on the team will be 16-year-old prodigy Satanic. The kid first made his first cameo on Gorgc’s stream when he was only 14, where he was already dominating European pubs. Fast forward to 15, Satanic would already reach 12,000 MMR at such a young age. In 2024, he reached rank one in the World Leaderboards, showing rapid improvement and immense potential. 

Accompanying Satanic from Yellow Submarine is rue, who will play position four for Team Spirit. The 20-year-old has a little more experience, having played for other teams such as IVY throughout his career. Rue has displayed exceptional mechanical skill on his signature heroes, Rubick and Dark Willow. 

Despite being an academy team, Yellow Submarine could go toe-to-toe with several established lineups during its campaign. Going against the big guys, the inexperienced Yellow Submarine squad could still qualify for its first significant LAN tournament at Elite League Season 2, where they unfortunately fell short at ninth to 11th place. 

Team Spirit also confirmed star offlaner Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov would also take time off the scene, choosing to sit on the sidelines for the rest of the year. He has been temporarily moved to the inactive roster and is looking to come back in 2025. 

Abdimalik “Malik” Sailau, a former member of the PSG Quest roster, will act as a temporary replacement for Collapse. Malik is no stranger to the professional scene, having played in multiple tier-one tournaments and showing exceptional skill and work ethic. 

We won’t have to wait long to see this new exciting iteration of Team Spirit play. The roster has already received an invitation to compete at PGL Wallachia Season 2, a $1 million tournament taking place from Oct. 4 to 13.