Alliance looks to young talent with new Dota 2 roster

One of the most successful Dota 2 teams in the game’s history has unveiled its new roster in the game.

Centered around team captain and sole remaining original player Jonathan “Loda” Berg, Alliance has found four new players that will be competing alongside the veteran.

The four players are Michael “Micke” Vu, Aydin “iNSaNiA” Sarkohi, Tommy “Taiga” Le and Samuel “Boxi” Svahn. While all these players have had previous competitive experience in both Dota 2 and Heroes of Newerth, Alliance will be the most established organization they will have played for throughout their Dota 2 careers.

Although these players have had less time at the top of the game’s competitive circuit, the possibility of developing a new generation of talent seems to be the focus of the roster, according to the team captain.

“I have this familiar feeling in my gut of being part of a team of underdogs ready to show other established teams just what we can do,” Loda told theScore Esports.

The new roster will, however, be easing into competing. Micke will be undergoing surgery to his hand in December and is expected to be out of commission until 2018.

Despite its storied history, Alliance has spent the past two years struggling to achieve noteworthy results. This has led to a number of substantial roster changes for the team, often to less than satisfactory results. But after an uneventful 2017, figurehead Loda appears to have put his faith into at least two of the new recruits, as both Micke and INSaNiA have agreed to sign on with the organization for an extended period of time.

Loda, who went on an extended break in 2017, appears to have returned in an emphatic fashion. Aside from training with this newly assembled Alliance roster, the 29-year-old will also be representing Sweden at the World Esports Games’ grand finals in Changzhou, China on March 18, 2018, alongside Micke, INSaNiA, and former team mate Joakim “Akke” Akterhall.