Not easy for Arteezy: Biggest name in Dota 2 misses TI for first time in a decade

Shopify Rebellion’s star carry Arteezy will miss Dota 2’s The International for the first time in his career after failing to qualify through the North American qualifiers. While the writing was on the wall after Riyadh Masters quals, this marked a significant low point in Arteezy’s career.

Throughout the year, the North American qualifiers served as an unguarded gateway to global Dota 2 tournaments for SR, but the tables turned quickly in June. Captained by Arteezy’s former teammate Fly, nouns steadily improved throughout the season while SR struggled with stabilizing its roster.

For those closely following the results, nouns went through identical routes on their way to TI2024. Just like in the Riyadh qualifiers, SR beat nouns in the upper bracket finals, only for nouns to bounce back from the lower bracket to take out the NA titans in the grand finals. While nouns showed signs of struggle at Riyadh, they didn’t flinch this time, schooling SR three to zero.

In all three grand finals matches, Arteezy and co. failed to show signs of life as nouns’ core players, Yuma and Copy, took over. This has led many fans to question Arteezy’s leadership and in-game decision-making, as two of his former teammates waltzed their way into TI2024.

SR’s struggles became more apparent with the recent departure of SaberLight, a key offlaner. His parting message highlighted communication issues and a toxic team environment, particularly with a “key member.” Many fans believe this statement was pointed directly at Arteezy, further damaging his reputation and adding weight to the narrative of internal dysfunction.

With the Riyadh Masters and TI dreams shattered, Arteezy faces a major crossroads. Despite continuous roster changes, multiple organizations’ unwavering faith in Coach Bulba and Arteezy backfired spectacularly. SR must now undergo a significant rebuild, addressing core issues and potentially re-evaluating its leadership structure. The organization’s future in Dota 2 is also uncertain, with fans questioning whether it can sustain its high player salaries after a year of disappointing results.

SR’s struggles have even drawn criticism from competitors. Nouns’ COO, former TI winner Peterpandam, took a jab at their spending habits, questioning if the massive investments were justified, especially considering their poor performance.

Despite having won over $2.5 million in prize money, Arteezy has never placed first at TI. He also hasn’t achieved first place at a tier one event since 2017 while Arteezy’s former teammates like Cr1t, Fly, and others found success elsewhere, away from NA.