Shopify Rebellion releases half of its Dota 2 roster, splitting up a legendary duo

Shopify Rebellion’s Dota 2 roster was expected to disband after The International 2023 with two players sticking together. While the rumors turned out to be true, the most unexpected duo remains with the organization as Abed Yusop, Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen, and Tal “Fly” Aizik have left the team.

SR announced the departures of those three players on Twitter yesterday. And despite playing for the organization for just under a year, the news marks the end of NA’s longest-running Dota 2 squad. 

In particular, Artour “Arteezy” Babaev and Cr1t had been playing together since 2016, striving for success through various team iterations yet always falling short at critical moments. Though they never secured a Valve Major or The International title during their time together, their consistent performance throughout the years kept their partnership intact.

With multiple top-four finishes scattered around the competitive Dota 2 calendar, Shopify Rebellion, or ex-Evil Geniuses, have always been considered a powerhouse in their own right. But their stability failed to translate into success at The International, with the team exiting the tournament prematurely on multiple occasions despite dominating the group stages.

Considering SR relived history at TI 2023 by underperforming once again, experienced players like Ceb anticipated a full disbandment of the team instead of small roster changes. As of now, only Arteezy and Jonáš “SabeRLight-” Volek remain at SR, with the latter jokingly leaking a potential all-star roster for the org.

“Do you want to know the roster?” SaberLight asked his chat. “Arteezy, me, Miracle, Jerax, and on pos five, Bulba.” SaberLight also kindly asked his chat not to leak this information. But if any of the names he mentioned end up on the latest version of SR, the team could attract some significant interest from fans.