The community may have pieced together the move a bit early, but Talon Esports officially signed 23savage to its Dota 2 roster for the upcoming Dota Pro Circuit Tour yesterday. This move comes just a day after Talon signed Worawit “Q” Mekchai and finalized the team’s roster as they begin to prepare for Southeast Asia’s Division II regional league.
23savage was moved to T1’s inactive roster ahead of the SEA Regional League Final, with the team bringing in Talon’s former position one player Gabbi as a stand-in for the event. That move would eventually lead to T1 signing Gabbi outright, leaving 23savage’s future unknown.
The 19-year-old star played with Motivate.Trust Gaming as a stand-in for the BTS Pro Series Season 10. Now, he joins Q and the existing Talon core of Rafli Fathur “Mikoto” Rahman, kpii, and Brizio Adi “Hyde” Putra Budiana as the team’s carry.
Rumors about 23savage started surfacing even before Talon announced the Q signing. Fans pointing to one of his Instagram stories, which showed him leaving Thailand and walking around in a house that looked like it was set up for a boot camp. This, along with Talon’s earlier announcement that its team would be bootcamping in the Philipines and a few other hints, spoiled the surprise.
The signing completes Talon’s roster shuffle, which saw the team part ways with Fly and Gabbi at the end of the Winter Tour due to a difference in mindset, “ever-changing circumstances” surrounding the roster, and poor performance.
