One of Southeast Asia’s most prominent Dota 2 teams, Fnatic, will be making a temporary roster change as they head into their next big event.
Support player Johan “pieliedie” Åström will be sitting out the upcoming StarLadder Invitational Minor on April 11. Pieliedie joined the team along with its current team captain Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao on Aug. 25, 2017.
Replacing pieliedie at the upcoming Valve Minor will be Adam “343” Shah, who was brought on as a means to “further develop the team’s cohesion and shot calling,” according to the organization’s press release. Exactly how long pieliedie will be absent from the roster is currently unclear. Additionally, pieliedie will not be eligible to earn any Dota 2 Pro Circuit points at the StarLadder Invitational, which could be crucial for the team to reach The International 8.
This is the first roster move the Fnatic squad has made in almost three months, when the team infamously dropped its Malaysian offlaner Khoo “Ohaiyo” Chong Xin for Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora on Jan. 14. While initially getting off to a lackluster start with UNiVeRsE, Fnatic has since proceeded to place highly at multiple Valve events. Most notably, the team placed second at the DreamLeague Minor on March 25.
With The International 8 starting on Aug. 20, teams are now left with less than six months to earn championship points. Hopefully, Fnatic’s gamble will pay off.
The StarLadder Invitational will be taking place between April 11 to 15.
