Roster changes are something to be expected in the Dota 2 pro scene. Teams usually find themselves changing lineups before the start of the competitive season or, in some cases, in the middle of the tournament. Entity is the latest team to undergo a roster change and the team’s coach has recently explained why the lineup had to go through such development.
On Dzmitry “Fishman” Palishchuk’s Telegram account, Entity’s very own head coach Daniil “MeTTpuM” Gilev talked about the reasons behind the roster change. It is worth noting that the organization only made one roster change during the off-season. This saw the departure of carry player Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko who decided to leave to join the BetBoom team. The team, however, found a very suitable replacement Alimzhan “Watson” Islambehov (a former carry of HellRaisers), who is currently the number one player on the European MMR Leaderboard.
MeTTpuM admitted that Pure’s departure was not easy since he is considered a top-tier player, but there were different factors that contributed to the roster change. He revealed how they would have discussions every now and then just to "find the right solution." The coach then added that when Pure wanted out, he discussed the topic with his team and “faced the breakup together.”
The Entity coach also said that roster changes tend to happen behind the scene, with some discussions almost happening without the player’s knowledge. But as far as his team is concerned, they faced the decision together, and that Pure was present during the discussion.
MeTTpuM also touched base on the addition of Watson to the team, revealing that the latter fits the team due to a “sum" of various criteria.
It is typical of Dota 2 pro teams to really undergo lineup changes due to a lot of factors. Roster changes are simply for the goal of finding the lineup that would have better chances of winning tournaments. Of course, not all roster changes are guaranteed to bring a positive impact or win. In some cases, they could very well bring demise to the success of the team. That is why roster changes are crucial to a team’s chances of competing in The International.
