Alliance did some major changes to their roster on April 1. While many thought that to be an April Fools joke, it was all quite real. Almost a week later, the team is still missing their final fifth player.
Just when we thought we saw Alliance in good shape after a long period of being mediocre at best, the team decided to shake things up. Alliance got a brand-new roster in October 2019 and had some top placements in the most recent events. The organization is also pretty much guaranteed to have already earned a spot for The International 10. The big event will take place in Sweden this year unless the coronavirus has something to say about it.
Roster changes in our #Dota2 division - DPC 2020 mid-season updates. https://t.co/6sZwwwQCdJ#LongLiveAlliance pic.twitter.com/O53MWnX297
— Alliance (@theAllianceGG) March 31, 2020
April Fools'?
That’s why it came a bit as a shock when Alliance removed their off-laner and hard support. Adrian “Fata” Trinks and Neta “33” Shapira were no longer part of the Swedish organization. To make matters even more interesting, the news came on March 31 but it wasn’t an early April Fools joke. Just as many expected, Gustav “s4” Magnusson returned to Alliance.'
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Valkommen hem, Magnusson!SE https://t.co/SkUEcC6YDsWelcome home, @s4dota!#LongLiveAlliance #ALLFAM | @TeamRazer @MonsterGaming pic.twitter.com/hjLsOVdVBh
— Alliance (@theAllianceGG) April 1, 2020
Magnusson is one of the most notable Dota 2 players and he has been active on the scene for over 8 years. The game has seen a lot of changes, but the fact that s4 has remained relevant even after Alliance’s fall from grace proves he’s still got what it takes. With the offlane covered the next logical question remains – who is the fifth player?
A fifth, for now
Alliance revealed their line up for the ESL One Los Angeles Online which started on April 4 for the EU/CIS region. Surprisingly the final component of the squad isn’t the one we’re looking for as it was made clear that Andreas Per "Xibbe" Ragnemalm will be only a temporary stand-in for the duration of the event.
We are happy to confirm Xibbe from OG as our stand-in for the upcoming #ESLOne LA - EU League!Lineup:1. BG @NikoDOTA 2. SE @LimmpDota 3. SE @s4dota (c)4. SE @Handsken1 5. SE @Xibbe See you tomorrow!#LongLiveAlliance #Dota2 pic.twitter.com/sF39HBlSHl
— Alliance (@theAllianceGG) April 4, 2020
Xibbe is normally part of OG.Seed, a team that managed to defeat Evil Geniuses during DOTA Summit 12 and fell only to Fnatic in the grand finals. In the ESL One Los Angeles Online, Alliance went up against Ninjas in Pyjamas, losing the series 1-2. Alliance CEO and co-founder Jonathan “Loda” Berg commented:
Happy to see the boys play and take a game of NiP. Please keep in mind that they haven't practiced much and it might be a bit up and down for a while@Xibbe WD was ready though
— Jonathan "Loda" Berg (@LodaBerg) April 5, 2020
In the meantime, it’s still not clear who’ll be the final piece that completes the Alliance roster. The team is currently in dire need of a hard support player, but there aren’t that many free agents that’ll fit that role. The answer may actually be hidden in their clash against NiP. The latter are also using a stand-in, namely Milan "MiLAN" Kozomara who usually plays Position 4. There’s always the option of Simon "Handsken" Haag switching to 5 and getting MiLAN in.
The next suspect is Jerry "EGM" Lundkvist who’s yet another one of the Alliance members who won The International 2013. EGM fills the support role and lastly played for Godsent, so he’s still not tied officially to a contract with another team.
There’s also Michael "ninjaboogie" Ross Jr. who’s both used to being support and captain. Ninjaboogie last played for Mineski but left the team after The International 2019. One of his former teammates was Nikolay "Nikobaby" Nikolov who’s currently the carry of Alliance, so Boogie is probably our best guess.
Who do you think will be the fifth for Alliance? An old member of Alliance, a promising new star or one of the top players without a team at the moment?
Stay tuned for more Dota 2 updates here, at EarlyGame!
