One of the most famous Dota 2 players is making a big return. Danil “Dendi” Ishutin announced he’s starting his own esports organization named B8.
Dendi’s return
Dendi was considered the face of Dota 2 for many years. He was a vital part of Natus Vincere who won the first edition of The International in 2011 and continued to be a powerhouse after. Slowly, the team’s performance declined, though, which forced much of the original roster to leave, with only Dendi remaining until recent times. He switched to an inactive role in September 2018 and eventually parted ways with the Ukrainian organization in August 2019.
Ever since then, Dendi has been struggling to find the right team, often forming rosters to partake in qualifiers only to fail and search for a new one. Meanwhile, his old teammate Clement “Puppey” Ivanov, who is the only one left from The International 2011 Na`Vi roster to still be playing beside Dendi, just won the Leipzig Major. Many expected that the two would rejoin forces after so many years but that never happened except that one time Dendi played the role of a stand-in.
The latest roster Dendi formed was trying to make it through the regional qualifiers for DreamLeague Season 13, also known as the Leipzig Major. It consisted of:
- Alike “V-Tune” Vorobey
- Danil “Dendi” Ishutin
- Alexey “nongrata” Vasilyev
- Rinat “KingR” Abdullin
- Nikola “LeBronDota” Popović
Unfortunately, the competition for the event was too fierce and they didn’t make it.
The new organization
There have been rumors of Dendi’s new project for months now, but official information came out yesterday, when B8 released their first statement on Twitter.
The Golden Years have not passed, The Golden Years are continuing!Dendi introduces his new organization B8!https://t.co/TThvJX7huGMay the skill be with us!#b8d
— B8 (@B8esportsGG) January 27, 2020
It included a humorous video called “The Golden Days” which took place in the future year 2059. Dendi took his supposed grandson fishing and told him the tale of his success with Na`Vi. While fishing we clearly see the B8 logo coming out and it becomes a bit obvious that it’s supposed to be read “bait”. The hook analogy is most likely a throwback to Pudge, the hero which made Dendi famous
Join our social networks! Do not delay because soon we will reveal the plans for the near future Chin-choppa-chin-choppa!Instagram - https://t.co/GHHdgdOyCtVK - https://t.co/l9QuWncT9WFacebook - https://t.co/cRCbTG263Y
— B8 (@B8esportsGG) January 27, 2020
Not much else except the reveal video is known so far, not even the roster. It’s not even certain that Dota 2 will be the only game B8 will compete in, but judging by the recent activity on their social media, we’ll find out soon enough.
