Gaimin Gladiators, one of the most successful teams in Dota 2, will be changing up its roster after almost two full years of consistency.
The new Gaimin Gladiators roster changes announced across Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 will see Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov depart the team after just over three years, while former Cloud 9 carry Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov will take his place.
Image Credit: Gaimin Gladiators
The news was announced on social media on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4, with Dyracho’s departure initially being revealed, followed by Watson’s arrival a day later. In a post explaining the delay, Gaimin Gladiators detailed some paperwork issues that caused the slight discrepancy between the two announcements:
“The paperwork took longer than expected, which is why the announcement was delayed. Who would have known that esports is now such a professional industry that you actually need signed papers to announce something? lol. Because of that delay, we were a bit cooked after making a few posts. Even though leaks are inevitable, we played the “we’ll create fake leaks to make it less obvious” card. So, sincerely apologies for the heart attacks!
And no, Ace is not leaving.”
The final comment was related to wide-spread rumors of the team’s offlaner, Marcus “Ace” Christensen, departing the organization.
The departure of Dyrachyo marks the end of an era for Gaimin Gladiators. Original acquired in 2022 from the Team Tickles stack, Gaimin Gladiators saw a solid initial performance in 2022, reaching The International 2022. In 2023, though, the team really took off, signing NA superstar Quinn “Quinn” Callahan, and winning every single Major in what would be the final Dota Pro Circuit Season.
But unfortunately, this success wouldn’t be converted into a TI win, as the squad fell short in Seattle. Another strong year in 2024 culminated in a win at Riyadh Masters 2024, and a second-place finish at The International 2024.
For watson, he joins Gaimin Gladiators from a C9 squad that finished a respectable 5th-6th place at TI13.
Gaimin Gladiators and watson will take their new Dota 2 roster for its first outing at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade later this month. Following this, the team has also been invited directly to DreamLeague Season 24. The squad has historically performed very well at DreamLeague events, so hopefully the new stack will be able to replicate that success – definitely worth taking a punt on.
