Dota 2: Shopify Rebellion reveal revamped roster with Yopaj, Thiolicor, and Kitrak
Two out of the three incoming players on Shopify Rebellion's new roster hail from other regions, namely Filipino midlaner Yopaj and Brazilian support Thiolicor.
Canadian organisation Shopify Rebellion revealed on Wednesday (22 November) that its Dota 2 roster for the upcoming season will feature new additions in Filipino midlaner Erin Jasper "Yopaj" Ferrer, Brazilian position 4 support player Thiago "Thiolicor" Cordeiro, and American position 5 player Kartik "Kitrak" Rathi.
Yopaj, Thiolicor, and Kitrak will be taking over the roles vacated by Abed "Abed" Yusop, Andreas "Cr1t-" Nielsen, and Tal "Fly" Aizik, who left Shopify Rebellion earlier this month.
Yopaj spent the last two years competing in Southeast Asia under BOOM Esports. Thiolicor and Kitrak spent the last season in Western Europe, with the former under the Hustlers and Luna Galaxy stacks while the latter last played for OG.
Meanwhile, carry player Artour "Arteezy" Babaev, offlaner Jonáš "SabeRLight-" Volek, and coach Kanishka "BuLba" Sosale retained their positions in the squad.
Introducing Shopify Rebellion Dota 2024
⚔️ @Arteezy
⚔️ @Yopajdota
⚔️ @jonas_volek
⚔️ @Thiolicordota
⚔️ @kitrakdota
🗡️ @BuLbaDotA_
See you soon 😌 pic.twitter.com/kmbwVKDzFK— Shopify Rebellion (@ShopifyRebels) November 21, 2023
With its new roster, Shopify Rebellion will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing first year in Dota 2.
Shopify Rebellion entered Dota 2 last December by signing the roster of Arteezy, Abed, SabeRLight, Cr1t, Fly, and BuLba that had been the dominant force in the North American scene under Evil Geniuses.
Shopify Rebellion continued to dominate the now-defunct Dota Pro Circuit's North American regional league as many expected, finishing second in both the Winter and Spring Tours before claiming first place in the Summer Tour.
However, the team had mixed results against international competition, finishing fourth in the Lima Major in March before only managing 9th-12th place finishes in both the ESL One Berlin Major in May and the Bali Major in July.
Shopify Rebellion then bounced back and finished second in DreamLeague Season 21 in September, giving their fans hope that they would perform well on their home turf at TI 2023 in October. Instead, Shopify Rebellion crumbled and were knocked out by regional rivals TSM in 13th-16th place — a disastrous end to the season that forced sweeping changes within the team.
The reveal of Shopify Rebellion's new roster notably came after the conclusion of the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 qualifiers, so fans of the team will have to wait until next year for the roster's competitive debut.
Shopify Rebellion Dota 2 roster:
Artour "Arteezy" Babaev
Erin Jasper "Yopaj" Ferrer
Jonáš "SabeRLight-" Volek
Thiago "Thiolicor" Cordeiro
Kartik "Kitrak" Rathi
Kanishka "BuLba" Sosale (coach)
For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.