Team Liquid's Dota 2 team is leaving the organization following a second-place finish at TI9 and an earlier International victory at TI7. The squad at its time of departure was comprised of Maroun "GH" Merhej, Kuro "KuroKy" Takhasomi, Ivan Borislavov "MinD_ContRoL" Ivanov, Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawai, and Aliwi "w33" Omar, and was one of the most consistent teams in the scene in terms of results and tournament finishes.

Team Liquid isn't the first great team to indicate roster changes are coming this year, but they're the first to actually pull the trigger on them, especially to this scale. Oddly enough, Dota 2 has always been a highly volatile scene when it comes to roster changes- even International winning teams make changes following the biggest tournament of the year, so it's not surprising that Team Liquid's second place finish didn't protect the organization from dramatic changes. OG, the first-ever two-time champions of The International and back-to-back winners over the last two tournaments, have also indicated in interviews that the team might not look the same when TI10 rolls around in 2020.

For Liquid's Dota 2 team, however, departing the organization does not appear to mean that the squad will begin playing on separate rosters. According to a post from Team Liquid owner Victor "Nazgul" Goossens, the ex-Liquid roster is planning on starting their own team from the ground up rather than being on the roster of an already established organization. It's a bold decision but one that would grant the squad complete control over their brand, and for a team that is already so popular in the Dota 2 scene, it's the equivalent of betting on themselves in a way that could pay off huge.

It's also a parting that sounds completely amicable, which makes things all the more bittersweet for Team Liquid Dota 2 fans. Nazgul's post indicates the new endeavor has his full support, and is exactly the kind of classy response from a team owner that has made Team Liquid one of the most popular esports organizations in the world. Nazgul also indicated that the organization would not be leaving Dota 2, and would instead attempt to put together a new roster to make the magic happen twice and build the next future championship team.

It's going to be weird to have Team Liquid's Dota 2 team feature a roster without such stalwarts as KuroKy and Miracle-, who have grown to feel inextricable from the blue-and-white brand. However, seeing players attempt to take their future into their own hands and build up a new team as owners is also an encouraging sign that esports pros are starting to strongly consider their futures in the scene rather than riding things out while they're going smoothly. With this major change and potentially more to come from organizations like OG and third-place finishers PSG.LGD, the landscape of TI10 might look dramatically more different than the last three tournaments have.

Source: Team Liquid