First-time Major attendee Talon Esports will not be competing with their full roster at the PGL Arlington Major.
Position four Worawit “Q” Mekchai will be replaced by T1’s Kenny “Xepher” Deo for the competition, scheduled to run from August 4 to 14. Q could not participate due to visa issues, the organization announced yesterday.
T1 did not field Xepher for the ESL One Malaysia 2022 closed qualifiers, opting to play with Ryan “Raging Potato” Qui instead.
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Talon Esports’ roster for PGL Arlington Major
(1) Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon
(2) Rafli Fathur “Mikoto” Rahman
(3) Damien “kpii” Chok
(4) Kenny “Xepher” Deo
(5) Brizio Adi “Hyde” Putra Budiana
(Coach) Lee “Forev” Sang-don
Talon, which entered Dota 2 in November last year, will be participating in their first official Valve LAN in its organization history.
The team established itself as one of the best teams in Southeast Asia over the past Dota Pro Circuit 2021/2022 Div I Tour 3. Despite being in Div II in Tour 2, the team didn’t miss a beat after their promotion, going 6-1 to secure a second-place and their slot at the Major.
Currently sitting at 22nd with 300 points in the DPC 2021/2022 rankings, Talon has a tough road ahead of them if they want to qualify directly to The International 11. The team will need to secure at least a top two finish to surpass the minimum threshold of about 980 points.
But based off the Stockholm Major, an unfavored region’s second place just might find the magic formula for them to progress. Though sporting a stand-in, Xepher previously played with Talon’s carry Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon at T1.
The Arlington Major sports a $500,000 prize pool, and is the last tournament for teams to obtain DPC points ahead of TI11. If Talon doesn’t directly qualify here, they’ll need to come out of the Regional Qualifiers to make their first appearance at The International.
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