Southeast Asian esports organization Talon Esports have officially parted ways with Damien “kpii” Chok Sau-jing and Brizio “Hyde” Budiana.
The announcement was made nearly three weeks after Talon was eliminated from TI11’s Group Stage, where they finished in last place along with Soniqs, BetBoom Team, and TSM.
“To our OG offlane duo, thank you for being key parts of our runs from open qualifiers to TI,” tweeted Talon. “You both brought such great energy and will always be part of the Talon fam.”
Rafli “Mikoto” Rahman, Worawit “Q” Mekchai, and the team’s star carry player Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon are the three remaining players in Talon’s Dota 2 roster.
- Soniqs releases full Dota 2 roster after TI11 group stage elimination
- OG and ATF reportedly parting ways after TI11
Talon Esports begin their post-TI11 roster shuffle by releasing kpii and Hyde
The team had great expectations at the start of the DPC 2022 season with SEA veterans Kim “Gabbi” Santos, Rafli “Mikoto” Rahman, kpii, and Hyde all led by former Evil Geniuses captain Tal “Fly” Aizik.
However, Talon still failed to make it out of the DPC SEA 2021/2022 Tour 1 Division II at the start of the season. The team bounced back in Tour 2 with Q and 23savage replacing Fly and Gabbi.
Talon continued to improve and finished third in the DPC 2021/2022 SEA Tour 3 Division I which qualified them for their first Dota 2 Major. Unfortunately, they were one of the first teams to be eliminated from the PGL Arlington Major, finishing with a 5-11 record in the tournament’s group stage.
The SEA squad bounced back against their regional competition, qualifying for The International 2022 through the SEA regional qualifier. Talon finished their upper bracket run with a perfect 6-0 record and defeated Polaris Esports 3-2 in the grand final.
Talon’s shortcomings against international teams were highlighted once again at TI11. At the end of the TI11 Group Stage, the SEA squad was pushed to the brink of elimination after finishing with a 6-12 record in Group B. The team’s season ended after they lost to Entity 2-0 in their tiebreaker match for the TI11 Playoffs.
After Talon’s roster shuffle announcement, kpii tweeted that he’s looking to join a new team from any region as a position 3 offlaner. He is also open to coaching, a move that he described as “a long shot, but not impossible.”
Hyde also made a similar announcement, tweeting that he’s looking for a new team as a position 4 or 5 support player. He’s stated that he is willing to relocate to any region for the next DPC season.
Talon Esports’ Dota 2 roster
- Rafli “Mikoto” Rahman
- Worawit “Q” Mekchai
- Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon
- Andrii “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko (coach)
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