Coming Back For His Throne: Topson Joins Tundra Esports

The rumours turned out to be correct. The legendary two-time back-to-back TI Champion, Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen, has joined Tundra Esports ahead of The International 2023. The team announced the news a day after announcing that their support player, Martin "Saksa" Sazdov, will be taking an extensive break due to his mental health issues. The move has been in the wind since Old G’s disbanded. The addition of Topson to their roster makes the Tundra Esports line-up a lot scarier for The International 2023, where they will be trying to defend their throne.

Reflecting Tundra’s Record

Despite being The International 2022 Champions, Tundra had several mixed results during the initial 2022-2023 DPC Season. Although they secured a top-three finish in their region, the team struggled in LANs. In The Lima and Berlin Major, the team couldn’t even secure a top-three finish.

However, as the season progressed, Tundra started to regain their footing. In the DPC Summer Tour, the team was undefeated in their region and secured a ticket for the Bali Major, where the team finished third. Their ESL Pro League records had several mixed results as well.

In DreamLeague Season 19, the team finished fourth. However, they couldn’t even pass the group stages in DreamLeague Season 20. In the Riyadh Masters 2023, Tundra got eliminated in their first lower-bracket playoffs.

Topson - From Rookie to a Legend

Every Dota 2 player knows the story of Topson -  the rookie who joined OG three months before the TI8 and became the champion. When everyone doubted their win, the team did it again in TI9, becoming the only team to win back-to-back Dota 2 Championships.

Topias has a unique playstyle, bringing heroes like Monkey King to the midlane. Moreover, he pioneered a new playstyle for modern-day midlaners - shadow carry. The playstyle allows him to enable other cores on his team while also diverging the focus of the opposing team on him. He also makes Quas, Wex Invoker, the new way to play the hero.

Topias has once returned from his break in the 2021-2022 DPC season, joining T1 before The Internationals 2022. However, Vici Gaming successfully ended his return at the lower brackets of the last-chance qualifiers.

The New Roles

Adding Topson to the roster gives Tundra two available midlaners. Both midlaners are TI champions and have similar playstyles. However, Leon "Nine" Kirilin, the team’s current midlaner, will be switching his role as a soft support.

His recent pub records showed Nine has been experimenting with his new role with heroes like Skywrath Mage and Keeper Of Light. It is without a doubt that Saksa played a pivotal role in the team’s triumphant run at The International 2022. It will be interesting to see what Nine can do in the same role as Saksa.  Topson will debut on Tundra Esports at The Internationals 2023, but fans can also expect his debut at DreamLeague Season 21.

Featured Image Source: YouTube/@TundraEsports