On July 15, 2021, the Romanian Team Vikin.gg announced the disbandment of their current Dota 2 roster, including all five of their players and their coach. For almost close to two years of playing competitively in the scene, Vikin.gg “made the hard decision to part ways with our current roster.”
Although the core reason behind the team’s disbandment remains undisclosed to the public, many believe that the main reason behind the team’s disbandment is their recent failure to make it into The International 10, planned to be held in the coming October, in Romania’s Arena Națională.
Aside from their failure to qualify to TI10 though, the team had made multiple breakthroughs despite being a relatively new-formed team. For instance, during the early days of the pandemic where online tournaments were held, Vikin.gg won BTS Pro Series Season 3: Europe/CIS, finished first at DOTA Summit 13 Online: Europe & CIS whilst beating the likes of Team Liquid, and were victors at EPIC League Season 3 Division 1 earlier in 2021.
In fact, Vikin.gg was the first-place champion of Dota Pro Circuit 2021 Season 2: Western Europe Lower Division. Oftentimes, they seem like the most promising underdog team capable of bringing down top-dogs, but the harsh reality of organizing, managing, and financing a team is perhaps too much to handle today.
Before the last Vikin.gg roster came to be, the first-ever roster consisted of an entirely different lineup. The first roster rendition was ultimately disbanded in November 2019, but a new set of prominent players were quickly acquired to breathe new air into the team’s life. Their coach, ImmortalFaith, remained on the team.
Great result for our new team. We made it to @WESGcom close qualifiers😀
Congrats @Shad_Dota, @TANNERDOTA, @Crystallis_Dota, @AramisDota2, @Seleri4096.😎#AsATeam pic.twitter.com/gCArq8uxlr
— Vikin.gg (@GGVikin) November 21, 2019
The initial roster that relived the team included Shad, TANNER, Tobi, Aramis, and Seleri. Eventually, TANNER was replaced by BOOM, who quickly became one of the cornerstones of Vikin.gg’s potential as a team. Their latest replacement was the arrival of Khezu in place of Tobi. It is hence this roster that was most recently disbanded by the organization, including ImmortalFaith.
With Vikin.gg leaving the scene, it remains unclear which team will replace them in the upcoming DPC after TI10. But, all we know is that the team had a good run and wrote a pleasant legacy in competitive Dota history.
Feature Image by @GGVikin.