Amid the hype and chaos of TI7, a new team called Tuho created by known players has quietly made their big debut and clinched a spot in the EMEA regional qualifiers.
Teams from all over the European, Middle East and African region have been competing in the EMEA open qualifiers over the last few weeks. While 11 open qualifiers were in progress or completed for selected countries in the covering region - Germany, France, Poland, Russia, Spain, Nordic, UK, UAE, Romania, Benelux, Portugal, the only qualifier that will allow mixed teams or squads from non represented countries has crowned its champion - Tuho.
The newly formed squad bested various teams from around the world that were a mix of nationalities or had fallen short in their own national qualifiers - giving it another whirl and hoping to change their fate. Tuho had stepped up to the plate instead and laid claim to the spot for their first run.
The ROG Masters 2017 regional qualifiers Phase II dates are yet to be announced. 12 teams from the various qualifiers will be competing in an online regional event, where one team will then advance to the regional LAN finals. Two teams will then qualify for the main event expected to take place in China during November with a $250,000 prize pool.
Tuho
miCKe and iNsania Photo courtesy of aiaiai.stokyo
Quietly and without much fuss in the pre-shuffle weeks leading up to TI7, a group of players formed together to get a head start on the competition and prepare for the upcoming major/minor season. Tuho's captain is rising Swedish star Aydin "iNsania" Sarkohi - most recently seen running through the TI7 open qualifiers on Cool Beans, the stacked lineup formed by Jonathan "Loda" Berg in the witching hours before the first set of qualifiers.
The new team is full of talent and experience and is leaning heavy on the promise of success in the upcoming season.
An ex HoN professional player and relative newcomer to the scene, iNsania is already racking up the experience. He began his career in September 2015 but it didn't take long for him to start to play competitively and played briefly with Team Doge in 2016 and then part of Solidudes for three months before joining Prodota Gaming in January. The support player had most recently replaced Troels “SyndereN” Nielsen on NiP in April where he stayed until the team disbanded just prior to TI7 qualifiers.
Joining iNsania is Micke “miCKe” Nguyen. The two Swedish players enjoy a long history and well established synergy dating back to HoN professional times, Prodota Gaming, a brief stint on NiP and then their run in Cool Beans together. The pair of HoN stars returned back to their roots in March for a stand in appearance with Fnatic in the HoN World Finals in Bangkok to seize the championship title.
Another former member of NiP is among the ranks with seasoned veteran player Max "qojqva" Bröcker assuming the offlane position. A three time Interntional participant, qojqva's expereince and talent will serve the team well. The German player was part of Team Liquid (participating in TI4) and Mousesports (for TI3) before taking a brief break after TI5. Approximately eight months later he returned to competitive gaming as part of No Diggity with SyndereN, later picked up by Escape Gaming (for TI6) and then NiP.
Carry position is filled by another familiar face - Ylli "Garter" Ramadani. Playing for Prodota Gaming for the last 15 months, the player from Kosovo, has experience and relationship built in with iNsania and miCKe from only a few months ago. He has been making waves in the European scene for quite some time and looks to be aiming to start a new chapter in his book.
A hidden gem, the lineup is rounded out by Lebanese player Salvador "Asuna" Khamis. Asuna is an old school DotA player that die hard fans will recognize and has been laying low in recent years. Asuna resurfaced briefly in 2015 in one of the Kaipi iterations and then banded together with qojqva and Pittner "bOne7" Armand in the first appearance of Tuho in the TI7 open qualifiers. Playing in the support role Asuna will be carving his way back into the professional circuit.
Tuho Roster:
Max 'qojqva' Bröcker
Micke 'miCKe' Nguyen
Yll 'Garter' Ramadani
Salvador 'Asuna' Khamis
Aydin 'iNsania' Sarkohi
