The International 2022 Champions are heading to TI once again but in a completely different formula.
Defending the title went terribly wrong last year for Tundra Esports. They placed only the 13-16th in Seattle, which triggered a massive overhaul of the team. Only Topson remained from the 2023 roster, and the reconstruction was made around him. Tundra aimed to get some of the best mechanically skilled players to keep up with Topson’s unique approach to Dota 2.
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
However, being one of the best at your role, oftentimes comes with a strong personality too, hence Tundra’s trouble in actually locking a roster. Right from their first tournament of the year, in February, at DreamLeague Season 22, the organisation went through quite the drama after their offlaner at that time, Ivan "MinD_ContRoL" Ivanov, had an outburst and got kicked after the first day of matches. In that event alone Tundra played with three different offlaners, and the saga didn’t stop there.
Moving forward in the season, Tundra played two qualifier legs and two tournaments with Tobias "Tobi" Buchner standing in. Heading into a new season of DreamLeague in May, they swapped Tobi for Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev, who came from L1ga Team on a loan deal. However, he seemed to be fitting the best in the Tundra line-up and remained with the roster for TI13 regional qualifiers which took place in June.
Tundra Esports roster
Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko 
Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev Naltakyan “9Class” Edgar 
Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon
coach: 
David “MoonMeander” Tan
Despite going through five offlaners in five months before finding an optimal solution, Tundra still managed to stay in the top 8 at all tournaments that they played. After Ramzess’s arrival, they reached the top 4 at Riyadh Masters 2024 and placed third at the recently concluded FISSURE Universe: Episode 3 after losing to BetBoom Team and Falcons.
More so, their most successful hero combos feature offlane picks.
Tundra’s most successful hero pairings before TI13
There is no doubt that with the current line-up Tundra can shoot for the stars and secure a top 4 finish at TI13, just like they did in Riyadh. They have a very interesting group of super high-skilled individuals. Through the last two tournaments, but more so at FISSURE Universe, they’ve already shown that they have no issues in adapting to the new meta.
Pure has embraced the squishy ranged carries such as Lina, Mirana or even Muerta, the duo supports have Naga Siren as their most practiced hero in the pubs over the last week, while the offlane seems to not have changed much in terms of priorities, given that the Aura meta is still very much viable.
If anyone can make any of the 125 Dota 2 heroes work in the midlane, that person is Topson, and trying to predict what he will play at this TI would be crazy.
With the current roster, Tundra is probably one of the most creative teams heading into TI, but that’s what can also get them in trouble, as they might “overcook” their drafts. But hopefully, they learned from their previous deviations from the norm and will not go as far as a Terroblade position 5.
With this year’s line-up, Topson is aiming at becoming the first-ever player to have won The International three times, what a story would that be if he lifts that Aegis in the Danish capital city next month!
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