The war in Ukraine makes Danil "Dendi" Ishutin switch regions for the upcoming Dota Pro Circuit season and transfer the whole B8 Dota 2 team to North America.
Reportedly, Danil "Dendi" Ishutin bought Wildcard Gaming Division 1 slot in the NA regional league to make the move possible. Along with switching regions, B8 will enter the new season with a fully refurbished roster, after the line-up from the previous season was disbanded back in June this year.
However, the new B8 line-up doesn’t feature a single NA player. Closest to have had ties with the NA scene is position 4 Peruvian support, Joel "MoOz" Ozambela, who played under Clinton "Fear" Loomis’s guidance at J.Storm and business associates through 2019-2020. According to Dendi, the roster was put together after scouting over 100 players across all regions.
B8 roster
StoneBank
Daniel “Dendi” Ishutin
Gleb “Funn1k” Lipatnikov
Joel “MoOz” Mori
Oleg “Lodine” Kvasha
Upon the roster reveal, Dendi gave extensive reasoning for his decision to move the squad to North America, and one of the key points made by him refers to the ongoing war in his home country, Ukraine.
There is a full scale war in Ukraine. Russia shooting missiles, killing people, terrorizing our homes and critical infrastructure.
Insane amount of people don’t have light/heat in their homes due to these terror attacks.
To keep my team going and do what I dedicated a huge part of my life, I decide to try participate in different region, which I believe, will help me to involve more people in supporting Ukraine - Danil "Dendi" Ishutin
He also touched on what keeps him motivated and where he finds the energy to continue the grind.
“I was playing lots of dota and getting hungrier everyday by watching tournaments where top teams battling each other,” said Dendi.
“I love this game with all my heart. I dedicated insane amount of my life to this game. I love to compete and I strive to win. This game made me who I am today! All the people I met and everyone who supported me through the years. And I will always feel grateful to you guys.
I want to give you back and hopefully bring you guys more smiles in future.”
B8 will begin their journey in the NA Dota Pro Circuit Regional League on the 9th of January 2023 along with TSM, the former Evil Geniuses roster, nouns, and four other yet to be confirmed teams.
