T1 made big changes to the team ahead of the ONE Esports Singapore Major. T1 confirmed the signing of new carry player Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon on its Twitter handle and announced the sudden removal of carry player Souliya "JaCkky" Khoomphetsavong from its active roster. Here is the current roster for the ONE Esports Singapore Major based on the updates:
- Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon
- Karl “Karl” Jayme
- Carlo “Kuku” Palad
- Kenny "Xepher" Deo
- Matthew "Whitemon" Filemon
The signing of 23savage came out of blue for T1. 23savage enjoyed a breakout year with Fenatic in 2020, but left the team abruptly for Vici Gaming at the end of the summer. As a result of the roster change, T1 will sustain a penalty on any Dota Pro Circuit qualifying points earned during the ONE Esports Singapore Major, as well as those earned from placing third in the winter season. T1 seems to believe 23savage is enough of an upgrade to justify this pair of penalties.
We are pleased to welcome '23savage' to our @DOTA2 roster. Please look forward to our team heading toward @ONEEsports Singapore Major 2021.
— T1 (@T1) March 4, 2021
T1 DOTA2 팀에 '23savage' 선수가 합류하게 되었습니다. 팬 여러분들의 많은 관심과 응원 부탁드립니다.#T1WIN #T1Fighting #T1DOTA2 pic.twitter.com/46cnuX6Q0x
Though 23savage had an opportunity to play for Vici Gaming but he could not do it as visa issues kept him from traveling to China, which was followed by stand-in Yang "Erica" Shaohan performing very well. He was later released from the team in January and has competed as a stand-in for HOYO and BOOM Esports in the PGL Southeast Asia Dota Pro Circuit league (DPCL).
This is not the first time in Dota 2- The signing of 23savage by T1 is a familiar incident to Dota 2 fans. On many incidents in the past, teams have qualified for a major or large event and moved to remove a member of the roster that helped them make it there. Two maor examples are Nico “Gunnar” Lopez getting kicked from Team Team in 2019 and Khoo “Ohaiyo” Chong Xin getting kicked from Fnatic in 2018.
Though it is hard to blame T1 for making this sudden move given how standard these sorts of cutthroat decisions are across esports, this still represents a loophole in the system.
