Team Secret Signs Iceiceice and SumaiL For 2022, MATUMBAMAN Returns to Team Liquid
With The International 10 in the rearview mirror, some of the biggest Dota 2 teams in the world have decided it’s time to switch up their rosters and enter 2022 with renewed vigor — and that includes both Team Secret and Team Liquid, too!
Team Secret have decided to part ways with Lasse “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen after a two-year-long stint — a run that has culminated in Secret’s spectacular third-place finish at this year’s TI. MATU will now return to Team Liquid which, in all fairness, should come as no surprise. It’s a match made in heaven, and has yielded incredible results in the past as well. Heck, “incredible” feels like an understatement!
“Another chapter has ended, but never forgotten. Lasse is an amazing guy and I really enjoyed being teammates with him. We shared some great moments together and I am sure that we will keep crossing paths outside of our careers. Good luck to you Matu,” said Clement “Puppey” Ivanov on MATU’s departure.
Secret have also parted ways with Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg who’ll also be joining Team Liquid for the 2022 DPC season.
“I’d like to thank my teammates and coach for making these past three years some of the best year’s I’ve had playing DOTA. I’ve not only learnt a lot from all the players on this squad, but I’ve also had a blast interacting with everyone day-to-day. We had some amazing games and tournament runs and I’m very proud of our accomplishments together,” said zai in an official statement.
Big Moves by Secret
Losing zai and MATU is not an easy pill to swallow; fortunately, Secret have been able to find two (more than) suitable replacements: Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang and Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan, two individuals whose results and stacked pedigrees speak for themselves. The former will be Secret’s new off laner which means SumaiL is all but guaranteed to go mid.
These two veterans will be joining Michał “Nisha” Jankowski, Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat, and Puppey and should, by all means, be able to put on a show!
But Secret and Team Liquid aren’t the only teams that’ll look a whole lot different come 2022.
Turbulent Times for OG
Now only has Sébastien “Ceb” Debs decided to retire from competitive play, but Topias Miikka “Topson” Taavitsainen will also be taking a year-long hiatus to spend some time off with his loved ones. This means that Johan “N0tail” Sundstein is the only active player on OG’s roster.
He’ll have to rebuild OG from the ground up and, frankly, it might just be too gargantuan a task even for a seasoned veteran like N0tail.
“The win-or-die mindset, which has driven the entirety of my career… I don’t have it in me anymore. I never commit to a team unless I know I’m ready to give every drop of energy and every second of my time into it. Now even my body is getting hurt by it. And I have to listen to my own body. As much as I’ve given to this game, I can’t do it anymore,” said Ceb in an official video.
Topson still hasn’t retired, but he’s nonetheless going to sit out the entire forthcoming season — for very valid reasons. He’ll no doubt return to OG one day, but the world of competitive Dota 2 might look a lot different at that point.
In any case, we hope that N0tail will be able to work his magic and assemble a line-up worthy of respect, but lowering your expectations might be for the best. All in all, the 2022 DPC season already looks mighty exciting and we can’t wait for it to begin!
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