Competitive Pinoy Dota 2: why the frequent roster changes have to stop

If you think it’s difficult to follow Philippine Dota 2 team roster changes, that’s probably because these shuffles happen so often it even isn’t surprising anymore. For example, just recently Execration 2’s roster underwent a shuffle less than a month after the team was formed. But in an interview, LGD’s Yao ‘Yao’ ZhengZheng told me that recently-shuffled teams usually have to go through a breaking in period. A month isn’t usually enough to determine if a team’s roster is going to work or not. So why do Pinoy teams change rosters too soon?

(See: LGD.Yao: “Every decision we’ve made is to prepare for The International”)

Internal issues

I reached out to Execration 2’s captain Kimmuel ‘Kimo’ Borromeo Rodis regarding the team changes. According to him, he was recently moved from Execration 1 to 2 because it was “for the better” because his play style didn’t seem to fit Execration 1. However, he also shared that this isn’t always the reason why teams shuffle or reform.

Often times, there are conflicts or a team becomes lacking because an individual isn’t able to perform properly, which leads to roster changes. Other times, they just don’t want to play with that person anymore.

There is some sense in what Kimo is saying. After all, like any team game, it takes extraordinary patience as well as professionalism to continue playing with a person you dislike or don’t trust. This is why individual skill is only one factor to consider when forming a team.

Lack of tournaments

Philippine ESports Organization (PESO)’s Executive Director and Mineski shoutcaster, Tryke Guttierrez, however, believes, that lack of tournaments contribute a lot to why the teams end up with this behavior.

Due to the lack of system and tournaments, one of the players will eventually slack off in training thus leading to his expulsion from the team because his teammates would rather take the easier route of replacing him that trying to fix him or force him to do something that he doesn’t want.