Mineski Dota 2 has a "supporting cast". Now what?

If you told me Mineski‘s recent roster change didn’t surprise you, I’d understand. After all, roster changes is one thing that Philippine teams are especially known for. After the loss to MiTH-Trust in The International 2014 (TI4) SEA qualifiers, people were actually expecting another roster change from Mineski. And they weren’t wrong.

But what makes Mineski’s recent change more significant than the ones before it?

The new Mineski Dota 2 roster

The Philippines’ most popular Dota 2 team predictably changed its roster recently. Gio “Gio” Ramolete was removed from the team and Joshua “Owa” Dela Serna became the sixth member. This left two open spots for support roles.

Fans expected the usual trend to come next. Mineski would take on two experienced Pinoy players to fill the roles. Many even speculated on the return of former Mineski players Julius “Julz” De Leon and Joven “Jhoven” Pancho. But Mineski CEO Ronald “Rhom” Robins instead issued a challenge to top MMR players in the Philippines, opening the two vacant spots to all applications.

The Mineski Dota 2 team during the Mineski Pro Gaming League (MPGL) Season 5 SEA Championships

The Mineski Dota 2 “supporting cast”

Robins made his announced because he felt that some attitude and mindset adjustments were in order. He felt that Mineski lacked a system.

It was while spectating Korean team MVP.Phoenix in TI4 qualifiers that Robins was reminded of the Mineski he was a part of in 2008; a team which, according to him, used a “systematic approach” that was 90 percent similar to Team DK’s current training regiment.

(See: Malaysia’s Arrow Gaming qualifies for The International 2014, Korea’s MVP Phoenix included in the Play-In Series)

Robins noted how basketball teams had a supporting cast (the coach, assistant coach, physical fitness trainer) whose job was to keep the team in shape so it could concentrate on playing its best without losing sight of the goal. He rounded up by announcing he would be personally coaching Mineski Dota 2 from now on, alongside assistant coach Hidenori “Hide” Yanagida.

The reason for that? Robins wants to bring back the old Mineski, a team that set trends over simply being “meta game minions”.

How does this help?

Coaches are rare in Filipino Dota 2, but they are common in Chinese teams. In fact, Wen Yi ’71’ Tang, the man now in charge of Chinese juggernaut Team DK, once coached and led the legendary EHome.