Dendi goes to NA with B8 Esports’s new roster

Ukrainian team B8 Esports has announced its new roster and in a surprising move, its decision to compete in the North American region. The roster was announced on Twitter on Dec. 8, and sees a reunion of TI3/TI4 Natus Vincere's squad between Danil "Dendi" Ishutin and Glib "Funn1k" Lipatnikov.

Dendi has been an international Dota 2 icon since the birth of Dota 2. He had played with Natus Vincere for about eight years before creating B8 Esports. The organization has been active in the Eastern European scene and is based in Ukraine. However, for next DPC season B8 will not be based in Eastern Europe, but in North America.

B8 Esports's Dota 2 roster for the 2022/2023 DPC season is as follows:

Funn1k will also be experiencing NA with Dendi for the first time, with him taking the offlaner role and Dendi resuming his mid-lane role. Joining them is StoneBank, a Ukrainian player who previously played for Team DogChamp in the NA DPC. Also joining the team of Ukrainians will be Peruvian veteran Dota 2 player, MoOz who has notable South American teams like Beastcoast, Thunder Predator, and NoPing e-sports in his resume. Lastly, Lodine, who has been active in the Eastern European scene, will be assuming the support role.

Dendi has elaborated further in his TwitLonger on their decision to move to the NA region, which is mainly because of the Russo-Ukrainian War. He has always been vocal about the situation and has been promoting support for Ukraine. He explained how it has been hard for every Ukrainian and his organization B8 Esports. "We stopped working with Russian sponsors and switched to become more international. We don't have any investors either," he said.

He gave a glimpse of their terrible struggle in maintaining operations in Ukraine and why moving to North America is the best choice of action. "To keep my team going and do what I dedicated a huge part of my life, I decide to try[to] participate in [a] different region, which I believe, will help me to involve more people in supporting Ukraine."

B8 Esports will be taking the slot of Wildcard Gaming in NA DPC, placing them in Division I for the upcoming DPC season. Dendi explained further on the new lineup, "I think I talked to more than 100 players around all regions. We ended up with this lineup and I am ready for a new journey with new challenges."

The B8 Esports's roster is surely something to keep an eye out for. We are definitely going to see new, interesting EEU Dota 2 art-of-war in the NA scene. Do you think B8 Esports can shine under the new NA spotlight?

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