Natus Vincere (NaVi) superstar midlaner Danil “Dendi” Ishutin is bidding farewell to Tigers just after three months.
Dendi, who joined the Southeast Asian team on loan from NaVi, thanked the team for the opportunity and added that he had a “great experience”.
“Unfortunately our results were not very good so I decided to try something new. I really wish you to find success and achieve the goals you want,” added Dendi.
Also leaving the squad is Indonesian support player Kenny “Xepher” Deo, who joined the team in September last year.
Tigers will be looking to rebuild its roster with the race to qualify for The International 2019 (TI9) in mind, as there are only two Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) events left before the season culminates in Shanghai in August.
“Today we bid farewell to two of our dearest players, who we have gone through so much together with. […] Both players have shown great comraderie and dedication to the team, and the bootcamp will be a little more silent without their laughter, which will be sorely missed,” Tigers said in its announcement of the roster change.
Tigers made headlines back in January when they announced that Dendi will be heading to SEA to play under their banner after he left NaVi’s active roster in 2018. Many thought that the move would herald a resurgence in Dendi’s storied career, which saw him win the first iteration of the International with NaVi back in 2011, as well as finish second in TI2 and TI3, all while being recognized as one of the best players in the world until around 2014.
Dendi’s tenure with Tigers has largely been a disappointment however, as their only notable achievements included second place finishes in the BTS SEA Spring Cup and Cobx Masters Phase II, as well as a fourth place finish in the Betway Asian Dota 2 League.
While Dendi also struggled during the latter part of his tenure with NaVi — with his last tournament win occurring way back in 2017 at the Adrenaline Cyber League — this is an all-new low for the player who was once considered the face of Dota 2.
Even so, Tigers manager Dawei ‘Xero’ Teng had a lot of good things to say about Dendi, noting that his “infectious, constantly happy mood kept us going through difficult times, and we will cherish the time he spent with the team and sharing his experience with the rest of us.”
“Their shoes will be hard to fill, but we will press on. We had a great time working together with Kenny and Danil, and we wish them all the best in their future endeavours,” said Xero.
