Gorgc: "Tundra is a weaker team with Topson than they were with Saksa"
2023-09-09 13:51:00Swedish streamer Janne "Gorgc" Stefanovski thinks Tundra Esports Dota 2 lineup became weaker than before after the addition of Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen. Mainly because Martin "Saksa" Sazdov is an irreplaceable player, and the lane synergy between him and 33 is now lost.
Let's be honest, nine is a giant downgrade from Saksa to position 4, simply because Saksa is literally, maybe the best in this role out there. He is still so beasty. Losing him, that's going to be a completely different team. This 33 lane, which everybody is so afraid of, might become kind of "whatever" now. It might be bad for the team. I just hope it's not, but I'm worried. <...>
I don't think Topson is washed up. I think he is risky as a player. He can hit or miss hard, but he's been like that forever, so I don't think he's washed. But I still think Tundra is a weaker team than they were with Saksa. That is my honest take. Even though they have Topson now, I think they're weaker. Because you lost your TI-winning team. Your Saksa-33 lane that literally nobody beats the entire tournament, it sucks to lose it.
Another reason is Leon "nine" Kirilin is moving to position 4, which he isn't used to playing. Even though he might know the support heroes, he is likely unaware of all the "nerd shit" details supports have to do.
Nine played support heroes mid, so it's not gonna be so bad maybe? The thing is, it's so different. All this nerd shit you have to do on position 4 that have to be on the exact right timing, which is like: standing on the right side to harass a carry, blocking pulls, pulling waves, stopping pulled waves, ganking mid at the right time so you don't grief your offlaner. Everything comes at a certain timing. It's more than just playing the right heroes because it's completely different playstyle.
Topson joined Tundra on September 7, replacing Saksa, who went inactive for an indefinite time due to mental health issues. The midlaner and nine supposedly trained since early August, as that was when first rumors of the team rebuild emerged. The new lineup will debut at DreamLeague S21, scheduled to begin on September 18.
