Valve adjustments Dota 2 hero’s title to honor Staff Spirit’s TI 2023 domination

With Staff Spirit’s second rise to the highest as The Worldwide champions, Valve determined to commemorate their victory on the grandest stage with a easy gesture. As of at this time, Oct. 31, one of the dominant heroes, Spirit Breaker, has had its title formally modified to “Staff Spirit Breaker.”

Spirit Breaker was extensively thought of to be one of many S-tier heroes throughout TI 2023. The hero’s rise to prominence occurred regularly, with fixed buffs to his Cost of Darkness and Bulldoze. After going by just a few nerfs within the earlier patch, the prevalence of Hand of Midas and a much bigger map to cost round slowly introduced him again into the meta as soon as once more.

An image of Team Spirit Breaker in Dota 2.
Staff Spirit Breaker in all his glory. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Whereas not picked as a lot as a number of the different heroes like Primal Beast, Muerta, and Kunkka, Spirit Breaker was related and contributed to the success of its crew in each sport it was picked. In response to the stats from Dota2ProTracker, Staff Spirit Breaker at present occupies a snug 52 p.c win price, making him a profitable hero total on this patch.

Staff Spirit’s offlaner Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov was again in TI type as soon as once more this yr, showcasing the total capabilities of Spirit Breaker. Collapse dismantled a number of groups all through the match with the hero, together with a dominant sport three within the grand finals on Oct. 29 in opposition to the dominant Western European juggernaut Gaimin Gladiators. Staff Spirit Breaker appeared unstoppable.

The consistency of the hero is without doubt one of the causes Staff Spirit managed to dethrone the dominant Gaimin Gladiators, who gained each Dota 2 Professional Circuit Main occasion this yr. The TI10 champions flew underneath the radar for many of 2023, build up steam till Riyadh Masters, the place they picked up a convincing victory in opposition to Staff Liquid, the crew who got here second all yr.

An image of the team stickers for Team Spirit in Dota 2.
Valve’s bonus stickers for the two-time TI champions. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Staff Spirit’s dominance continued all through the whole lot of TI 2023, going undefeated by your entire group stage. The Jap European crew dropped just one sport every to Staff Liquid and Virtus.Professional in the course of the playoffs, making for an nearly good run all through the match. Valve commemorated this run with particular stickers displaying the TI12 champions.

Now that Staff Spirit are the one two-time TI champion alongside OG, the longer term appears to be like vibrant for the upcoming Jap European stars. We will’t wait to see what the crew will accomplish in 2024, however first, a hard-earned relaxation is so as.

Author: Ronnie Neal