Sometimes things just don’t go according to plan. Such is the case for the compLexity Dota 2 team competing this week in Vilnius, Lithuania during the GameShow GEC Finals. While we will now proceed with what we believe is our best course of action, we want to explain to our fans what led to this point and what will happen going forward.
In last week’s announcement we stated that we would be moving forward with a six man roster, with Chessie as our primary core and ZyzzY as our backup. We felt this was the best way to proceed, and it paid off when ZyzzY stepped up to the plate for our final day of StarLadder online qualifiers, filling in for Chessie who had been feeling ill for the preceding 24 hours. We wanted to make sure that Chessie had the best opportunity to recover for the following day’s flights, so ZyzzY was tapped as our starter for the evening.
Unfortunately, ZyzzY informed us just a few hours after our StarLadder wins that he would not be attending the upcoming GameShow LAN. The team spoke at length on the matter, attempting to offer solutions, but it was clear that ZyzzY would not be traveling to the event, and would be stepping down from coL.Dota, effective immediately. ZyzzY may expand on his reasons in his own statement, but for now we will respect his privacy and limit our comments to stating that the decision was fully made by ZyzzY and he was in no way excluded from the event or removed from the team by the coL.Dota team or the compLexity organization.
With just over twelve hours before our flights we hoped that Chessie would make a recovery, but come Saturday morning it was clear he was not fit for travel. Chessie later saw a doctor that confirmed he should not be traveling with his flu-like symptoms, and would not be able to travel to any part of the GameShow GEC event. To be clear, this a separate medical issue from those that have prevented Chessie from competing for the last year. We anticipate this to be a temporary ailment, with no impact on his future ability to compete with the team.
With both primary options exhausted, the team reached out to other players, ultimately deciding on the Slovenian core PingVincek. Ping may be familiar to some coL.Dota fans, as he was playing with the team immediately following the Frankfurt Major qualifiers. He is now on his way to the event and will start at the core position in tomorrow’s matches. We are extremely grateful for his willingness to travel last minute and help our team in a time of need.
Tune in Tuesday at 10am local time (3am EST, 0900 CEST) and again at 8pm local time (1pm EST, 1900 CEST) to catch coL.Dota in action at the GameShow GEC LAN.