The news comes only a couple of days after the abrupt departure of Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao and Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu, which left the team without two core players ahead of the next Dota 2 Minor tournament.
With the clock ticking, Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling and company scrambled to find replacements, which were announced on Monday, February 24 via Dota 2’s official Minors registration website. Skiter officially joined the team on Sunday, February 23, followed by the arrival of KheZu a day later.
Skiter started his Dota 2 esports career in April 2016 when he joined GOOMBA Gaming. He later played for some lesser teams in Sanguine Sharks and Going In, and was acquired by PENTA Sports in March 2017. Skiter remained with PENTA Sports until March 2018, when the team’s roster was signed by Going In.
That project did not last for long, as Going In released their roster in April the same year. Failing to find a permanent home, Skiter spent the next five months as a free agent until he was announced as one of the core members of Team Spirit ahead of the 2018/19 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season.
The Slovakian carry spent the next four months with the Russian team and saw a fair amount of success in some B-Tier tournaments, which included title-winning runs at Crypt?masters, the Autumn Cup and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Summit! Disaster struck in January 2019, however, when Artsiom “fng” Barshak left and forced Team Spirit to disband their roster, leaving Skiter without a home once more.
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Skiter joined Infamous in March 2019 and then teamed up with Ninjas in Pyjamas in September, but he spent less than three months there before he was replaced by Connor ��TANNER�� Weedon. Most recently, Skiter played for Agressive Mode, where he won the Hainan Master Spring Invitational – Europe Qualifier and finished fourth at the ESL One Los Angeles 2020 Europe Closed Qualifier as well as the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 3 Europe Qualifier.
KheZu, a German offlaner and former Heroes of Newerth pro, started his Dota 2 career in December 2015 and has since established himself as one of the top talents in the scene. Although he has spent most of his career bouncing between B-Tier teams, KheZu has a considerable number of accolades under his belt.
In 2016, while he played under Escape gaming, KheZu made his first at The International. He has since stood on the biggest stage two more times – in 2017 with Team Secret and last year while playing with Chaos Esports Club. His best TI result came with Team Secret, who finished ninth-12th after losing to the eventual champions, Team Liquid, in round two of the lower bracket.
Throughout his career, the German pro has accumulated a handful of podium finishes in several Major and Minor Dota 2 tournaments. Although success has been scarce for KheZu in recent seasons, he will get another chance to relaunch his career with Fighting PandaS.
The first test for the new squad will come at StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 3, slated to begin on Thursday, March 5. Eight Dota 2 teams will be in attendance at the Minor, where US $300,000, 660 DPC points and a ticket for the ESL One Los Angeles Major will be up for grabs.
]]>The news was revealed by EternaLEnVy on Saturday, February 22 and later confirmed by David “MoonMeander” Tan and the team’s captain, Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling.
“Today we found out EternalEnvy and Sneyking has chosen to leave Fighting Pandas,” read MoonMeander’s Twitter post.
“We will look for stand-ins for the Kiev Minor, thank you so much for your support. Me, Bryle and Aui will be sticking together.”
The departure of EternaLEnVy and Sneyking comes as a shock to many, but there are a few popular theories that might explain the unexpected exodus of the duo.
With Cloud9’s announcement of their return to the Dota 2 esports scene, it seems highly likely EternaLEnVy will look to rejoin the team where he played between 2014-2015 and later in 2017 up until the roster disbanded in August that year.
While there is no official confirmation about EternaLEnVy’s rumoured return to Cloud9, the Dota 2 community seems to agree the 28-year-old veteran is bound to play under C9’s banner again sooner or later.
The North American organisation achieved worldwide renown during EternaLEnVy’s time there. Although they never won The International, Cloud9 were regarded as one of the best and most consistent North American Dota 2 rosters and were often the only team that managed to go toe-to-toe with Evil Genuises.
The future of Sneyking, meanwhile, remains shrouded in mystery. The 24-year-old Dota 2 pro has a long and illustrious career behind him, which started back in 2012 as a founding member of PotM Bottom. He later played for Team Dignitas, Super Strong Dinosaurs, North American Rejects, Na’Vi North America, Void Boys, Power of Friendship, Dragneel, Doo Wop, is GG, Team Freedom, VGJ.Storm, compLexity Gaming, Infamous, Flying Penguins, Forward Gaming and Newbee, before joining Fighting PandaS in August last year.
Although Sneyking has never lifted the Aegis of Champions, he has made two solid runs at The International. In 2018 he finished seventh-eighth with VGJ.Storm and last season he pocketed a ninth-12th finish when Newbee suffered a shock defeat against Infamous.
As a skilled offlaner/support with a plethora of experience playing at the highest level, Sneyking should have no issues finding a new home. Where that might be should be unveiled sometime this week.
In the meantime, Fighting PandaS are on a lookout for two stand-ins to fight under their banner at the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor. The tournament is set to take off on Thursday, March 5 in Kyiv, Ukraine, where eight Dota 2 teams will duke it out for the largest slice of a US $300,000 prize pool, 660 Dota Pro Circuit points and a ticket for the ESL One Los Angeles Major.
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