Heroic has announced the cessation of its Dota 2 division, citing “financial results” as the key reason for the decision. Heroic’s Dota 2 roster has now been released by the organization and is therefore free to explore opportunities elsewhere.
Heroic Chief Gaming Officer, Robin Nymann, further explained the decision, stating, “The unfortunate reality is that Dota is a tough game to commercialise, and at Heroic, we have not been able to make it bear fruit for a long time now. I have nothing but faith in this group of people, and the only reason we’ve made this decision is financial.”
The announcement further raises questions about the sustainability of Dota 2 outside of Europe, with even a 5th-6th placement at The International 2025 not saving South America’s best roster from losing its org.
Heroic end historic run for South American Dota 2
Heroic entered Dota 2 in 2024, creating a newly assembled roster of South American talent, featuring Héctor ‘K1’ Rodríguez, João Gabriel ‘4nalog’ Giannini Santos, Elvis ‘Scofield’ Peña, Matheus ‘KJ’ Santos Jungles Diniz, and Belgium’s Cedric ‘Davai Lama’ Deckmyn.
The organization would continue to represent South America through several iterations of the roster, in most cases, providing a pathway to Tier 1 events through South American qualifiers.
The roster would go on to create South American Dota history by winning PGL Wallachia Season 2 in October 2024, finishing 9th-12th at The International 2024, narrowly missing out on the playoffs of the event.
In 2025, Yuma ‘Yuma’ Langlet and Adrián ‘Wipser’ Céspedes Dobles joined the roster in place of K1 and Dalai Lama, signalling the competitive peak of the team.
The roster would go on to place 5th-6th at The International 2025 after a famous Swiss stage recovery, which saw the roster recover from 0-2 to 3-2, making the playoff decider.
After defeating Yakutou Brothers in the decider, Heroic fell to Parivision, before eliminating Tundra in the playoffs, ultimately falling to BetBoom in the Lower Bracket Quarter-Finals.
Shortly after TI 2025, Heroic would pick up the Fissure Universe Episode 7 trophy, marking their last tournament victory in Dota 2.
The roster added Santiago ‘TaiLung’ Olivos Agüero Gustavo and Thiago ‘Thiolicor’ Cordeiro for 2026, decent placements at PGL Wallachia Seasons 7 & 8, and qualifying for DreamLeague Season 29.
However, the roster failed to qualify for ESL One Birmingham and DreamLeague Season 28, falling to PEReject on both instances, hurting the roster’s stature.
Nevertheless, Heroic’s (now former) coach, Igor ‘kaffs’ Estevão, reflected on the season’s results positively, stating, “Competing on tier 1 as a South American team is rough, but even with the setbacks of missing some events, we have had our best season so far, with many 7/8th placements, two 5/6th, one 4th, and a smaller tournament win on top of it.”
Adding, “We have agreed as a group to stay together and hopefully show everyone what we can really do. The future is uncertain, but the objectives remain clear: qualify and perform on EWC and TI.”
Heroic Dota 2 statement in full
“It is with a heavy heart that we today say goodbye to Dota 2 and our amazing team.
Despite competitive success, a growing fanbase, and significant commercial efforts, the financial results ultimately fell short, making it unsustainable for us in the long term.
The players and performance staff have been outstanding ambassadors for HEROIC, delivering results we are proud of.
Together, we made history in Dota, becoming the first South American roster to win a Tier 1 tournament and securing a top 6 finish at The International 2025, and memories that will last.
We want to thank our players, staff, and the community who supported and cheered for us throughout this journey.
All players and staff have been released from their contracts and are free to pursue new opportunities. The roster intends to stay together for upcoming tournaments but will not represent HEROIC.
We wish the team, staff and all our fans the very best, and hope to see all the players compete at tier-1 in the future.”
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Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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