Team Falcons disbanded their Dota 2 roster
Team Falcons, winners of The International 2025 and one of the most successful lineups of the modern era, have officially ended their Dota 2 project.
Team Falcons are officially leaving competitive Dota 2. This is not a temporary break, and it is not the organization releasing five players so it can build a cheaper roster. Falcons confirmed on September 6 that it had decided to step back from Dota 2 entirely following a strategic review of its plans for 2026 and beyond.
Farewell, Dota 2 💚. it’s been an incredible ride. Thanks to the players, staff, and the community for the unforgettable memories
— Falcons Esports (@FalconsEsport) September 6, 2026
نهاية قصة فالكونز في لعبة دوتا 2 🦅. شكرًا للاعبين، الطاقم الإداري، الجماهير ولكل من كان جزءًا من هذا الإرث pic.twitter.com/fX8lI9xNed
The organization said its focus is moving toward esports ecosystems that offer better “strategic alignment and long-term operational sustainability.” Falcons also thanked the players, staff, and community while confirming that it is supporting everyone involved as they move toward their next steps.
The end of an incredible Dota 2 squad
Team Falcons entered Dota 2 in November 2023 with:
Oliver “Skiter” Lepko,
Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak,
Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf,
Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen, and
Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu.
No rebuilds. No kicking somebody after one bad tournament. No annual position-five replacement followed by three months of “we need time.”
They just kept playing.
That stability became historic. The five players finished their run with 799 games together and 523 wins, giving them a 65.46% win rate. No other unchanged five-player lineup had played more professional Dota together.
Think about how ridiculous that is for a second. Most elite teams cannot survive one disappointing season without changing somebody. Falcons stayed together for almost three years, played nearly 800 games, won almost two-thirds of them, and reached the absolute peak of Dota 2 without replacing a single player.
These guys were REALLY good
Falcons did not slowly develop into a great team. They basically arrived, looked around, and started bullying the Tier 1 scene.
Their first full year included championships at BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024, DreamLeague Season 22, ESL One Birmingham 2024, DreamLeague Season 23, BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024, and DreamLeague Season 24. They also finished third at Riyadh Masters 2024 and fourth at The International 2024.
That is six Tier 1 trophies in 2024 alone.
And some of those finals were not close. Falcons beat Team Liquid 3-0 in Dubai, BetBoom Team 3-0 at DreamLeague Season 22, BetBoom 3-0 again in Birmingham, and Gaimin Gladiators 3-0 at DreamLeague Season 23. When Falcons understood a patch and reached a grand final in form, they could make another world-class team look completely helpless.
The roster eventually collected nine Tier 1 tournament victories, including the biggest trophy in the game. Across all tiers, its recorded results show 11 tournament wins during the Falcons era.
But numbers only explain part of it.
This team was terrifying because every player could take over a game in a different way. Malr1ne could destroy a lane and turn the entire map into his playground. ATF (the true position 1) could make one offlane hero look so broken that opponents had to redesign their draft around him. Cr1t- and Sneyking gave the squad more experience than most full rosters, and Skiter (despite all the hate he gets online) was the stable late-game insurance behind all the chaos.
They were greedy, aggressive, annoying, confident, and incredibly difficult to kill.
In other words, they were proper Dota villains, and the scene was better because of it.
This exact squad won The International last year
The biggest achievement came at The International 2025 — also known as TI14 — in Hamburg.
And yes, it was this exact five-player roster.
Skiter, Malr1ne, ATF, Cr1t-, and Sneyking defeated Xtreme Gaming 3-2 in the Grand Final on September 14, 2025, with Aui_2000 coaching the team. Their names were permanently added to the Aegis of Champions together.
The victory was not some lucky upper-bracket speedrun either. Valve described Falcons’ tournament as a grinding ten-series campaign in which only three of their matches were sweeps. Their Grand Final against Xtreme went all five games before Falcons finally claimed the Aegis in Hamburg.
For skiter and Sneyking, it was a second TI title after their victory with Tundra Esports in 2022. For Malr1ne, ATF, and Cr1t-, it was their first. Aui_2000 earned his third Aegis overall: one as a player with Evil Geniuses and two as a coach.
That is what makes this departure feel so strange. We are not saying goodbye to a failed project or a roster that never reached its potential.
We are saying goodbye to the defending TI champions, only one year after they reached the top of the game.
Their final tournament was TI 2026
Falcons could not defend the title in Shanghai. They lost 1-2 to Nigma Galaxy in the opening playoff round and then fell 1-2 to Team Liquid in the lower bracket, finishing The International 2026 in 7th-8th place.
It was a disappointing result by their standards, but it does not erase what this roster built. Even during a weaker 2026 campaign, Falcons finished third at PGL Wallachia Season 8, fourth at DreamLeague Season 29, and second at 1win Essence II before their final TI appearance.
And more importantly, the organization did not present its withdrawal as punishment for finishing 7th-8th. Falcons explicitly tied the decision to its long-term esports strategy and operational sustainability.
This is a big loss for professional Dota
Losing Team Falcons changes the competitive Dota immediately. One of the few rosters capable of winning basically any Tier 1 event is gone, and five players who spent years building their style together are being separated.
Sure, other teams will benefit. Elite free agents are entering the market, and the post-TI shuffle will become even more chaotic. But spreading five great players across other squads is not the same as keeping a championship team intact.
There is also a bigger and more uncomfortable discussion here.
When an organization leaves after bad results, people can blame the roster. When an organization leaves after failing to qualify for major events, people can call it a normal business decision. But Falcons won TI in 2025, remained one of the most recognizable teams in the world, and still decided that Dota 2 no longer matched its long-term operational priorities.
Falcons’ departure does not mean professional Dota is dying. The game still has incredible teams, brilliant players, packed tournaments, and a level of competition that no other esports can really reproduce.
But when a recent TI champion walks away from the discipline entirely, the scene should pay attention.
We will miss them
Falcons were not always easy to support. They were loud, cocky, emotional, and sometimes looked like they enjoyed making opponents miserable a little too much.
That was part of the fun.
They gave Dota 2 a real final boss. They gave us ridiculous drafts, brutal laning, endless all-chat energy, huge Grand Finals, and one unforgettable Aegis run. They also showed that in an era of constant roster shuffles, five players could stay together, take the losses, fix their problems, and eventually become world champions.
Nearly 800 games. Nine Tier 1 trophies. One Aegis. One unchanged lineup.
Farewell, Team Falcons. You were one hell of a Dota team — and the scene will not feel the same without you.
