Dota 2: Team Secret add Kordan and Ekki to replace MidOne and yamich just two months after last roster change

Just two months after it revealed its new roster for the 2024 Dota 2 season, Team Secret are changing things up once again by signing Singaporean midlaner Teng "Kordan" Tjin Yao and Polish position 4 support player Marcel "Ekki" Hołowienko to replace Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng and Daniyal "yamich" Lazebnyy.

MidOne was one of the two returning players Secret signed last November alongside Miroslav "BOOM" Bičan. MidOne had been Secret's midlaner from 2016 to 2019. Meanwhile, yamich had been with Secret since last March.

Secret's quick roster shakeup comes after a disappointing showing at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023, where they finished in 7th-8th place after losing to Team Liquid in the first round of the lower bracket in the Playoffs. It is worth noting that Secret had the chance to start the Playoffs in the upper bracket, but MidOne lost in the controversial 1v1 mid tiebreaker match against Gaimin Gladiators' Quinn "Quinn" Callahan.

Replacing MidOne will be Kordan, who made his professional debut in December 2022 with Bleed Esports and helped the team grow to become one of the best teams in Southeast Asia. However, Kordan and Bleed failed to qualify for The International (TI) 2023 after losing to Blacklist International in the Southeast Asian regional qualifier.

Meanwhile, Ekki will be taking over as Secret's position 4 support player from yamich, having spent the last two years bouncing between teams competing in North America and Europe. He has also been the assistant coach for TSM and Secret in a couple of events.

With MidOne and yamich's departures, Remco "Crystallis" Arets, BOOM, captain Clement "Puppey" Ivanov, and coach Tue "ah fu" Soon Chuan retained their spots in the roster.

Secret's recent roster issues come after what is arguably the worst year in terms of results for the organisation.

Following their second place finish at TI 2022, Secret lost superstar midlaner Michał "Nisha" Jankowski to Team Liquid, which many saw as the core reason behind the team's struggles this past season.

The team signed BOOM to replace Nisha, but he struggled to fill the massive shoes left behind by his predecessor. A mere three months after TI 2022, Secret were relegated to Division II for the first time this season as they finished dead last in the Winter Tour regional league with an abysmal 1-6 record.

Following that horrid start, Secret parted ways with Roman "Resolut1on" Fominok and Bakyt "Zayac" Emilzhanov in early March. They were replaced by Armel "Armel" Tabios and yamich, who took over as the midlaner and position 4 support, respectively. With Armel in the fold, BOOM was also shifted to the offlane role.

Secret then regained its spot in Division I after finishing the Division II Spring Tour regional league in first place with a 6-1 record. However, they were quickly relegated back to Division II after finishing the Division I Summer Tour regional league dead last once again with a pitiful 1-6 record.

In one last bid to improve the roster ahead of the The International (TI) 2023 regional qualifiers, Secret parted ways with BOOM and acquired Saieful "Fbz" Ilham on loan from Southeast Asia's BOOM Esports.

However, Secret were knocked out of the regional qualifiers by Quest Esports, a disappointing end to an already abysmal season that stung all the more when considering it ended Puppey's legendary streak of competing in every TI since Dota 2 esports began.

With two quick roster changes in the span of just two months, it seems that Puppey is running out of patience and wants Secret to go back to competing at the highest level as soon as possible.

Team Secret Dota 2 roster:

1. Remco "Crystallis" Arets

2. Teng "Kordan" Tjin Yao

3. Miroslav "BOOM" Bičan

4. Marcel "Ekki" Hołowienko

5. Clement "Puppey" Ivanov

6. Tue "ah fu" Soon Chuan (coach)

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.