Following a third-place finish at The International 2024 with Tundra Esports, Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen has announced his plans to retire.
Regarded as one of the best mid lane players in the world, and for sure one of the most spectacular to watch, Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen was scouted by OG ahead of TI8, when the team had to go find a quick solution to the rather shocking news of two of their members leaving for another team. He didn’t have much competitive experience and was definitely not expected to win TI at his very first appearance on the big stage. He proved everyone wrong and claimed his first Aegis of Champions with OG without losing a single series in the main event.
He came back even stronger at TI9, once again marching alongside his team through the upper bracket to lift the Aegis of Champions above his head for the second time and cement an unmatched record of winning TI back-to-back without experiencing a defeat in the playoffs.
Despite some breaks and changes in teams, Topson continued to become a household name for Dota 2 legends with his unique approach to Dota 2. For the last two Internationals, he played for Tundra Esports – this last year as a stand-in, this year with a third-place finish.
As for Tundra, on loan for part of the year, Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev already revealed that he would not stay with team for the upcoming season. It was announced that Ivan “Pure” Moskalenk’s loan from BetBoom Team has also ended and the player returned to the EEU representative.
Tundra is expected to participate in PGL Wallachia Season 2 set to begin on October 4th as they had received a direct invite. Many fans also expect to see them in DreamLeague Season 24 or at least the closed qualifiers – none of the teams have been announced yet for either.
Tundra Esports current roster
Naltakyan “9Class” Edgar
Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon
coach: David “MoonMeander” Tan