Elephant’s Dota 2 Division Shuts Down, Team Disbands
Team Elephant, formerly a superteam within the Chinese Dota 2 community, has officially disbanded following the 2021 DPC season. The news was confirmed through multiple leaks involving a conversation that entirely discussed acquiring the team for another organization.
Team Elephant was one of five teams that represented China in The International 10 after winning the closed qualifying tournament. They finished in 13-16th place at the event, which was the worst performance among all participating Chinese teams (alongside Aster).
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Team Elephant Removing Dota 2 Team
The team was formed in November 2020 through a joint venture made among a triad of multi-channel media companies. With a stacked lineup that featured multiple TI runner-ups, Elephant hoped to dominate Dota 2 esports just as their players did in the past.
Unfortunately, such a wish did not come to pass for the so-called superteam. Consecutive fifth-place finishes in the CN Upper Division, in addition to a couple of player swaps, prevented them from snatching any semblance of success.
Although Elephant said they would retain the TI10 squad for the new season, according to a leak, they looked to sign new players instead. This list included Jin “flyfly” Zhiyi, Ren “eLeVeN” Yangwei, and Yap “xNova” Jian Wei, all stellar players in their own right.
However, that deal fell through, so Elephant opted to negotiate with Team Aster about sending most of their players for an eight-figure sum. Such details were disclosed in a leaked conversation between eLeVeN and Team Aster’s owner, but that too failed to come to fruition. Aster only wanted Lu “Somnus丶M” Yao, and Elephant didn’t want to comply with their request, so the negotiations ended there.
With a few weeks to spare before the new season, Elephant suddenly shut down its Dota division. By terminating the contracts of all of its players and staff, Elephant allowed everyone involved to search for their new team without hassle. But with the team stuck in Romania due to COVID-related travel complications, their free agency options look limited at best.
What Options Do The Players Have
Whereas most players in Elephant will survey incoming offers for the next season, the others have already found their next team. Position 5 player Xie “Super” Junhao, who joined in May as a loanee from Royal Never Give Up, will return to the team.
On the other hand, Somnus is rumored to be joining either RNG or Aster, according to analyst Leon “Arthur” Lee. As for the rest of the lineup, not much information is known about them. The same goes for the organization since no one is sure if it will ever return to Dota.
Nevertheless, considering each player and coach’s high profile, it won’t take long for them to find their next destination. No matter the case, fans will expect to see the former members of Elephant compete in the future.
