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NoPing esports Dota 2 roster found a new home at Thunder Predator, only two days after getting dropped from the organization. The announcement surfaced on Wednesday, October 20.
Thunder Predator is Back
Thunder Predator is back in the Dota 2 esports scene after releasing its entire roster on Saturday, October 16. The South American esports organization revealed that they’d signed the former NoPing esports roster, thus welcoming a familiar face.
By acquiring Crhistian “Angel” Savina, Gonzalo “Darkmago” Herrera, Oscar David “Oscar” Chavez, Farith “Matthew” Puente, and Jose Leonardo “Pandaboo” Padilla Hernandez, Thunder Predator needed only four days to replace their former roster. The signing also provided the quintet with a new home just a couple of days after getting released from NoPing.
With that, Thunder Predator welcomed back Matthew, who has played for Thunder Predator in 2018-2019, and 2019-2020. At the same time, TP also got their hands on one of the best South American Dota 2 rosters ahead of the 2022 season.
“Many of you already sensed Matthew’s return to the Thunder and were not far from reality,” said Thunder Predator.
“We are happy to welcome you to our home as we forge the path to new challenges together during the 2021 – 2022 Dota Pro Circuit.”
Matthew Re-Joins TP
While an exciting announcement, it’s the return of Matthew to Thunder Predator that got everyone talking about it. The former TP player has rejoined his old team for the first time in almost a year, having left the organization in December 2020.
Matthew first joined Thunder Predator in November 2018 as a part of the roster overhaul. It saw Elvis “Scofield” De la Cruz Peña, and Jose Andree “Sword” Nicosia both leave the team to make room for Matthew and Frank “Frank” Arias.
During his first stint with Thunder Predator, Matthew achieved plenty of success. He helped the team qualify for the Chongqing Major and win BTS Spring Cup: Americas.
In April 2019, Matthew parted ways with Thunder Predator and continued his Dota 2 esports career elsewhere. However, he ended up returning to the lineup in November 2019.
His second stint with Thunder Predator lasted for 13 months and proved to be much more successful than the first. With TP, Matthew won a plethora of tournaments, including four Movistar Liga Pro Gaming seasons.
The team even reached the finals of ESL One Thailand 2020: Americas and quickly emerged as one of the top South American Dota 2 organizations. However, despite his success, Matthew decided to take a break in December 2020 and got replaced by Joel Mori “MoOz” Ozambela.
Matthew has since joined NoPing esports, where he has spent the entire 2021 season. NoPing has achieved plenty domestically, but they couldn’t qualify for TI10, eventually ushering in a complete roster rebuild.
High Expectations for Thunder Predator
Even though Thunder Predator signed a roster that did not make it to TI10, they got their hands on one of the best squads in the region. The former NoPing esports squad have achieved a lot during the 2021 season and finished ninth at the WePlay AniMajor.
Adding to that, NoPing won the second OGA DPC tournament, Mobius.Bet Maestros, and BTS Pro Series Season 8: Americas. Outside of that, NoPing placed second at BTS Pro Series Season 7: Americas and Movistar Liga Pro Gaming Season 10.
Matthew and his crew effectively placed well in all tournaments, except for the one that mattered the most – TI10 qualifiers. There, they lost against Infinity and Team Unknown, narrowly missing out on The International 10.
Having signed a highly experienced roster with talented players, Thunder Predator should feel confident next season. Meanwhile, NoPing have yet to reveal how will they approach rebuilding their Dota 2 esports division.
As it stands now, NoPing are roster-less and searching for players to sign. It, however, wouldn’t be surprising if NoPing sign Thunder Predator’s former roster, completing a roster swap between two rival organizations.