Loda steps down from Alliance for a "break from competitive Dota"

posted by Abelle,

The only remaining original member of the TI3 winning Alliance roster has stepped down. Loda has announced that he will not play for Alliance for the TI7 season.

ADVERTISING:

Changes to the Dota 2 roster, @LodaBerg will be replaced by @EraDota for the remainder of the season.Full story: https://t.co/jxaObs0RKq pic.twitter.com/1QiVWokN0X— Alliance (@theAllianceGG) June 9, 2017

The team has been through a myriad of roster changes since the roster was known as No Tidehunter in early 2013, but

Jonathan 'Loda' Berg has been the only constant. Now, Loda is stepping down from the active roster. In his lengthy statement, he says he plans to stay on the sidelines "until after TI when I will most likely return to the squad."

The rest of the statement details his difficult decision to step down, saying that being the owner of the team and running the business side of things has interfered with his ability to give his all to being a player, and that's been detrimental to the team as a whole.

"You who are my fans, who have followed me for over a decade, know that I focus a lot on feeling, it is my strength and weakness. It has helped me reach some of my highest highs and, lowest lows: it has defined my career. At this point it does not feel right for me to continue, and I think some of you have noticed that. I need a break."

The story of Alliance has certainly been one with many ups and downs for fans. Their TI win was one of the most epic Valve event Grand Finals ever, but the following years of decline alongside occasional tastes of success has been a rollercoaster.

After missing The International 2015, Alliance seemed re-energized and began a period of growth during which they attended all three Majors, The International 2016 and, most impressively, won both WCA 2015 and Starladder | i-League Season 1. It was a very promising start to 2016, but after coming 9th-12th at TI6, the roster lost

Gustav 's4' Magnusson,

Henrik 'AdmiralBulldog' Ahnberg and

Joakim 'Akke' Akterhall and had to begin climbing their way back up again.

That's where we find the current Alliance, continuously striving to improve. The new member of the team, replacing Loda in the carry role will

Adrian 'Era' Kryeziu, who very recently became teamless when

Ninjas in Pyjamas* decided to drop their Dota 2 division.

When Era was with Ninjas in Pyjamas the first time back in 2015, the roster was almost the same as Alliance's roster today, with

Axel 'PABLO' Källman being the only new face. The NiP squad performed very well together back in 2015, and now these players have had a chance to learn and grow on different teams before coming back together.

They'll have to fight their way through open qualifiers if they want a shot at Seattle this year, but it's a challenge they seem ready to face.

Alliance's new roster:

Adrian 'Era' Kryeziu

Linus 'Limmp' Blomdin

Jonas 'jonassomfan' Lindholm

Axel 'PABLO' Källman

Simon 'Handsken' Haag

Photo credit: StarLadder