In anticipation of a rapid turnaround, Talon Esports released its two oldest players as one of the first teams to dip into the free agency pool for the post-International 2022 roster overhaul. Talon also plucked the heart and soul out of Invictus Gaming in its final attempt to assemble a team for the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit.

Chan “Oli” Chon Kien has left iG and joined Talon as the team’s new position five support player, marking his first move since September 2019.

This action, together with the addition of Jabz from Fnatic, provides Talon’s younger core with two dynamic, seasoned leaders who can help them maintain their play under pressure.

This is a major setback for iG, but they should be able to bounce back because China is undergoing a significant reorganization among some of the larger organizations.

When TI8, Oli joined iG with Emo, and over the next few years, they became a dominant force in China. Oli helped the team take fourth at TI10 after other pieces started to fall into place for them. However, a somewhat changed squad struggled to remain significant in the area last year, sliding to Division II for the DPC regional competition and skipping every TI11 event.

The first domino to fall being one of the two players that helped create this squad is shocking, but some kind of adjustment to the roster was probably going to happen over the course of the next month or so as management attempts to improve.

For Oli, this is his first relocation outside of China since joining iG in 2018 and it marks a return to Southeast Asia, where he began his career in 2017 with Geek Fam.

With a youthful core, Talon made it to TI11 in the organization’s inaugural season of Dota competition, however things quickly went apart as they were eliminated in a tie for 17th place.

By making this change, Talon is relying on Oli’s previous expertise in an area that is considerably more competitive and TI’s success in leading Jabz and the rest of Talon’s youthful squad.