- The SEA organization removed its mid laner from the main Dota 2 lineup
- Aurora went through DreamLeague Season 22 Groups Stage 2 with lorenof as a stand-in for Armel
- The team has not had a great time since the start of this year
Artem “lorenof” Melnick might become Aurora’s new mid laner after the organization recently benched 24-year-old Armel “Armel” Tabios.
Aurora Bench Armel
Southeast Asian Dota 2 team Aurora recently went through the DreamLeague Season 22 Groups Stage 2. Unfortunately, the organization had a rather abysmal record at the tournament, having lost all seven of the games it played. Days after finishing that event, Aurora announced it was benching its mid laner Armel “Armel” Tabios.
Interestingly, however, Armel was not even present at the DreamLeague tournament. Instead, the organization played with Artem “lorenof” Melnick as its stand-in midlaner because Armel was unavailable for the matches due to personal commitments. It was subsequently revealed that the player had become a father.
Aurora has yet to announce who will come in to replace Armel, but considering lorenof has already played an entire tournament with the team, it’s likely he will become the new mid laner. The 21-year-old Ukrainian player previously played for Team Tickles.
How Has Aurora Performed In 2024?
Unfortunately for the SEA team, they have been out of luck so far this year, it seems. The squad failed to qualify for ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 and ESL One Birmingham 2024, and barely managed to get into DreamLeague Season 22. During BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024, the team was among the poorest performers, concluding the event in the 9th-12th position.
Armel has been with the organization since Aurora signed Talon’s former Dota 2 roster in November of last year. He was a member of Secret at the time, but he parted ways with it to join the Talon core. The player and his team performed quite well during the DreamLeague Season 22: Southeast Asia Closed Qualifier, only to later achieve somewhat mediocre results at DreamLeague Season 22 – Group Stage 1.
However, there was a 180-degree flip in the second stage of the tournament, where the squad lost every series it played and was eliminated despite several tight series. Despite that, lorenof at least performed well personally, leading many to speculate that he will become the team’s new mid laner. Meanwhile, it still isn’t known what Armel’s future plans are. He might take an extended break in order to be with his family more.
Aurora is set to compete in Elite League from 31st March 2024, so a new mid laner should be announced in the following weeks.
