Niclas “Niqua” Westergård is no longer with The Alliance. While no details have been given, former The International 3 winner, Henrik “Admiral Bulldog” Ahnberg, was standing in for his old team in the matches versus Ninjas in Pyjamas, in the DotaPit Season 3 playoffs.
I am indeed out of Alliance, was fun while it lasted.
— Niclas Westergård (@NiquaDota) April 28, 2015
While there has been no official announcement from The Alliance regarding Niqua’s departure or a replacement, speculation is that Admiral Bulldog will be returning to the team. The new patch 6.84 buffed Bulldog’s signature heroes, Lone Druid and Nature’s Prophet.
Niqua had been with the team since January 26, 2015. The Alliance had been struggling with their results and performances during the last year, resulting in a complete upheaval of the team with the departure of Jerry “EGM” Lundkvist and Gustav “s4” Magnusson, in September 2014, and then Admiral Bulldog, in November 2014. The months that followed were filled with stand-ins, lackluster performances and even rumors of disbandment. However, with the addition of Niqua, in January. and Sébastien “7ckingMad” Debs, in March, the team became stronger and more stable. Many attribute their recent results to the new roster and synergy, crediting Niqua for much of that change.
@NiquaDota this is shitty man condolences. stuck with them when they were down and carried them back. won't forget & they won't win w/o u dw
— Peter Dager (@ppdDota) April 29, 2015
@vandeaddota @NiquaDota Alliance is at least in the conversation right now for a TI5 invite and a lot of that is due to Niqua's play imo.
— Nahaz (@NahazDota) April 29, 2015
Niclas “Niqua” Westergård
Niqua played DotA Allstars for the Swedish clan youBoat and was later picked up by Jonathan “Loda” Berg and Joakim “Akke” Akterhall, in December 2012, with eXperience Gaming. A few other teams later, Niqua went to to play with team Turtle Masters, together with EGM until they disbanded in February of 2013, when EGM went to NoTideHunter (The Alliance). Niqua went inactive and returned to Dota 2 in January 2015, when he reunited with Loda and Akke.
Achievements with Alliance
5th-6th place StarLadder StarSeries Season 12
3rd-4th place Esportal Invitational 3
2nd place JoinDOTA Masters XV
With Niqua on the squad, Alliance has also qualified for ESL One Frankfurt Germany, to be held on June 20, and i-league, to be hosted in Shanghai China, on May 24.
Henrik “Admiral Bulldog” Ahnberg
Admiral Bulldog had been a part of Alliance since its formation (under the name No Tidehunter), in September 2012, until his departure, in November 2014. Since then, he had played with Team Tinker as a stand-in between January and February of 2015, but had been mostly streaming and playing MMR usually in party.
Achievements with Alliance
2014
5th-8th ESL One New York
3rd World Cyber Arena 2014
3rd-4th NVIDIA Game 24
11th-12th The International 2014
3rd-4th ESL One Frankfurt
3rd Dota 2 Champions League Season 3
1st ASUS ROG DreamLeague Season 1
4th WPC 2014
1st DreamHack Bucharest 2014
4th Dota 2 Champions League Season 2
2nd StarLadder StarSeries 8
1st Dota 2 Champions League Season 1
4th Dota 2 League Season 4
2013
2nd StarLadder StarSeries 7
1st The International 3
1st StarLadder StarSeries 6
1st DreamHack Summer 2013
1st RaidCall EMS One Summer Cup #4
1st G-1 Champions League Season 5
1st WePlay Dota2 League Season 1
1st The Premier League Season 4
1st DreamHack Dota 2 Invitational
With The International 5 invites being released soon, it is still unknown what the effect will be on Alliance’s participation in the event or in the qualifiers. According to the Dota 2 Majors information released, teams will be subjected to roster locks and trade windows.
Teams that participate in these events will be required to adhere to limited roster trade periods during the year.
It is clear that Valve has a strong stance on roster stability based on their implementation and previous The International invite history.
Alliance is to play in ESL One Frankfurt Germany in June, i-League in China, on May 24, DreamLeague Season 3, starting May 4, and in the ASUS Play it Cool tournament, in Cologne, Germany, May 3rd.
NiP eliminated Alliance in the DotaPit season 3 last night, in the Lower Brackets second round, defeating them 2:1.
Team Alliance current roster
Per Anders “Pajkatt” Olsson
Jonathan “Loda” Berg
Joakim “Akke” Akterhall
Sébastien “7ckingMad” Debs
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