Balkan-based team lvlUP has bid farewell to Niklas “Wagamama” Högström, Stefan “pwN” Pavlović, Dino “Dnz” Šavuk and Saša “Emperor” Bajrić.
According to the announcement, four players have taken their leave, including Wagamama. A longtime fixture of the Dota 2 community as a player, caster, analyst and personality, Wagamama has joined the compLexity Gaming’s stream team, as a streamer and caster. The other players’ plans for the near future remain unknown.
Team lvlUP will be rebuilt around Konstantin “Kole” Atanasovski. Team lvlUP representatives have told DotaBlast that Viktor “Buktop” Knežević will stay on as coach. A finalized roster is expected to get in full swing in time for the Boston Major open qualifiers, set to kick off on October 23rd.
We are sad to announce that lvlUP Dota 2 team is parting ways with pwn, emperor666, wagamama, and dnz. Despite parting ways with four players, lvlUp will still continue in the Dota 2 scene and plan to build a new roster around the midplayer, kole. The new roster will include familiar faces.
– lvlUP organization
The Balkan-based team was founded by well-known Serbian player Viktor “Buktop” Knežević. According to Buktop, who also acted as a coach and occasional stand-in for lvlUP, the process of building the team took almost four months. lvlUP was launched in early September, to include Niklas “Wagamama” Högström, Konstantin “Kole” Atanasovski, Stefan “pwN” Pavlović, Dino “Dnz” Šavuk, and Saša “Emperor” Bajrić.
“Four months ago, I started building a team of people as a rising team in Dota 2. I wanted five players with the will to succeed, enough skill, and without the ego. We are ready to lock in for the Fall Major season and, as I have been building the team for some time, I think I have chosen wisely,” Viktor “Buktop” Knežević told DotaBlast, last month.
In early September, lvlUP secured their spot in the offline WESG European and CIS qualifiers in Kiev.
Team lvlUP during the WESG Europe and CIS LAN qualifiers, in Kiev © Team lvlUP
The mix of players had to use two stand-ins for their team, due to the nationality requirement for the Adriatic qualifier. The adjustment didn’t seem to stop the team from barreling through the qualifiers. They took out Elements Pro Gaming, 2:0, in the grand finals.
At the WESG European and CIS LAN in Kiev, lvlUP failed to advance into the playoffs and were thus unable to secure a Top 8 placement and a spot at the world finals in Shanghai.
lvlUP roster:
Niklas “Wagamama” Högström
Konstantin “Kole” Atanasovski
Stefan “pwN” Pavlović
Dino “Dnz” Šavuk
Saša “Emperor” Bajrić
Viktor “Buktop” Knežević (Coach)
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