MinD_ContRoL will appear at Dota 2 The International 2023 with Team SMG

MinD_ContRol continues his stand-in appearances, with the Dota 2 player set to appear at The International 2023 with Team SMG. According to the available information, the Southeast Asian outfit's pos 3 player Masaros could not acquire the required USA visa even after a couple of attempts. MinD_ContRol will step in as a backup for the team as Team SMG "continue[s] to pursue visas for [their] core player.

Ivan 'MinD_ContRoL' Ivanov is a TI-winning Dota 2 player who excels in the offlane role. His parent team, Nigma Galaxy, failed to secure a direct invite to The International 2023. The outfit also faltered in procuring one through the regional qualifiers.

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Team SMG will play in Dota 2 The International 2023 with MinD_ContRoL as backup

With many in the community expecting teams to suffer from Visa issues, given it is the US, news about such stand ins were being expected for some time now. It will be interesting to see how well MinD_ContRoL is able to adapt to and gel with the other Team SMG players, with The International 2023 set to begin in about a week.

Given that it is the most important tournament in the Dota 2 calendar, Team SMG could not have called upon a better available pos 3 player to fill in as a stand in. Their official announcement on their Facebook page stated:

"Team SMG regrets to inform that our player Masaros has not been successful at acquiring his USA visa despite multiple attempts. Whilst we continue to pursue visas for our core player, Mind_ContRoL will stand in as backup for Team SMG during the tournament while we await further updates from the embassy. We'd like to thank Nigma Galaxy for their assistance despite such short notice, and the fans for their continued support.

Team SMG secured their qualification to The International 2023 by winning the Southeast Asia Regional Qualifier.

MinD_ContRoL recently participated in the DreamLeague Season 21 with OG, sparking the Ceb and MC memes of yore. The team had a respectable run, finishing fourth and bagging $85,000. MinD_ContRoL also played with OG in the ESL One Berlin Major this year.

The International 2023 is set to take place in Seattle from October 12 to October 29. Valve has yet to announce any information regarding the two groups as well as the match schedules.