The Dota 2 “meme team”: What does the future hold for Arkosh Gaming?

Team Undying will be going to TI after a clean sweep against 4 Zoomers in the NA Dota 2 regional qualifiers.

They played the entire qualifiers without losing a single game in any series. This underlines the problem of the skill gap in the NA Dota 2 scene.

Compared to other competitive regions, there is a pronounced chasm between the top four teams and the rest. Those four teams being: Quincey Crew, EG, Undying, and 4 Zoomers.

It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that the rest of the upper-division teams would not be viable for tier-1 Dota 2 in other regions. The development of competitive Dota 2 in North America has been rather tame, despite the regional pro scene being around for just as long as anywhere else.

---

Arkosh Gaming was created to funnel more popular interest into NA Dota 2

The creator and manager in charge, Jake “SirActionSlacks” Kanner, is a prominent figure in the Dota 2 community. He represented Dota 2 to the non-gaming Netflix audience of “Dota: Dragon’s Blood,” and played a part in the recent revamp of the “‘new player experience.”

He is also among the few content creators to expand upon the obscure Dota 2 lore in his “Dota 2 Loregasm” series.

Arkosh Gaming can be seen as another piece in ActionSlacks’ agenda of furthering the entertainment value of Dota 2. Everything about it is satirically clownish, from its Satanist theme to its thin veil of anonymity. The team is a means of producing over-the-top antics, sometimes to a fault.

However, a team originally meant as a WWE-esque stage for Dota 2 drama transitioned into the professional NA Dota 2 scene after the BTS Pro Series Season 4. Since then, they have held a spot in the lower division of NA regional leagues in both seasons of DPC 2021.

Most recently, they participated in the NA qualifiers for TI.

---

How long will Arkosh Gaming play the “meme team” charade?

Leading up to the qualifiers, they hired Kurtis “Aui_2000” Lang as a hard support. Aui_2000 is a legendary TI-winning player, who has since resigned from playing professionally and taken up a panelist’s job. Easily the strongest player on their roster to date, he played along with their meme routine, most notably with support Mars and support Viper picks.

Through all their lackadaisical playstyle, they managed to win game 1 against 4 Zoomers, one of the strongest teams on the NA leaderboards. While they could not beat the series favorites, they dominated on the weaker teams like felt and D2 Hustlers in the lower brackets.

After their eventual elimination, they also removed Aui_2000 from the roster, creating a vortex of further drama. While ActionSlacks will likely keep his meme team alive, it is difficult to tell where he will go with it come season.

Asleepen...for now...

— SirActionSlacks (@SirActionSlacks) July 2, 2021

A strong speculation identifies their carry, Pale Horse, as Brian “BSJ” Canavan. BSJ will be moving to the Team Liquid tent across the Atlantic.

His replacement will likely be another Dota 2 caster or panelist in anonymity, Ioannis “Fogged” Loucas, Kyle Freedman, Kevin “Purge” Godec, or for all intents and purposes, a masked Aui_2000.