The International 2018 Team Introduction – Mineski

Founded in 2004, Mineski is an Esports organization based in Philippines and is considered to be one of the strongest SEA teams in Dota. After being invited to TI1 back in 2011, Mineski has never attended another TI. Seven years later, they are back again for TI8 with a strong lineup consisting of veteran players, Mushi and iceiceice.

Mineski’s current roster:

1. Mushi
2. Moon
3. iceiceice
4. Jabz
5. ninjaboogie

On August 16^th 2017, Moon, Iceiceice, and Jabz replaced Ark, Mag~ and ryOyr and their current roster stuck together ever since.

Even thought Mineski underperformed heavily in a few tournaments, all in all, they had a decent run this season.  They started out by placing second at StarLadder i-League Season 3 and they won the PGL Open Bucharest Minor. After this, they had a series of bad performances, leading up to Dota 2 Asia Championships Major in April 2018 where they had an impressive showing and won their first Major.

Later, they placed 5-6^th at ESL One Birmingham Major and 9-12^th at the China Supermajor. They ended up getting 5^th place in the DPC Standings for this season.

Check Here: Dota 2 Ranking 

About the Squad:

Mushi is one of the most veteran players in the Dota scene. He started out in Team Orange Esports which was the best SEA team back then. They placed 3^rd at TI 3, losing to Na’Vi’s infamous ‘Pudge fountain hook with Chen’ cheese strat. Later he, played for the Chinese all-star team, Team DK which dominated the year 2014, and placed 4^th at TI4. After this, Mushi had a few rough years and now he is back in form for TI 8. His skills as a carry player are highly regarded by everyone in the community.

Mineski’s position 2 player Moon, previously known as NaNa, rose to fame after playing for team WG.Unity. He quickly rose to top 10 of the SEA leaderboards at the time and is considered to be one of the best mid solo players in SEA.

The support duo of Jabz and Ninjaboogie is one of the best, if the not best duo in SEA. Ninjaboogie is also the captain of the team. He is another veteran player who started out in 2012.

Lastly, we have iceiceice, the position 3 player for Mineski. Iceiceice is one of the most well-known personalities in Dota. He is known to be very creative. As many offlane players mentioned in the past, they learn a lot looking at iceiceice’s replays. He started the trend of Timbersaw back in the day with his flashy moves and clutch turnarounds. Recently, his plays on Pangolier have become iconic and many try to mimic his playstyle on the hero.

SEA’s hope for TI8:

Even though they are considered to be one of the best in competitive Dota, the SEA region has never brought home an Aegis of Champions. Mineski, alongside TNC and Fnatic are SEA’s hope for this year’s TI. In my opinion, Mineski is definitely going to be one of the stronger teams at TI8. I am a huge fan of both iceiceice and Mushi and I am sure they have a lot of tricks up their sleeves to claim the Aegis this year.