Alongside some of the new kids in the LCO, such as Team Bliss and Ground Zero, the veterans are looking to make another year of history. The Dire Wolves saw both playoffs in the 2022 season, but said an early goodbye to the championship title as they placed fifth in both splits.
In 2023, they’re returning to the Rift with a rebuilt roster, bolstering familiar faces from the previous year for their topside and having a few newcomers to the Wolfpack covering the other half of the map.
With coach Joseph “Valixas” Tselios signing with the org for another year, he’s looking to grow the new team from the ashes of 2022.
“After the last split, I thought long and hard about what pieces I believed were missing from the roster, Valixas told Snowball Esports. “I felt like experience and composure were such important qualities that we were missing.”
“Throughout the year, Zorenous and Poltron proved to me that they were both talented and incredibly hungry for success.”
Signing on for another season is top laner Cameron “Zorenous” Abbott. He has a notable history with the org dating back to the OCS in 2020, where he took a winning title on the Dire Cubs. After a brief hiatus from play, he made his return as the starting Dire Wolves top laner in 2022.
Accompanying Zorenous is jungler Kim “Poltron” Nicholls. Entering the esports scene as a coach for the first two years of his career, he made his entry to play in Split 2 of 2022 on the Dire Wolves.
He serves as the secondary component to the foundation of Valixas’ new roster.
Now, there were still another three slots to fill. Valixas went on to explain the next step of his plan: “Hence I started the search for mid, bot and ADC that could show composure and experience.”
One of the most iconic teams in the region’s history saw its miracle run in Pentanet.GG at MSI in 2021.
The botside lineup is a mandatory ingredient in the Wolfpack’s “recipe for success”, with each player finding individual success since then.
The first of the trio is Jesse “Chazz” Mahoney — the team’s new mid laner. A veteran in the scene, Chazz made his professional debut in 2017 in the OCS and soon became a staple in the lane — participating in every Oceanic split since then, with the exception of last year’s stint in Europe.
The ADC of the reunited bottom lane duo is Mark “Praedyth” Lewis, whose professional experiences date back to the Chiefs Black in 2016. Since then, Praedyth has seen a vast variety of organisations and results. Following MSI 2021, he remained with PGG through the next season, but is now home among the Dire Wolves and with old peers.
Daniel “Decoy” Ealam was Praedyth’s partner in crime throughout their dominant year on PGG; however, he has since made his departure to INTZ in Brazil for the first split of 2022. Now returning to the LCO, he’ll be the team’s support for 2023.
Making a return to the LCO following an absence in Split 2 is the team’s sub support, Rhett “Vxpir” Wiggins.
With this roster and staff working in tandem, Valixas is entering the new season with a glint of faith in his eyes. “We have some of the most talented rookies and the best veterans,” he said.
“Each player values a positive environment where we are all aligned with the same goal of being the very best.”
“The fact that we can come together with positive perspectives and have the ability to share our thoughts without fear of conflict is honestly amazing. We all have growth mindsets and that is what makes Dire Wolves such a strong team this year.”
The 2023 LCO Split 1 approaches, and over the coming weeks Snowball Esports will introduce each and every time ahead of the season opener. Follow Snowball Esports for the up to date details and predictions as season 2023 begins.
