Russian Esports organization, Night Pulse has come out publicly to accuse Team OG for poaching their Dota 2 players. To quote Night Pulse’s official statement on Telegram,
To quote Night Pulse’s official statement on Telegram,
“We see a blatant violation of the norms and principles of fair competition, sportsmanship, fair play and the legal rights of our organization.”
Cedric “Davai Lama” Dekmin (fourth from left) and Heroic win PGL Wallachia S2. Davai Lama is one of the players Night Pulse has accused OG of poaching. Image Credit: PGL
Night Pulse’s Defunct Dota 2 Team Roster
In early March 2025, team Night Pulse was allegedly in the midst of setting up their new Dota 2 line-up for the 2025 season. Besides their existing player, Kyial “Kami” Tayirov, the new players would have included:
- Vitaly “Worick” Brezgin
- Cedric “Davai Lama” Dekmin
- Sakis “Desire” Kartsabas
- Ivan “Kidaro” Bondarev
According to Night Pulse, they have reached an agreement in principle to sign Worick, Davai Lama, Desire, and Kidaro on March 18. With discussions and planning dating way back in February and early March 2025, where they already agreed on contract terms, amounts and other conditions. Every player involved had reportedly said “yes” and agreed to sign contracts with Night Pulse.
What did Team OG do?
Fast forward to a few days before the agreed signing date, two of the players, Davai Lama and Kidaro, announced their departure to OG despite having these prior agreements in place.
Night Pulse shared that they soon learned that the OG organization had allegedly reached out to their players at the same time when the terms of the signing had already been agreed upon. They also alleged that OG had conducted negotiations with Kami, who has been long under contract with Night Pulse, behind their backs.
Now, the key takeaway from this is, unfortunately, apparently that none of the players signed any contract yet. While it’s clearly unethical to poach another organization’s soon-to-be roster, without signed agreement there really aren’t much grounds for any form of legal battle to occur.
OG’s new Dota 2 roster
Nevertheless, OG now has a new, complete Dota 2 roster for their DreamLeague S26 Open Qualifiers attempt. The full roster features Stefan “Ulnit” Gavrila, Leon “Nine” Kirilin, Davai Lama, Tamir “Daze” Tokpanov, and Kidaro. Note that Ulnit, Davai Lama and Kidaro are on a trial basis.
OG’s new Dota 2 roster announcement (Image credit: OG)
As for Night Pulse, while their legal team is apparently investigating this incident further, their roster remains incomplete with only Kami, Worick and Desire.