TI champion Miposhka to take a break from Dota 2 esports

Team Spirit IGL and support player Yaroslav ‘Miposhka’ Naidenov will take a break from competitive Dota 2 and has been moved to the inactive roster.

To fill his spot, Team Spirit has announced the signing of Nikita ‘panto’ Balaganin from Aurora Gaming.

Miposhka began his career back in 2014 with Yellow Submarine and has been with Team Spirit for five years.

He has a host of titles under his belt and, most recently, helped Team Spirit lift the 2025 Esports World Cup and DreamLeague Season 25 trophies. He is also one of the very few players to have won The International, Dota 2’s biggest event of the year, twice.

Exact reasons surrounding Miposhka’s break from Dota 2 have not been revealed by Team Spirit.

Having spent just eight months with Aurora Gaming, Panto has made significant developments within the Dota 2 scene in 2025. Under the Aurora Gaming banner, the 26-year-old placed fourth at DreamLeague Season 26 in May, an accolade he achieved with his previous team, Chimaera Esports, in Season 25 this March.

Here is the current roster for Team Spirit:

Team Spirit is arguably one of the best Dota 2 teams in the world, and even though it was eliminated early from The International 2025, the year overall can still be considered a success.

The team won DreamLeague Season 25 and the Esports World Cup, while also finishing second in FISSURE Universe: Episode 6 and ESL One Raleigh 2025.

While 2024 was a comparatively underwhelming season for the Russian side, 2023 was its most successful year, with the roster lifting that year’s The International and Riyadh Masters trophies.

Moving forward, panto will make his debut under Team Spirit’s banner at BLAST Slam IV, which is scheduled to begin on October 14th. Fans will be able to catch the action live on BLAST’s Dota 2 official YouTube and Twitch channels.