The mystery of Yatoro’s future has finally been solved! Team Spirit has called up one of their stars to strengthen the team’s results in 2025. Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk is confirmed to return to the active roster to replace Satanic and complete the 2-time TI champion team.
Yatoro has been inactive with Mira since September last year. Team Spirit brought in Aleksandr “rue” Filin and Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov as their replacements. The decision was made after Team Spirit finished 9-12th at The International 2024 where they lost 1-2 to Xtreme Gaming.
“Mago kept his promise and he came back in January ready to go. He’s already in bootcamp with a semi-box haircut and he picks up dumbbells whenever he wants. I’m happy to welcome our tiger,” said Dmitrii Korb3n Belov, Team Spirit’s Dota 2 Manager.
With the new roster, the team had some top-tier performances. They finished in the top four in all but one tournament. They lost early to Heroic at BLAST Slam 1 and finished 9-10th. Despite some top-tier finishes including a third-place finish at DreamLeague Season 24 and a fourth-place finish at ESL One Bangkok, the team failed to win a single tournament.
“The choice was made for a more experienced and mature player, for the sake of the organization’s legend. It’s a shame to part with Alan – he was a unique player with youthful enthusiasm who was not given the opportunity to fully develop due to Murphy’s Law and various circumstances,” Korb3n added.
Team Spirit kicks off the new year by bringing back one of their star players from the past. Yatoro brings years of experience at the top. Having helped Team Spirit win two The Internationals (2021 & 2023) and several other tournaments such as the PGL Arlington Major and WePlay Animajor, Yatoro has all the experience needed to help the team reach its best.
