by Swedish esports outfit Alliance have completed their 2023 Dota 2 roster with offlaner Gustav “s4” Magnusson and support player Simon “Handsken” Haag.
Handsken, 28, started his professional career in 2014 while representing the European team LAJONS. The Swedish player has also competed for Ninjas in Pyjamas, compLexity Gaming, The Final Tribe, and first played for Alliance in 2016. He left for No Diggity in 2017 and returned to Alliance once more in October 2019, before exiting and making a return again on December 2, 2022.
The former Ninjas in Pyjamas player also competed in the 2019 DreamLeague Season 12 while representing Alliance and brought with him a first-place finish after a back-and-forth tussle with North American team Demon Slayer. In The International 2021, he led his team to a 9th–12th finish.
S4 started his career in early 2012 while he was signed to Russian-based outfit Team Empire. Like Handsken, the 30-year-old has previously played for Alliance. He first represented them in 2013, and he left the following year, only to rejoin the team on two other occasions — in 2015 and 2020. S4 has a track record for playing with top-tier esports organizations such as Evil Geniuses, Team Secret, Copenhagen Wolves, and OG.
S4 has a long list of accolades that have been sent his way. He was the second player to win The International and a Valve Major, just behind Clement “Puppey” Ivanov. He won TI3 while representing Alliance, who took home $1,437,190 in prize money — 50% of the total pool. He also helped Evil Geniuses to third place at TI8.
“I’m excited to be back in Alliance working with all the people and staff behind the scenes and especially with this new lineup that I think has a lot of potential going forward,” s4 said.
“Since we are coming from two different regions you can expect some fun Dota from us starting in Division II while we fight our way up. Even though fans’ expectations are low right now, my goal is to change that and go far next year.”
Both players will be joining other Alliance players on the team, which includes support Remus “ponlo” Goh, Malaysian player Ng “ChYuan” Kee Chyuan, and carry player Charlie “CharlieDota” Arat.
