Gaimin Gladiators drop dyrachyo for watson with an anime OP

In a shock move, Gaimin Gladiators have announced pub destroyer Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov will take the carry role from Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov with an anime music video.

Gaimin Gladiators remains one of the most decorated teams in Dota 2 esports, but the squad has consistently failed to claim a victory at The International. At TI 12, the squad lost 3-0 to Team Spirit, and it was swept again by Team Liquid at TI 13. The long-standing stack is now making serious changes to its lineup, and controversial carry dyrachyo is now officially out of the picture. His replacement will be none other than watson from Cloud9, a Kazakhstani players best known for reigning over pubs with an iron fist.

Here are the details of the roster swap and the anime music video that accompanied it.

watson joins Gaimin Gladiators as dyrachyo takes his leave

Gaimin Gladiators has swapped dyrachyo for watson as carry ahead of the 2025 Dota 2 season.

GG announced the carry’s departure on October 3, 2024. The organization then teased a replacement announcement for the very next day. True to its word, the three-time major champion and double TI runner-up revealed its new carry early on October 4. In a surprise move, the team will add watson from Cloud9 to its safe lane. The four other players and coach Aske “Cy-” Larsen are confirmed to remain on the team.

The sponsor revealed the change with an anime opening sequence featuring art of the team. American mid Quinn Callahan appears as a cowboy, Marcus “Ace” Christensen cosplays as Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen, and Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp comes equipped as a Pokemon trainer. watson makes his Gaimin Gladiators debut as his namesake from Sherlock Holmes. It’s a shame that dyrachyo, with his myriad anime tattoos, is missing from the sequence.

The roster move comes as a surprise to some fans, as dyrachyo played a major role in Gaimin Gladiators’ dominance over the past two years. The roster was the first to win all majors in a single year, matching OG for the most consecutive major championships. However, the squad failed to win The International that year. After a less dominant 2024, the squad reached the grand final again only to fall in three games. This roster move confirms that Gaimin Gladiators is specifically gunning for an Aegis of Champions.

As for watson, the player first rose to stardom by reaching the top rank on the European MMR leaderboards under the alias Egoisto. He bounced around a few teams before finding a stable home at Entity. Cloud9 then purchased the roster just before TI13. The team performed admirably, earning fifth place spearheaded by the Kazakhstani carry.

Fans can watch watson’s first tournament with Gaimin Gladiators at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade starting October 19.