PPD has penned a blog post about his former teammate Aui_2000. In the post PPD talks about how Aui came to join the team, what it was like playing with him and ultimately why he had to leave. PPD also explained the reasoning behind replacing Aui with Arteezy.
PPD started out by stating that he wanted to “set things straight”, and that the drama surrounding the release of Aui had “gone past the point of meaningless drama”. PPD explained that EG wanted to recruit Aui due to his having “next to identical play styles and hero pools” as Zai. He then went on to describe the pros and cons of having Aui at EG. This went on to describe how the cons eventually warranted Aui’s removal from the squad. PPD stated that “His [Aui_2000] ability to communicate effectively just isn’t there and even though we worked on it all year long it didn’t get much better” and “The way aui handles his communication and his play made every game feel like the hardest game we had ever played.”
While PPD had his reasons for removing Aui, the fact that Arteezy was available played a big part. In his blog he explained how Arteezy was a better fit for the team; “[Arteezy] generates independent thought, works hard, and… one of the most dedicated players… the way he handles himself just works with our team.” PPD also addresses the question of keeping on Fear with Arteezy coming in. He explains that Fear is “THE MOST VALUABLE dota player out there.” and how Fear enables him to be a better captain, “[Fear] basically co-captains the team […] and makes sure that I do my job as the captain… Without him I’d be half the captain I am today and THAT is why he is irreplaceable.”