Insania

From Liquipedia Dota 2 Wiki
(Redirected from INsania)
[e][h]Insania
Player Information
Name:
Aydin Sarkohi
Nationality:
Born:
June 18, 1994 (age 31)
Region:
Europe Europe
Years Active (Player):
2016 - 2025
Alternate IDs:
iNSaNia, iNSaNiA, iNsania
Approx. Total Winnings:
$2,125,118
Signature Hero:
Oracle Rubick Crystal Maiden
Links
History
2015-10-05 — 2015-12-?? Sync eSports
2016-08-16 — 2016-10-?? Team Doge
2016-10-?? — 2017-01-08 SOLIDUDES
2017-01-08 — 2017-04-05 Prodota Gaming
2017-04-20 — 2017-06-04 Ninjas in Pyjamas
2017-08-05 — 2017-10-03 Tuho
2017-11-29 — 2019-09-26 Alliance
2019-10-02 — 2025-10-07 Team Liquid
2025-10-07 Retired
Recent Matches
Liquid Team Liquid
1:2
(Bo3)
Tundra EsportsTundra Esports Tundra
September 7, 2025 - 16:45 CEST
TI2025
The International 2025
Liquid Team Liquid
2:1
(Bo3)
Yakutou BrothersYakutou Brothers YkBros
September 6, 2025 - 13:20 CEST
TI2025
The International 2025
Liquid Team Liquid
0:2
(Bo3)
Team Falcons Falcons
September 6, 2025 - 10:00 CEST
TI2025
The International 2025
Liquid Team Liquid
2:1
(Bo3)
Nigma GalaxyNigma Galaxy NGX
September 5, 2025 - 13:45 CEST
TI2025
The International 2025
Liquid Team Liquid
0:2
(Bo3)
Team Tidebound Tidebd
September 4, 2025 - 20:00 CEST
TI2025
The International 2025
Upcoming Tournaments
No Upcoming Tournaments

Aydin "Insania" Sarkohi (born June 18, 1994) is a retired Swedish player who last played for Team Liquid. He was a former Heroes of Newerth player who switched full-time to Dota 2, and later joined Alliance in 2017. After two years, he left to join Team Liquid as its captain, and built a new roster to replace The International 2017-winning roster that left to form their own organisation, Nigma Galaxy. Under his leadership, Team Liquid became one of the strongest teams in the Western European region, but glory eluded the team, until they won The International 2024.

Outside of competitive play, he is also an occasional talent at events, making his debut at The International 2021, to much positive feedback. He is also a co-host on the ALL CHAT podcast with Cap and Quinn, and an occasional streamer on Twitch.

He retired from professional Dota 2 on October 7, 2025,[1] but expressed a desire to continue working in the scene as a commentator or coach, after taking a break.[2]

Biography

[edit]

Early life

[edit]

Insania was born in Uppsala, Sweden, to Ali and Salumeh Sarkohi, both originally from Iran. He has a younger sister, Ayda. As a child, his parents taught him to be bilingual in Swedish and Persian, and they noted that he was quick to pick up both languages. At the age of five, the family migrated to Dallas, Texas. Insania did not know English at that point, but quickly picked it up out of a desire of wanting to communicate with his cousins. His cousins played video games on the Nintendo 64, and this sparked his interest in them. However, he did not play many video games, limited to "5 or 6" — which he later attributed to his passion in them, as he played each game to completion first.[3]

Heroes of Newerth

[edit]

At some point in the United States, he picked up Guild Wars while playing on his mother's work laptop, and this was where he got his competitive itch. By 15 to 16, he had switched to Heroes of Newerth, and was playing casually in BlackFade, a team of friends, including Khezu and zai, his future Dota 2 teammates. Despite playing casually, and his team being a relative "nobody", his team managed to qualify for DreamHack 2012 Summer, the rough equivalent of The International for the Heroes of Newerth scene, and finished third, winning SEK 50,000. He and zai then joined Trademark eSports, playing alongside limmp and mynuts, and won DreamHack 2012 Winter, an achievement which he considers to have "beaten" Heroes of Newerth.[3]

His parents were not always supportive of his career choice. Both his parents worked in the medical field, and hoped that Insania's intelligence would lead to an academic career, such as medicine, law or engineering. Initially, his parents attempted to restrict the amount of time he spent on video games, and took his PC away. By chance, however, his mother spoke to a student at her workplace, and mentioned that her son was playing Heroes of Newerth. The student realised that this was Insania, playing for one of the best teams in the world, and told his mother about this. From this point onwards, her resistance towards his career abated.[3]

As of November 2024, he is the Heroes of Newerth player with the highest total career prize money, at $51,034.64 USD.[4] He was also an occasional commentator during the HoN Tour alongside BreakyCPK.[5]

Entering Dota 2

[edit]

For a time, Heroes of Newerth was seen as a possible long-term successor of DotA: Allstars. However, with the announcement of the first International in 2011, and eventual public release of Dota 2 in 2013, many professional Heroes of Newerth players began to shift over. Insania was one of the last to do so, between in late-2015 to early-2016, simply because he found Heroes of Newerth fun. He eventually did switch over, but made sure that it was a full-on commitment, as a job. He did note, however, that the experience was somewhat-humbling — his success in Heroes of Newerth meant absolutely nothing to most Dota 2 players, meaning he was starting from the bottom once again.[3]

2016 saw Insania play for Team Doge and SOLIDUDES, playing for a team mostly-consisting of former Heroes of Newerth players, including miCKe, who would later become his long-term teammate for multiple teams. However, he got his big break when he replaced syndereN on Ninjas in Pyjamas.[6] After NiP disbanded a few months later, Insania joined Tuho, reuniting himself with miCKe.

Alliance

[edit]

After leaving Tuho, Insania wanted to put together a new roster. He wanted it to be based on friendship, noting that if the team got along with each other, they would be willing to fight for success together. His first choice was miCKe once again, someone he believed that could build a roster together with. Boxi, another former Heroes of Newerth player and one of the best, then joined, as did Taiga, yet another Heroes of Newerth player and one who had been grinding "20 games a day" in Dota 2.[3] This team joined Alliance, with their final team member as the legendary captain Loda. In 2018, Loda chose to step down and move to coach, and qojqva replaced him. This new roster, however, failed to qualify for The International 2018.

Despite the setback, the roster began to show form in smaller tournaments, such as winning joinDOTA League Season 13 Europe. They were able to take this momentum into qualifying for The Kuala Lumpur Major and ESL One Hamburg 2018. However, pressure set into the team, and they struggled to gain results against the strongest teams, finishing 9th-12th and 9th-10th in these events respectively. This pattern continuned throughout 2019, where Alliance would frequently qualify to most tournaments, but do poorly in the actual tournament. A notable exception was DOTA Summit 10, where the roster took its first win at this level, beating paiN Gaming 3-0.

Although Alliance's performances were not quite the best, their consistency nevertheless earned them a direct invite to The International 2019, where they were dubbed as one of the dark horses due to their unusual hero pools and willingness to play off-meta heroes and strategies.[7] Alliance, however, were frustrating in the Group Stage, struggling to close out any series, and began in the Lower Bracket of the Playoffs with a 1-6-1 record, facing Royal Never Give Up in a best-of-one series.

The Gyrocopter Incident

[edit]

During the draft against Royal Never Give Up, Insania and miCKe were discussing whether Royal Never Give Up played Naga Siren or not. Insania, not checking the timer, began consulting his notes, and decided that they should ban Gyrocopter. He selected the hero, moved his mouse over the ban/pick button (located on the same place on the screen). At the last second, however, the ban timer ticked out, and was replaced by the next pick phase timer — and Insania ended up picking the Gyrocopter for themselves, rather than banning it against Royal Never Give Up.[8]

After the shock set in, the team scrambled to find a response. Royal Never Give Up themselves were confused about the pick, until they realised that Alliance intended to ban it. Despite the mistake, it was noted that Alliance's players did not turn on each other, but instead all supported Insania. miCKe ended up playing Gyrocopter as a carry in the match, which was quite even, with Alliance at one point looking like they could win. However, the ticking time-bomb that was Monet's last-pick Anti-Mage was not adequately-addressed, and Alliance eventually fell, finishing 13th-16th.[8]

More information about the "Gyrocopter Incident" outside of Liquipedia:
How they react, what they do when they're put into this near-impossible situation, their first reaction is "It's okay. We can figure this out." — I thought that was just a beautiful moment.
Capitalist, in 2021 ([8])
I remember at TI, Aydin, when he had that faithful moment where he picked Gyrocopter by accident — and I think you could see how much everybody liked him right there because instead of — In my position, if I was their age (21), I would have been "time to get a new captain, boys!" He just lost me millions of dollars, because getting to TI is no guarantee, and the fact that they all supported him, like "Hey, this is all gonna work out" — I think that shows loyalty in both ways. Like he was so loyal to them throughout the years, that they were going to be loyal to him and stick by him. And look, the team had no roster changes or anything like that. In that moment, where he needed them the most, they were the most supportive.
Blitz, Insania's future coach, in 2020 ([3])

Team Liquid

[edit]

COVID-19 pandemic

[edit]

After nearly two years, and a disappointing way to exit The International 2019, the team felt like things were becoming stale, and they needed a change. In tandem, Team Liquid's roster chose to leave and start their own organisation, Nigma Galaxy. Team Liquid's CEO, Victor "Nazgul" Goossens, reached out to the former Alliance team, and Insania thought this was one of the best days of his life, as he had always been a fan of the roster that won The International 2017. Goossens cited Insania's openness in communication, leadership by example, and mechanical skill as key reasons why Team Liquid were drawn to the Alliance roster. The two were put into contact by Blitz, and after the roster signed with Team Liquid, Blitz joined them on bootcamp in Malta "just to hang out" as a reward. In Malta, the coach-less squad asked Blitz (a former Team Liquid coach) whether he would be interested in coaching them, and Blitz declined. After several days of badgering, however, Blitz flipped a coin, and decided to go with them. Not all aspects, however, were positive; many fans were disappointed in them "betraying" Alliance after all they had done for them, and this weighed on Insania's mind.[3]

The roster got off to a slow start. Team Liquid's old roster had achieved consistent high placements, as well as multiple tournament wins, and the new roster had immense pressure from the fans. Their season — and everyone else's — however, was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, restricting all teams to online events. Team Liquid found themselves in familiar territory — a good team, but not quite one of the best, but the entire region found themselves at the mercy of Team Secret, who established an astonishing dominance over the scene in 2020, winning 8 straight top tournaments in a row, with 3-0 Grand Final wins. The team's first success was in ESL One Germany 2020, where they eliminated Team Secret, and overcame Natus Vincere in the 3-1 Grand Final. Insania was voted MVP of the tournament, winning a Mercedes-Benz car, which he tried to give to miCKe (who declined, as he does not drive).[9]

Dota Pro Circuit

[edit]

With the return of the Dota Pro Circuit in 2021, Team Liquid established themselves as an upper-table team in Western Europe, but internationally, much less so. In the shortened season, Team Liquid's 9th-12th in the ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021 and 13th at the WePlay AniMajor forced them to go through the qualifiers for The International 2021, but they fell 4th, eliminated by Nigma Galaxy. Despite the disappointment, Insania made his debut as an analyst at The International 2021, and was given the opportunity to cast alongside ODPixel in multiple series in the Playoff, including the Grand Final, as Fogged was sick.[10] His casting and analysis were highly-praised by the community.[5]

The next season, back on the playing field, things remained similar for Insania and Team Liquid. Strong results within the region, but disappointing results internationally, such as 9th-12th in PGL Arlington Major 2022 saw them needing to go through qualifiers for The International 2022, where the roster was eliminated in 3rd by Team Secret. However, due to COVID-19 disruptions, Valve had announced the The International 2022: Last Chance Qualifier, featuring the two strongest eliminated teams from each region, with two teams qualifying to The International 2022. Team Liquid entered as one of the favourites, but were sent to the lower bracket by Virtus.pro in the Upper Bracket Semifinals. Team Liquid then eliminated both Chinese teams, Xtreme Gaming and Vici Gaming, before facing Virtus.pro in the Lower Bracket Final. Virtus.pro, however, had suffered a poor defeat against Team Secret, losing game two in under 30 minutes, and this seemingly affected their mentality going into their match with Team Liquid. Team Liquid faced few issues beating Virtus.pro, becoming the second team to qualify.

Being forced to go through the Last Chance Qualifier did have one benefit: practice. Both Team Secret and Team Liquid looked far more cohesive than most teams at The International 2022, both teams finishing second in the Group Stage. However, in the Playoffs, they were immediately dropped into the Lower Bracket by Team Aster in convincing fashion. Despite the setback, Team Liquid fought back through the Lower Bracket, eliminating Entity, reigning champions OG, Thunder Awaken and then gaining revenge on Team Aster with a 2-1 win. However, Team Liquid fell in the Lower Bracket Final 2-1 to Team Secret, ending their season with 3rd-placed finish.

2023 saw Team Liquid improve, but saw them begin a rather-unwanted bad habit of finishing second at international tournaments. Second at the Lima Major, DreamLeague Season 19, ESL One Berlin Major, Bali Major and Riyadh Masters (four of which were Grand Final losses to Gaimin Gladiators), saw the community suggest there was some sort of "second-placed curse" on the team. At The International 2023, Team Liquid finished 5th-6th, a cut below eventual winners Team Spirit, who sent them to the Lower Bracket, and Gaimin Gladiators, who eliminated them once again.

The International glory

[edit]

With the end of the Dota Pro Circuit, many third-party tournament organisers began to run their own large-scale tournaments. Once again, however, glory eluded Team Liquid, despite some excellent performances. Team Liquid were ever-present at all Tier 1 events, but their performances were inconsistent, with results such as 13th-14th at DreamLeague Season 22. Insania noted that they recognised that they had become lazy, and began to redouble their efforts.[11] However, winning a top-tier event remained stubbornly out of reach, with their highest finish once again being second at BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 and Riyadh Masters 2024. They did manage to finally taste a win at Elite League Season 2, albeit with most top teams opting to skip the event or attend Clavision: Snow Ruyi instead.

Their consistent performances throughout the season earned them a direct invite to The International 2024. Team Liquid began strongly, finishing second in their group, beating BetBoom Team to earn a spot in the Upper Bracket, and looking very strong as they beat Xtreme Gaming and Cloud9 in solid fashion. They then met Gaimin Gladiators in the Upper Bracket Final, and most fans had written Team Liquid off at this point, believing that some combination of their second-placed curse and horrific record against Gaimin Gladiators would see them lose the series. However, this was far from the truth, as Team Liquid ruthlessly dispatched Gaimin Gladiators 2-0. They met them again in the Grand Final as Gaimin Gladiators beat Tundra Esports 2-1. In the Grand Finals, Team Liquid were utterly dominant, sweeping Gaimin Gladiators 3-0, finally earning Team Liquid a championship trophy. Insania also became the oldest person to win The International, at 30 years 89 days.

Having won TI, it feels really nice to know that I could retire now having accomplished the goal that I set out for myself [...] six or seven years ago, I decided to start playing Dota with a goal of trying to win TI at some point, and to know that all these years, and all this time, that I put into it, kind of got where I wanted to be, and I managed to do what I wanted to do — it feels nice to retire having accomplished that.
Insania on the ALL CHAT podcast with Cap and Quinn ([12])

Final year and retirement

[edit]

After The International 2024, Insania continued on Team Liquid. With a new offlaner in SaberLight, replacing 33, and increased competition from PARIVISION, Team Liquid were unable to maintain their status, although the team was able to continue to win silverware at PGL Wallachia Season 3 and Season 4. In May 2025, at BLAST Slam IV, he revealed in an interview that retirement was on his mind.[13] After The International 2025, he retired from professional Dota 2, after 6 years with Team Liquid.[1] He expressed a desire to eventually return to the scene, either as a commentator or as a coach.[2]

Articles and tributes to Insania after his retirement:
After 6 unforgettable years with Team Liquid, @insan1a is retiring from professional Dota 2.

His story comes full circle after lifting the Aegis at TI 2024, a moment that will always be a defining part of our team’s history. We’re so honored to be the team where he chose to close this chapter, and grateful for every year he spent representing us. Few can say they have achieved the pinnacle of their craft, and even fewer can say they did it while being adored by everyone they crossed paths with. Aydin is among that rare few, and every person he interacted with was affected for the better.
Team Liquid ([1])
Aydin has been the perfect representative of what we want Team Liquid to stand for. Excellence at the highest level, without ever compromising who you are or how you treat people.
Victor "Nazgul" Goosens, Team Liquid Founder and Co-CEO ([14])

Trivia

[edit]
  • He is the player with the highest tournament earnings in Heroes of Newerth.[4]
  • He is one of the few professional players that plays Dota 2 with the minimap on the right. When he was younger, he played Guild Wars (where the map is on the top-right), and when he moved to Heroes of Newerth, when given the choice between having the minimap on the bottom-left or bottom-right, he found the bottom-right to be more natural.[15]
  • Reached 10,000 MMR on September 29, 2021.[16]

Statistics

[edit]
  • Insania is the all time leader in premium/professional matches played as Oracle (166 matches and 106 wins) and Grimstroke (95 matches and 47 wins).
  • Insania is also the all time leader in premium/professional matches won as Jakiro (62 matches and 40 wins), although Fly is the all time leader in premium/professional matches played as Jakiro (71 matches and 33 wins).

Stats from datdota as of 05-Mar-2025

Achievements

[edit]
  • As Player
  • As Broadcast Talent
  • Awards
  • Show All
DatePlaceTierTournamentTeamResultPrize
2025-04-271stTier 1PGL Wallachia Season 4PGL Wallachia Season 4
3 : 2
$300,000
2025-03-161stTier 1PGL Wallachia Season 3PGL Wallachia Season 3
3 : 1
$300,000
2024-09-151stTier 1The International 2024The International 2024
3 : 0
$1,249,445
2024-08-041stTier 2Elite League Season 2Elite League Season 2Elite League Season 2
3 : 2
$240,000
2024-07-212ndTier 1Riyadh Masters 2024Riyadh Masters 2024Riyadh Masters 2024
0 : 3
$800,000
2024-02-162ndTier 1BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024
0 : 3
$200,000
2023-07-302ndTier 1Riyadh Masters 2023Riyadh Masters 2023
1 : 3
$2,500,000
2023-04-232ndTier 1DreamLeague Season 19DreamLeague Season 19DreamLeague Season 19
2 : 3
$175,000
2022-10-303rdTier 1The International 2022The International 2022
1 : 2
$1,703,810
2020-11-011stTier 1ESL One Germany 2020ESL One Germany 2020
3 : 1
$150,000
Extended list of results
DateTierTournamentPositionPartner List
2025-12-21Tier 1DreamLeague Season 27DreamLeague Season 27DreamLeague Season 27Analyst
2024-03-10Tier 1DreamLeague Season 22DreamLeague Season 22DreamLeague Season 22Guest
2023-10-29Tier 1The International 2023The International 2023Guest Analyst
2022-08-28Tier 1ESL One Malaysia 2022ESL One Malaysia 2022Guest Panelist
2021-10-17Tier 1The International 2021The International 2021Analyst
About achievementsBroadcasts from any Tournament
DateTierTournamentAwardTeamPrize
2020
2020-11-01Tier 1ESL One Germany 2020ESL One Germany 2020Mercedes-Benz MVP
-

Additional Content

[edit]

Interviews

[edit]
  • 2025
  • 2024
  • 2023
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • Show All

Miscellaneous

[edit]
  • 2025
  • 2022
  • Show All

Spotlights

[edit]
  • 2025
  • 2024
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • Show All

Highlights

[edit]
2024
[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Team Liquid (2025-10-07). "After 6 unforgettable years with Team Liquid, @insan1a is retiring from professional Dota 2. His story comes full circle after lifting the Aegis at TI 2024, a moment that will always be a defining part of our team’s history. We’re so honored to be the team where he chose to".
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Insania (2025-10-08). "Thanks for the overwhelming amount of people saying kind and nice words. I'll make a longer post at some point but for now just know I'll be taking a break but will be looking to work in the dota scene again. Whether that's casting or coaching I haven't decided yet.".
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Team Liquid (2020-11-16). "From Bedroom to The International Stage: iNSaNiA | Honda x Team Liquid Presents: Origins | Episode 3".
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Heroes of Newerth". esportsearnings.com. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 SUNSfan and syndereN (2021-10-21). "TI 10 is over - We Say Things 124".
  6. ↑ Lukas Berć (2017-04-20). "DotA2 announcement: iNsania replaces syndereN". Ninjas in Pyjamas. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
  7. ↑ KawaiiSocks (2019-07-22). "The International Preview: Europe". Dotabuff.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 dota2 (2021-10-15). "International Archive: Ban the Gyro". Valve.
  9. ↑ Capitalist and Blitz (2020-11-02). "Liquid are your ESL One Germany champions".
  10. ↑ SUNSfan and syndereN (2021-10-21). "TI 10 is over - We Say Things 124".
  11. ↑ Polina Mashina (2024-04-03). "INSaNiA: "Our stability has been a ticking time bomb and now we feel it's gone too far"". Escorenews.com.
  12. ↑ Cap (2024-09-20). "Liquid wins The International - ALL CHAT Ep. 12".
  13. ↑ BLAST (2025-05-01). "Insania: "Retirement is on my mind"".
  14. ↑ Victor Goossens (2025-10-07). "Aydin has been the perfect representative of what we want Team Liquid to stand for. Excellence at the highest level, without ever compromising who you are or how you treat people.".
  15. ↑ Kristine "Kurisu" Tuting (2021-10-07). "Fans are convinced iNSaNiA is a League of Legends player — here’s why". oneesports.gg.
  16. ↑ iNsan1a (2021-09-29). "Couple years late but 10k MMR pos 5 player".
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