With the onset of the first Lan tournament in the form of China Dota2 Pro Cup Season 1 after the coronavirus pandemic, we have finally witnessed the scrambled pieces of the Chinese Dota Scene fall into place. Almost all the major teams of the region have finally revealed their rosters, not only confirming some rumours but also leading to some surprising changes.
The Chinese Shuffle Explained
EHOME and PSG.LGD
There have been a considerable amount of player swaps between teams in addition to some rosters getting completely revamped.PSG.LGD and EHOME exchanged players, with the majority of the EHOME squad moving to PSG.LGD barring Liu "Sylar" Jiajun. These 4 players from EHOME join Wang "Ame" Chunyu to complete the squad, who makes his return to PSG.LGD after a short stint with CDEC Gaming. EHOME, on the other hand, have welcomed Yang "Chalice"' Shenyi and Jian Wei "xNova" Yap from PSG.LGD and Guo "Xm" Hongcheng and Zhou "James" Yifu from CDEC Gaming. The final player of this Chinese squad is the fan favourite Song "Sccc" Chun who became a free agent earlier this month after his contract with Team Aster expired.
| Final EHOME Roster: | Final PSG.LGD Roster: |
| Song “Sccc” Chun | Wang “Ame” Zhunyu |
| Guo “Xm” Hongcheng | Cheng "NothingToSay" Jin Xiang |
| Yang “Chalice” Shenyl | Zhang "Faith_bian" Ruida |
| Zhou “Yif” Yifu | Zhao "XinQ" Zixing |
| Jian Wei “xNova” Yap | Zhang “y`” Yiping |
Invictus Gaming and IG.Vitality
Next in the Chinese scene, we have the organisation of Invictus Gaming. While the main squad of the organization remained intact, its developmental organization iG Vitality added 3 new players, two of them being Li “Irving” Jian and Cui “QYQX” Chenyang, both relatively amateurs to the Chinese Dota setup. The 3rd player to be added is Lin “doodle” Zikai, who last played for Team Sirius. Further, Gao “@dogf1ghts” Tianpeng has moved to the coach position for the Chinese team.
ViCi Gaming and Team Aster
The Chinese powerhouse ViCi Gaming’s roster changes marked the departure of arguably the best Chinese Carry, Zhang "Eurus" Chengjun and the arrival of Thai carry Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon, who was removed from the Fnatic roster earlier this season. Ren "eLeVeN" Yangwei has made a return to the team and will be playing the offlane role. Yang "Erica" Shaohan, a talented young individual will be the 6th player of ViCi Gaming and will likely play in 23savage’s role until the Thai player clears out the Visa issues arising due to the current pandemic.
For Team Aster, we have Du "Monet" Peng coming in place of Sccc and Liu "DD白学家" Yuhao in place of ChYuan after he chose not to continue his career in China. Captain Fade has been replaced by Jiang “天命” An. Monet is considered one of the best carries in the Chinese region and will be a treat to watch with a rather experienced team than his previous one, Royal Never Give Up.
ViCi Gaming Roster
- Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon
- Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang
- Ren "eLeVeN" Yangwei
- Xiong "Pyw"' Jiahan
- Ding "Dy" Cong
Team Aster roster:
- Du "Monet" Peng
- Liu "白学家" Yuhao
- Lin "Xxs" Jing
- Ye "BoBoKa" Zhibiao
- Jiang "天命" An
Sparking Arrow Gaming has been rebuilt from the scratch welcoming Xue "September" Zhichuan and Su "Flywin" Lei in place of Chong “FelixCiaoBa” Wei Lun and Zhong "圣子华炼" Liushuai in a roster swap with RNG. Deng "Dstones"' Lei , who last played for Team Sirius has been brought in as the midlaner for the Chinese team. To complete the roster, Wang "J" Wenjun joined in as carry while Xiao "XCJ" Chaojian has been taken on a trial basis in place of Ru "RedPanda" Zhihao.
Final Sparkling Arrow Gaming Roster:
Wang “J” Wenjun
Deng “Dstones” Lei
Su “Flywin” Lei
Xue “September” Zhichuan
Xiao “XCJ” Chaojian
Finally, the veterans of the Chinese Dota scene, Xu "fy" Linsen, Lu "Somnus丶M" Yao, Zhang "Eurus" Chengjun and Zhou "Yang" Haiyang in addition to Ru "RedPanda" Zhihao are rumoured to be a part of the new 4AM roster with many sources confirming the same. If it is official, they arguably look like the strongest Chinese team on paper.
You can watch most of the Chinese teams listed above, in action at the China Dota2 Pro Cup Season 1 which has already begun today i.e 17th September 2020.
