Ana to Stand in for RNG at the PGL Arlington Major
Following his return to competitive Dota 2 at the Riyadh Masters 2022, Anathan "ana" Pham will also be returning to the Dota 2 Pro Circuit (DPC) in the PGL Arlington Major 2022. It will be Royal Never Give Up (RNG) who is going to be playing with the former two-time The International (TI) winning carry player. Ana will fill in for RNG's carry player Daniel "Ghost" Chan Kok Hong, who has been unable to secure a visa to the United States (US) despite repeated attempts, according to the Chinese organization.
Ana to replace Ghost on RNG at the PGL Arlington Major
In a post on Weibo, RNG expressed regret that Ghost's visa was not approved, which prevented him from traveling to Arlington for the Major with the team, and stated that they will be playing in the tournament with Ana as a stand in. With ana now playing as the replacement carry, RNG said it will strive to achieve good results and hoped for fans' support.
The following five players will be a part of RNG's Dota 2 lineup for the PGL Arlington Major.
Anathan "ana" Pham
Lu "Somnus M" Yao
Yang "Chalice" Shenyi
Hu "kaka" Liangzhi
Yap "xNova" Jian Wei
According to the Chinese esports website uuu9 a week ago, RNG faced visa troubles for Ghost and was meant to skip the Riyadh Masters 2022, which was held from 20th to 24th July in order to work on securing a US visa. He, however, ended up playing for RNG at the Riyadh Masters.
Now, Ghost will be replaced by ana at the Major, whose reports of joining RNG as a stand-in had begun to surface on social networking sites in recent days. Ana, who has been away from the competitive scene since announcing his retirement in June 2021, has lately shown hints of wanting to play professionally after also filling in for Team Liquid in place of Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen at the Riyadh Masters.
Liquid did not have the best showing at the Riyadh Masters 2022, but ana looked impressive in many of the team’s games, displaying his expertise on heroes such as Spectre and Juggernaut.
After Xtreme Gaming, Fnatic, Talon Esports, Thunder Awaken, and Entity, RNG is the next team to suffer visa complications in regards to traveling to the PGL Arlington Major. This is a significant tournament for RNG, which is currently ranked 15th in the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) with 738.42 points.
According to Liquipedia, the current threshold to cross for a direct invite to The International 11 (TI11) is 1296 points, therefore the team will need to finish in the top four at the event which will net it 590 points. This threshold, however, can alter as the event proceeds. The Major takes place from 4th to 14th August.