After a much-anticipated wait, ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 champion Azure Ray finally has a complete roster for 2024. Azure Ray took to Chinese social media site Weibo to announce the signing of three new players to complete its roster. The new roster notably features two players who are coming out of retirement to play for the team. Earlier rumors suggested that the newly announced trio would be joining Azure Ray soon. With Azure Ray’s official announcement, it has become clear that they were true.
Azure Ray Complete Once Again
In what seems like a New Year’s gift to its fans, Azure Ray announced its new roster on 1st January 2024. Azure Ray announced the return of two players — Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang and Zhang "Faith_bian" Ruida — who have come out of retirement to play for the team. These two players retired in late 2022, while the last spot on the new team was graced by Chinese Dota 2 veteran, Xu "fy" Linsen.
Earlier, rumors about this potential roster were leaked by English Dota 2 commentator Benjamin "Bkop" Kopilow on Twitter. Additionally, Faith_bian himself confirmed the development later on his stream.
The new roster of Azure Ray is as follows:
Lou "Lou" Zhen
Zeng "Ori" Jiaoyang
Zhang "Faith_bian" Ruida
Xu "fy" Linsen
Jiang "天命" An
The team was left without a midlaner, offlaner, and position four support after the conclusion of the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 tournament. Azure Ray’s former players — mid-laner Guo "Xm" Hongcheng, offlaner Lin "Xxs" Jing, and position four support Zhao "XinQ" Zixing — left the team for Xtreme Gaming. They will be playing alongside Wang "Ame'' Chunyu, another veteran player who has come out of retirement for the next competitive season.
Last month, Xtreme Gaming player Zhao "XinQ" Zixing reportedly said, “Even though we never talked about it in public, everyone involved in it all knows that we will make this change after ESL One Kuala Lumpur [2023],” hinting that the move to Xtreme Gaming after ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 was pre-planned.
Fans should note that Azure Ray and Xtreme Gaming are sister teams and fall under the same owner. On a side note, Dota 2 has seen a lot of players coming out of retirement over the years,. This includes Ame’s much-awaited comeback after more than a year-long break as well as Nigma Galaxy’s Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi’s return to the professional scene after a year. These players have already sparked excitement just with their comeback announcements and the Dota 2 community is excited for what’s more to come in the 2024 season of pro play.
