XinQ Talks About His Return to Competitive Dota 2

Zhao "XinQ" Zixing, a renowned Chinese position four player who has enjoyed great success and recognition in the past three years, has been absent from competitive Dota 2 for four months now. While fans eagerly await the explosive position four's return, it appears that he isn't in a hurry to play again. According to XinQ, he no longer wants to play competitively in the absence of his former lane partner at PSG.LGD - Zhao "Faith_bian" Ruida. In addition, XinQ, who placed second at The International (TI) in 2021, noted that it is difficult to rise to the top again and find teammates to embark on this journey with.

XinQ says he is not ready to return to competitive Dota 2

The comments XinQ made regarding his return to playing professionally were published on Twitter by user CN Dota In A Nutshell (@Tr1H4rd3rDota2), who is very often the source of remarks and opinions by the Chinese players.

As XinQ described, while Faith_bian's decision to walk away from the game has a significant impact on him not returning, he also believes his best shot at winning TI has already come and gone.

In 2021, the PSG.LGD version of the team was among the strongest ever seen in pro Dota 2, making it an obvious top favorite to win TI10. The team had reached the grand final with considerable ease after demolishing opponents in the group stage and the playoffs, however, it was defeated 3-2 by a resolute Team Spirit which carried over from its dream lower bracket run.

XinQ stated that to embark on a similar journey, he will require teammates with common goals, describing synchronization between the players as the key to success. A successful Dota 2 team cannot be put together just by assembling top players, he added.

While at PSG.LGD from 2020 to 2022, XinQ won multiple tournaments, the most noteworthy being the Riyadh Masters 2022 and the WePlay AniMajor. A highly versatile player, he was capable of finding and nuking the enemy carry quite early into the games, either by himself or with the assistance of a midlaner.

From this PSG.LGD roster, in addition to XinQ, carry Wang "Ame" Chunyu and offlaner Faith_bian have also not played competitively since TI11. Faith_bian officially announced his retirement soon after TI11, and Ame and XinQ have also shown little to no desire in returning. Both of these players appear to be content livestreaming for the time being.