Yang Returns to Vici Gaming
Chinese Dota 2 offlaner Zhou "Yang" Haiyang has returned to Vici Gaming’s roster in the midst of the Chinese Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) 2021-22 Tour 2. A post on Weibo by Vici Gaming announced this move, welcoming Yang, who returned to the roster after “five hundred and sixty-two days of separation.” He replaces Li "Irving" Jian who left the team on 22nd Feb 2022 but is still listed as a member of the team on Valve's Majors Registration page. Vici Gaming also noted that Yang shall only be able to play a limited number of series during Tour 2 due to his physical condition and the rules of the DPC.
Vici Gaming welcomes Yang back to its Dota 2 roster
Having played as the stand-in offlaner for Vici Gaming during its second series of Tour 2 against LBZS on 18th March, the organization has confirmed Yang's official addition to the roster in an official Weibo post.
Vici Gaming's Dota 2 roster now includes the following five players.
Yang "poyoyo" Shaohan
Guo "Xm" Hongcheng
Zhou "Yang" Haiyang
Zhao "Yds." Jiayi
Chen "Victoria" Guanhong (captain)
Yang played for Elephant during the DPC 2021, but the team disbanded after a subpar finish at The International 10 (TI10) where it finished 13th-16th. Unlike many of his teammates from Elephant, the offlaner did not find a new home for Tour 1 of the DPC 2021-22.
While Yang spent his last season as an Elephant player, he has spent the remainder of his Dota 2 career with Vici Gaming. Since joining Vici Gaming Potential in March 2015, he has played for more teams under the organization, such as Vici Gaming Reborn, VGJ.Thunder, and the main roster until September 2020.
He enjoyed the most success with the primary Vici Gaming roster, during his five year stint with the organization, which included victories at the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor Season 1, DreamLeague Season 11, EPICENTER Major 2019, and the ONE Esports Dota 2 World Pro Invitational Singapore. In addition, he placed 2nd at the MDL Chengdu Major and 5th-6th at TI9.
Yang and other Vici Gaming members after winning the EPICENTER 2019
Yang's official inclusion for Tour 2 has come in after the roster lock on 27th Feb, meaning that he will be viewed as a stand-in and be allowed to participate in up to four out of the seven series as per DPC rules. So far, Vici Gaming has played two series in Tour 2: one against PSG.LGD with Irving and another against LBZS with Yang. So, Irving, who left the team on 22nd Feb but remains an official member of the team, must play at least two more series for the team in the Tour.
The statement from Vici Gaming added that Yang is recovering from a surgery that he had a year ago, so this limited schedule will also help him manage his workload.
The team had a middling Tour 1 showing, finishing fifth, but will aim to make a turnaround this time and qualify for the Spring Major as well as win some crucial DPC points. Vici Gaming’s next series will be against Royal Never Give Up on 22nd March.
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