The Shanghai Major was one of the most catastrophic events for Chinese Dota to date, from both a production and performance point of view. The resulting online outrage caused mainly be the huge disappointment Chinese fans felt was not limited to just the production though, as numerous Chinese players were criticized heavily on Weibo for their lackluster effort and their poor displays of gameplay.
RotK arguing with Chinese netizens on Weibo
Furthermore, in an interview with Swindlezz during the Shanghai Major, he stated that “[he] generally feel that work ethic takes you further [a longer way] than talent or experience and the Chinese teams just don’t try, just don’t care.” All these comments regarding the state of Chinese Dota have raised questions for the common Dota fan, and led to a number of bold predictions about the future of Chinese Dota.
Some argued that the Shanghai showing was just an outlier for the Chinese giants, while others thought Chinese Dota was dead. China immediately showed the latter to be incorrect with consecutive dominant showings by Wings Gaming, Vici Gaming Reborn, and Newbee in international events. Looking at the upcoming Manila Major, Chinese teams are eager to put up a good fight against the western powerhouses to prove that Chinese Dota is still a strong contender in the international scene.
Roster Updates
The most immediate fallout saw a the post- Shanghai Major reshuffle that drastically altered team rosters once again. The most notable transfers included the separation of the Vici Gaming support duo Fenrir and Fy along with the formation of VG.R, the migration of iceiceice to EHOME, Kaka joining Newbee as the team captain, and the return of Xiao8. As discussed in my previous feature article, “Chinese Dota: What Happened?” the prominence of young players is vital, and the blend of young players and veteran players will eventually become the dominant roster archetype. VG.R’s success at Starladder i-League introduced the world to the young and talented offlane player - Yang. Kaka began to show his worth as the drafter at Newbee which contributed heavily to their record breaking 29-0 win streak. Last but not least, Wings Gaming’s run at ESL One Manila proved that young players can also outplay the veterans. In addition, organizations have begun to leave behind the mindset of blind trust towards traditional players as we see the addition of youngsters such as September to LGD, kpii to Newbee, and Yang to VG.R.
Teams Overview
Newbee
Once closely associated with the RPG meme, Newbee is now one of the top contenders at the Manila Major. After the Shanghai Major, Newbee introduced two new players to their roster - Damien 'kpii' Chok and Hu 'Kaka' Liangzhi. Although kpii had previous exposure to international tournaments such as TI5 with MVP Phoenix, Newbee’s decision to have him join the roster left a question mark in many Chinese Dota fans’ minds. However, this question mark was quickly erased. One of the scariest aspects of kpii is his broad hero pool, as he's seen great success with the mainstream offlaners such as Doom, Faceless Void, Dark Seer, Tidehunter, Batrider, and even Axe. The versatility kpii offers a boost in the drafting possibility of Newbee which leads to the second addition of Newbee - Kaka.
During his time in EHOME, Kaka has always been criticized by the Chinese fans as the weak link of the team. Although he had some success with Earth Spirit, people still thought his plays were extremely unstable compared with his team mates. This view was completely reversed after joining Newbee. In Newbee’s interview with Phoenix Games, Mu and Chuan were both impressed with Kaka’s drafting ability. This was reinforced at EPICENTER where Kaka’s drafts and support plays both contributed to their 29-0 run.
In China, the hopes for Newbee are extremely high due to their rigid roster and their performance at Epicenter. Without a doubt Newbee is one of the best teams in China currently, but their 29-0 record comprised of mostly online tournament matches, which is not to say that this record is not outstanding, but it can be misleading for a lot of audiences. The Manila Major is the best chance for Newbee to show their improvements and worth after the reshuffle.
Wings Gaming
Wings Gaming had always been an underrated team until the moment they won ESL One Manila, defeating the Shanghai Major runner-up - Team Liquid. Wings is very similar to CDEC at TI5. Comprised of five young players, their first breakout came at WCA last year where they defeated Team Secret. While they were suspected of cheating against Team Leviathan, their victory in Manila showed the world that CDEC’s run was not a lucky one, that young Chinese players have the ability to be the best in the world.
Wings Gaming’s style of play and hero pool is extremely broad. In the recent grand finals of The Summit 5 qualifiers against VG.R, they picked 22 different heroes with the only duplicates being Bounty Hunter, Alchemist, and Batrider. In their first match they opted for a ranged pushing lineup with Drow Ranger, in the second match they switched it up into a Dragon Knight and Nature's Prophet mid-game aggression lineup. In the fourth match they decided to revolve around a Batrider gank oriented lineup. Finally, they closed out the series with a four-protect-one gank-oriented lineup. This huge versatility within a team can offer a strong advantage during the drafting phase, and this can be crucial to the potential success of Wings at the Spring Major.
Wing’s practice rules are also very well known for being extremely strict. In their interview with Jiangsu.China, they talked about some of their practice rules. For instance, they have to begin everyday at 11:00 in the morning, other games are prohibited during practice hours, practice hours can be as long as 12 hours or more. As a result, players have developed injuries like a bad wrist and a worsened herniated disc. While many Redditors have criticized these rules being inhumane, the players themselves expressed that this is crucial to their success. They enjoy every moment of their practice and seeing improvement makes it all worth it.
Zhang 'Xiao8' Ning is widely regarded as one of the greatest captains in the history of Dota. After the Shanghai Major, his return to LGD gave high hopes to their fans, but the results they obtained were mediocre relative to expectations. Xiao8 is criticized in China for the lack of consistency in his performance, most notably on Batrider, and while it is undeniable that Xiao8 offers plenty of substance as team captain, the deterioration in his level of play is also evident. While they’ve consistently defeated tier two teams in China in online qualifiers, they seem to lack consistency in their performance, such as losing to Invictus Gaming during The Summit 5 qualifiers.
Xue 'September' Zhichuan is another player that came onto the radar of western dota fans after his addition to LGD, despite having already made a name for himself in China for being one of the best Phoenix players. His addition to LGD provides a new source of threat as Phoenix is often a respect ban by the other teams.
When LGD was announced as one of the invited teams at the Manila Major, the commnity consensus was shock because they have not had a great showing after the reshuffle. However, China still has high hopes for this team due to their faith in Xiao8, so hopefully LGD can perform up to fans’ expectations.
Vici Gaming Reborn
VG.R first caught the attention of the Dota scene when the reshuffle concluded for two reasons. The first one is the addition of Xu 'fy' Linsen, and the second the return of Yang 'Zyf' Pu. Zyf left the professional scene after EHOME’s run at TI5 to be a substitute for Burning in VG. After his return and debut in the Starladder i-League Invitational, his performance proved to be consistent and superb, as he mastered heroes such as Lifestealer, Slark, Gyrocopter, and Juggernaut. Zyf is widely regarded in China as the best Chinese carry player currently.
VG.R’s roster is another blend of new and veteran players. Wang 'Nono' Xin and Zhou 'Yang' Haiyang were both relatively unknown before their addition to VG.R’s roster but are proven talents, and during their run at Starladder Yang’s offlane plays were one of the core reasons for their success. While Mikasa stood in for Nono during Starladder, people don’t give him enough credit for VG.R’s success.
After Starladder, VG.R placed second in the qualifiers of The Summit 5 and ESL One Frankfurt losing to two other invited teams, Wings Gaming and LGD respectively. However, the skill level between the invited teams is extremely narrow, which gives VG.R a decent chance of performing well at Manila Major. A potential danger for this squad is Nono’s lack of LAN experience as he did not attend Starladder. If they are able to perform consistently with their online results, their run at Manila should not be underestimated.
Final Words
China’s recent success in tournaments does not necessarily bode well for the Chinese teams as there is still a lack of consistency. However, with the skill gap between teams narrowing with every tournament, it is likely that China will once again become a top contender at the Manila Major.
title imge source: dotamy.com
