The i-League was the first LAN event to be announced for the post-TI4 era, with ImbaTV, the casting studio behind the tournament urging it ahead even before TI4 had begun. The i-League is ImbaTV's first foray into tournament organisation, and it began with them running a crowd-funding campaign on a Chinese platform, raising close to US$260,000 in addition to their base $16,000 contribution. 70% of that crowdfunding will be going to the prizepool, with the rest being used to cover logistics expenditure such as teams' travel and venue booking. On top of that, ticket sales have raised the combined prizepool by another $36,000, resulting in a total of ~$310,000 prize pool.
It is notable that the i-League LAN finals were postponed by 3 weeks due to the original scheduling clash between them and the World eSports Championships earlier this month. The LAN event will be held in Shanghai, which will feature a single elimination bracket, with two best-of-3s every day, except for the Bo5 Grand Final on 28 September.
This is the second LAN event in the post-TI4 era, and this LAN will feature some of the lesser known teams in both China and the West, while also highlighting the growth of the Korean scene. Notably, some of the better known teams in China will be missing the event: LGD's main squad, HGT, as well as NewBee missed out on qualifying for the tournament, after falling to TongFu.OB as well as LGD.CDEC.
It looks set to be an entertaining tournament already, and the English cast will be provided by both Beyond the Summit as well as joinDota, so be sure to catch the action live!
The Teams
Vici Gaming
The new Vici Gaming roster looks amazing of late, with Xu 'Fy' Lin Sen in the drafting chair, and the versatility of Daryl 'iceiceice' Koh and Dominik 'Black^' Reitmeier paying off dividends in their creative laning. It speaks volumes that following a slightly shaky start and worries that they will have communication issues, VG have not dropped a single map, much less a match in China since losing 2-0 to EG in the WEC Loser's Bracket Finals. That is, they have swept nine Best of 1s, five Best of 3s, and a Best of 5 without losing an Ancient a single time.
This win streak of theirs might be attributed to luck, or to perhaps the shaky state of Chinese Dota given the number of fresh faces entering the top teams. Yet, it also goes beyond being a pure fluke, with the number of comebacks they have made, and the exhibition of new playstyles across the board - iceiceice's Tiny comes to mind here.
VG will definitely look forward to win this tournament and cement their position as the premiere team in China, and will surely have the chance to do so given the relative inexperience of the rest of the competition.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Jun Hao 'Super!' Xie (C) |    | 2nd - The International 4 | 2nd in World |
| Dominik 'Black^' Reitmeier |    | 3rd - The Summit | Common Picks in 6.81 |
| Daryl 'iceiceice' Koh |    | 2nd - Sina Cup Season 3 |   |
| Lin Sen 'Fy' Xu |   | 2nd - WVW April | Overall Winrate in 6.81 |
| Chao 'Fenrir' Lu |    | 3rd - WCA 2014 | 94 - 62 (60%) |
NewBee
Following the fairy tale that was The International 2014, Newbee had to face the loss of their leader and friend xiao8. The Chinese veteran decided to step back from the competitive circuit, leaving a big void behind. In the big roster shuffle, Newbee reportedly paid 800,000 RMB to acquire the services of Rabbit.
The former LGD-Gaming player however had big shoes to fill and the missing presence of 'director eight' seems more apparent than ever as the team has struggled to display their once so dominant gameplay. The TI4 champions had to sit back and watch Vici Gaming climb to the top of the Chinese scene. In five encounters with the TI4 runner-up, Newbee was not able to win any map, conceding crucial losses in decisive matches. While Newbee still managed to grab a 68% winrate in September, the team has not been able to impress and disappoints with inconsistency. The i-League LAN finals will be the perfect opportunity for the five players to redeem themselves.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Pan 'Mu' Zhang (C) |   | 1st - The International 4 | 3rd in World |
| Zhi Hao 'Hao' Chen |    | 1st - MarsTV Dota 2 League | Common Picks in 6.81 |
| Jiao 'banana' Wang |    | 2nd - ECL 2014 | |
| Zhao Hui 'Sansheng' Wang |  | 2nd - WVW Nest June | Overall Winrate in 6.81 |
| Wang 'Xiaotuji' Wang |   | 3rd - WPC-ACE Season 2 | 96 - 49 (66%) |
Invictus Gaming
IG are yet another previously super-star squad that seems to have lost its way in the post-TI4 reshuffle. Having lost captain YYF to retirement and drafter Faith to LGD, iG have been struggling to make a dent in the Chinese scene of late, failing to make it to the WEC LAN finals, and dropping games every so often. It is interesting to note that iG play without a true carry player: Luo is not known for playing the hard 1 position - he often plays utility heroes to fit in with the rest of his team's lineup.
With the promotion of ChuaN to the captain's role, it is interesting to see how the temperamental and passionate support player will change the team in the months to come. Paired with former iG support CHisbug, much will depend on his shoulders to ensure that Ferrari gets the space he needs to carry the game. Their other new member, June, is yet another young talent who aspires to great things, and with the volatile nature of iG's players and team, they are definitely a team to watch for.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Hock Chuan 'ChuaN' Wong (C) |  | 7th/8th The International 2014 | 4th in World |
| Yinqi 'Luo' Luo |  | 1st - WPC-ACE League 2014 | Common Picks in 6.81 |
| Feichi 'Ferrari_430' Luo |  | 3rd - Esports Champions League | |
| Chen 'CHisbug' Li | Rest N/A | 1st - WVW Nest June | Overall Winrate in 6.81 |
| Shiyang 'June' Lin |  | 1st - Netolic Pro League #5 | 77 - 49 (61%) |
LGD.CDEC
Despite having some early success in the immediate post-TI4 period - qualifying for WEC and taking matches off big-name teams like VG, iG and NewBee, LGD.CDEC have not been able to prove their pedigree against the top teams in China. A long string of losses have put them further down in our GosuRankings, and perhaps the hype around the team led by Lu 'Maybe' Yao was simply just that: hype.
Sporting the same roster they have had since their creation, LGD.CDEC are seen as the overshadowed younger brothers of the LGD squad. Ironically, LGD.CDEC have made it into the i-League LAN finals, where they will then go up against giants VG in their first match. What will happen? Will they become the giant killers they were from a month ago? Or will they have to return to the drawing board and attempt to re-find themselves?
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Lu 'Maybe' Yao (C) |  | 5th-8th - WEC 2014 | 25th in World |
| Yutian 'Seven-333' Wang |   | Common Picks in 6.81 | |
| Xinzhou 'Garder_' Liu |   | | |
| Yi 'Q-HHH' Zhang | | Overall Winrate in 6.81 | |
| Zheng 'Xiaohong' Sun |  | 19 - 24 (44%) |
Virtus.Pro
Virtus.pro is one of the Russian powerhouses in the Dota scene. Fielding rosters for several years, the organization has always been able to secure some of the most notable and popular players from the CIS region. The new roster however seems to be different than before. Before, the team would always go back to names such as Ars-Art or NS to lead the team, now however it seems as if they cared less about names and more about stability.
This team was able to be a dominant force in the European scene shortly after TI4, being able to display less flashy performances but rather convincing ones. None of these players are new or inexperienced, on the contrary: all these players have been around for quite some time, having played with some of the most experienced and skilled players of the CIS scene. Now, these players have teamed up to show that they don’t have to hide behind big names anymore.
VP however has fallen off from a 65% winrate in August to a 45% winrate in September, but the team is still looking strong. Except for God, it will be the team’s first venture into China.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Sergey 'God' Bragin |   | 3rd - Netolic Pro League 5 West | 18th in World |
| Yegor 'JotM' Surkov | | 2nd - Techlabs Cup May | Common Picks in 6.81 |
| Vladimir 'yol' Basov |    | 3rd - joinDota League #2 | |
| Vadim 'Sedoy' Musorin | | 3rd - Game Show League 1 | Overall Winrate in 6.81 |
| Stanislav 'Bzz' Glushan |   | 54 - 52 (51%) |
Tongfu.OB
This OldBoys team is one comprising of the legends of old in Chinese Dota. From Yitian '820' Zuo to Yao 'Zhou' Chen, Tongfu.OB have one of the most stacked lineups in Chinese history, albeit with the tagline that they are playing for fun. The creation of this team was meant to be that of a recreational and semi-serious team to pariticpate in tournaments, and allow some glimpses at the retired players' glorious pasts. Now sponsored by TongFu, they made it into i-League and will definitely be searching for some glory in their first tournament together as a team.
With this much past talent on a team, never count them out. While it remains to be seen if the team can get going on the highest level in China, it is definitely a team to be feared with its swarth of talented and experienced players. With the recent acquisition of a sponsorship from TongFu, it is also highly possible that they may be aiming for more glory in a resurgence of past players, more so than just competing for fun. Whatever happens, they are definitely a maverick in the upcoming matches for this LAN event.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Yao 'Zhou' Chen (C) |   | N/A in professional play | 36th in World |
| Cen 'YYF' Jiang | | Common Picks in 6.81 | |
| Bin 'DD' Xie |  | N/A | |
| Yitian '820' Zuo |   | Overall Winrate in 6.81 | |
| Xiang 'LongDD' Huang | | N/A |
Power Rangers
Much like VP, most of Power Rangers’ players perform and play under the radar of the majority of the Western community. However the team was able to play itself in the spotlight throughout the past year, being able to perform on par with the top teams. It was to no surprise that captain fng got picked up by one of the best teams, Na’Vi. The team shuffled slightly and acquired the services of experienced player wejustzik.
After initial success, the team seems to be struggling though, only achieving a 32% winrate this month. The team fails to put up consistent performances, being able to take games from high tier teams but dropping games just as easily. I-League will be the team’s first time in China (except for j4 and wejustzik) and the first time they compete against Asian teams, a chance for Power Rangers to turn things around.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
|
Oleg 'wejustzik' Zinovenko (C) | | 2nd - Gigabyte Challenge | 19th in World |
|
Maxim 'Sachlo' Abramovskikh | | 4th - Dota 2 Champion's League #3 | Common Picks in 6.81 |
| Lipai 'j4' Aliaksei | | 1st - Techlabs May 2014 | |
| Kastrama 'chshct' Yauheni | | 3rd - CIS Carnage | Overall Winrate in 6.81 |
|
Mikhtseyeu 'Moonlight-' Uladzislau | | 19 - 24 (44%) |
Rave
Rave is the Filipino challenger representing Korea/SEA at the i-League. In the best of 1 single elimination tourament, Rave took out teams like Johnny's Revenge and MVP.Hot6 to clinch the final crown, and as such earned their place in Shanghai. Despite being a team of Filipinos, Rave has instead been playing in the Korea Dota League, clocking good results across the board. While the team may be relatively unknown to a Western audience, the team is actually comprised of some old names in the scene: from Jio 'Jeyo' Madayag to Michael 'Ninjaboogie' Ross, this is a team with solid players at every position with history in the SEA scene.
Since this will be their first major international LAN event, Rave will definitely look forward to make themselves felt in the upcoming matches. They will be playing against PowerRangers in their first match, and it looks set to be a thriller between two aggressive teams.
| Team Roster | Notable/Signature Heroes | Team Achievements in 2014 | GosuRanking |
| Jio 'Jeyo' Madayag (C) | | 2nd - MPGL SEA Class S Leg 4 | 27th in World |
| Michael 'Ninjaboogie' Ross | | Common Picks in 6.81 | |
| Ryo 'ryOyr' Hasegawa |  | | |
| Mark 'Cast' Pilar | | Overall Winrate in 6.81 | |
| Djardel 'Chrissy' Mampusti |  | 12 - 17 (41%) |
Bracket and Schedule
Prizepool
1st: $96,505 (50%)
2nd : $38,602 (20%)
3rd/4th: $19,301 (10%)
5th - 8th: $4,825 (2.5%)
The prizepool is listed in US$.
Picture of Rave from Rave's Facebook, picture of Tongfu.OB from Tobiwan's Twitter, Virtus.pro logo from pc-gracz.pl
