EHOME is still struggling to find its place in a crowded Chinese Dota 2 scene, but the organization seems to have a clear strategy on how to improve: Sign more former champions.
The storied organization unveiled a new Dota 2 roster that includes another winner of The International. Joining the team is legendary mid laner Luo “Ferrari_430” Feichi. The organization revealed the news on social media.
This is a long-awaited return to the top tier of professional Dota 2 for Ferrari.
Previously the face of Invictus Gaming, Ferrari helped transform that organization into one of the greatest forces of Dota 2’s early years. Unfortunately, the high point of his championship victory at The International 2012 was followed by a long decline alongside Invictus Gaming that lasted until he split from the team in 2016.
Ferrari has been something of a journeyman since, spending most of his time with teams Newbee Boss and Big God. He started working towards a return to a top team at the start of the 2018-2019 Dota Pro Circuit season by taking the helm of Newbee’s developmental Mr. Game Boy team.
When Newbee began promoting talent from its secondary squads to its main roster, Ferrari was left out of the action. Whether this led to his split from the organization is unknown, but he now joins an interesting EHOME roster that could be primed for big things.
Ferrari now joins former Big God teammate, The International 2014 champion, and fellow legend Zhang “xiao8” Ning. Also on the team are The International 2016 champions Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida and Zhang “y” Yiping, though Faith_bian has been made inactive due to a broken arm.
The casualties of this shakeup are Li “ASD” Zhiwen and Jiang “天命” An. The two players have been competing for EHOME since September on loan from CDEC Gaming and Keen Gaming, respectively. Though they have helped reestablish EHOME as a top team with a first-place finish at the Bucharest Minor and a top-six showing at the Chongqing Major, their run with the team came to an end when EHOME was among the first teams eliminated from the DreamLeague Major.
Though EHOME fizzled in its last major showing, the team is still well positioned moving forward. It remains in the top 12 of the Dota Pro Circuit standings and will receive a direct invitation to The International 2019 if it can keep that spot. EHOME is currently positioned to do so, as it is already set to compete in the Chinese qualifiers to the MDL Disneyland Paris Major.
The new EHOME will make its debut opposite Newbee.
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