The Chinese Dota 2 scene may be undergoing an enormous shakeup.
Over on Chinese social media platform Weibo, there is a great deal of chatter hinting at a major player shuffle that is impacting PSG.LGD, Vici Gaming, and more. This comes from VP Esports, who found a number of interesting posts.
In particular, PSG.LGD is set to lose its two longest-standing players in Lu “Somnus” Yao and Xu “fy” Linsen. Vici Gaming’s Zhang “Eurus” Chengjun is also set to be heading to a new team. It is uncertain where Somnus and fy would be going, but speculation from fans and personalities in the Chinese scene is that they are set to join up with other free agents to form a new Chinese team in the same vein as the original Newbee or the classic Team DK.
This follows Four Angry Men, a Chinese organization best known for its PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds team, announcing its intentions to expand into Dota 2. This would be 4AM’s first trek outside PUBG.
It also follows chatter regarding 2019 League of Legends World Championship-winning organization FunPlus Phoenix entering Dota 2. The organization has been looking to expand outside of LoL, and was first seen in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with a new team in Flashpoint Season 1, though that team did not last long.
PSG.LGD and Vici Gaming have not confirmed any roster changes, and FunPlus Phoenix has not confirmed a move into Dota 2. Vici Gaming may have confirmed the news with a post showing its Dota 2 team together with coach Bai “rOtK” Fan, while Eurus was conspicuously absent.
While none of this has been proven true, Chinese Dota 2 has seen a number of major roster shuffles over the years.
Both PSG.LGD and Vici Gaming have been struggling with consistency issues. Vici Gaming started the 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit season strong, but has been hot and cold in online league play. PSG.LGD started the season in disastrous fashion, righted the ship and performed well from March through June, then fell off again over the month of July.
Despite those struggles, fy, Somnus, and Eurus represent some of the most iconic players to be attached to either PSG.LGD or Vici Gaming.
Somnus, formerly known as Maybe, has spent the vast majority of his pro career with the LGD organization, with his current run with the team starting in 2015. fy got his start with Vici Gaming, but has been one of PSG.LGD’s most popular players during his three years with the team. Eurus helped turn Vici Gaming from a perennial contender into a dominant championship organization after joining in 2017.
Each one of these departures would be a blow to their organizations, but fans could be in for a treat if they wound up playing together.
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