Bach and bLink replaced by niu and Yao as they exit Team Tidebound

Team Tidebound founding members Zhang “Bach” Ruida (formerly known as “Faith_bian”) and Zhou “bLink” Yang have left the squad, according to the organization’s post on their official Weibo account.

Bach and bLink were both key pieces in their rise to the top of the Chinese scene in the 2024-2025 Dota 2 season, with their campaign culminating in a first place finish at Clavision Masters in early August this year.

Wings buddies

Bach and bLink were both part of the International 2016 (TI6) championship winners Wings Gaming, making them both certified Dota 2 legends. Wings Gaming brought a highly unpredictable style of play to the world stage that year, and is still one of the most beloved squads in Dota history despite their rather short run together.

They would go on to found Team Tidebound in January 2025, bringing in Zhang “y`” Yiping with them — also a former member of the TI6 Wings Gaming roster. It took them a while to find their groove as Tidebound, but like I said, they eventually broke through with a win in front of a raucous Chinese crowd at Clavision Masters.

Unfortunately, their success didn’t quite continue into TI14, where they didn’t even manage to win a single map during the playoffs. Fortunately, they put in a good enough performance in the Swiss group stage to guarantee themselves a top 8 finish at the very least, though clearly this wasn’t enough for Bach and bLink to stick around.

Retooling for the future

So now they’ve got a significantly tweaked roster heading into the new competitive season. Firstly, former assistant coach Li “niu” Kongbo will be going into the offlane position, replacing Bach in the process. Incidentally, niu was teammates at LGD Gaming with almost every single one of the Tidebound members from the previous season, bagging third place with them at TI12.

As for bLink, his role as coach will be filled by Yao “Yao” Zhengzheng. That name should be familiar to older Dota fans like myself; Yao was one of the longest-standing members of LGD in the first decade of Dota 2 esports. This makes him of the most experienced Chinese players ever, and should provide plenty of guidance and insight to Team Tidebound’s games this season.

Additionally, the void left by Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang’s departure and subsequent transfer to Xtreme Gaming will be filled by Xu “Echo” Ziliang. Echo has been playing the solo mid position since beginning his professional in 2019 with KG.Luminous, known primarily for being Keen Gaming’s B-team.

He last played for LGD when it comes to the highest level, although he spent just less than four months with them before returning to the tier 2 scene. His best result in terms of placements was at Clavision: Snow Ruyi in 2024, though he did help LGD win $100,000 at Riyadh Masters before that.

My initial assessment? These are strict downgrades to the two outgoing members, and I’m honestly not very confident that Tidebound will continue to be a mainstay in tier 1 tournaments from here on. Sure, they’ll make an occasional appearance here and there at a premier LAN, but I don’t expect that they’ll be in consideration for direct invites any time soon.

I personally hope this take ages poorly, though, because it would be a shame to see the foundation laid by Bach and bLink just go to waste now.