Chinese esports organization Vici Gaming is back with a new Dota 2 roster, and this time it actually seems like they’re in it for at least the next several months. Guo “Xm” Hongcheng, who placed second with Xtreme Gaming at The International 2025 (TI14), is undoubtedly the biggest signing in this lineup. There’s also Chung “Ws” Wei Shen, who showed flashes of brilliance in his nearly two years with Talon Esports, is also a significant piece here.
The rest of the roster is composed of mainstays of the tier 1 Chinese scene: Lou “Lou” Zhen, Xiong “Pyw” Jiahan, and Ding “Dy” Cong. Former XG coach Wang “Maps” Yutian will be taking up coaching duties.
Back for good?
Prior to this roster, Vici Gaming had actually fielded one specifically for the TI14 China open qualifiers, which featured Hu “Kaka” Liangzhi and Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang alongside Dy. And just as anyone might have expected, they didn’t even make it past the second round of the lower bracket. Losing to Tearlaments with elimination on the line basically doomed the lineup immediately, and so they disbanded as soon as their qualifier run was over.
This time, though, VG are signing a new lineup without an International qualifier tournament in mind. They’ll be the latest team joining the post-TI14 roster shuffle as such, and hopefully they’ll be sticking around for at least the foreseeable future. China absolutely needs every win the region can get right now, especially coming off the back of Xtreme Gaming almost winning TI14.
Still the same faces
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like anything will change on that front any time soon. This new look VG is all just the same people that I’ve been watching for years on end now (with the exception of Ws, but he’s from Southeast Asia), and there’s no new blood coming through at the top level in China. Other games like League of Legends and Honor of Kings are just way more popular over there right now, particularly with younger players looking to become pro gamers.
The cruel irony is that I personally think that I’d be singing a different tune if XG won the TI14 grand final match. That would have been a huge jumpstarter for the Chinese scene, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Thankfully, there is some hope: Roar Gaming recently qualified for PGL Wallachia Season 6, and for once the roster is actually composed of players whose names don’t just jump out as the same 15-20 veterans that have been around for ages.
But if anything, at least Xtreme Gaming proved at TI14 that the formula does still work sometimes. They had Wang “Ame” Chunyu leading the charge for them, while the rest of the lineup had legends like Lin “Xxs” Jin and Zhao “XinQ” Zixing coming along. Add one Malaysian player in the form of Yap “xNova” Jian Wei, and you’ve got the recipe that Chinese teams have been running with for a while.
This recipe is exactly how Vici Gaming is built right now — so if they can find their groove, they might just uplift the Chinese scene. And when the Chinese scene is doing well, it’s always good for pro Dota.
