There truly is no such thing as an actual retirement in the Chinese Dota 2 scene, because Xu “fy” Linsen is coming back as an active player for Xtreme Gaming. A legendary soft support player known for his flashy and highly impactful Rubick play in the first decade of professional Dota 2, fy been away from the scene for more than a year now, leading many to think that he was hanging up the mouse and keyboard for good.

Xtreme Gaming sees the return of fy to the Dota 2 roster

Meanwhile, XG are swapping out some of their pieces for new faces elsewhere on the roster.

The Rubick god

As I said, fy made a name for himself in the mid-2010s playing Rubick from the 4 position. The way he handled the hero like an absolute maestro was something to behold, and honestly you just had to be there when he was at the height of his powers. Not even Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat or Hu “Kaka” Liangzhi can touch him as far as being the greatest Rubick player of all time, as fy has more than 50 matches over them at the professional level.

He’s not just good at Rubick, either — he’s also known for his Earthshaker and Io, which are two of the most reliable and ubiquitous heroes in history when it comes to pro play. It remains to be seen whether or not he’s still as good as he used to be, particularly in 2018 when he came second at TI8 thanks to OG’s miraculous championship run.

But if he’s anywhere near that good coming into XG’s roster now, he might just be what finally gets them over the hump at TI15 next year. Of course, Wang “Ame” Chunyu will have to stop choking first, which I personally don’t think will ever change at this point.

Other XG roster changes

Guo “Xm” Hongcheng and Zhao “XinQ” Zixing have both left XG, with fy replacing XinQ . As for Xm, Team Tidebound’s Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang will be slotting in. NothingToSay didn’t impress to the level I expected him to at TI14, so he’s going to have to step it up if XG want to get anywhere this season.

Yap “xNova” Jian Wei will likewise be a part of the lineup full time from here. He was previously on Azure Ray’s inactive list, but XG’s announcement confirms that he will indeed sign a contract with the organization. He is one of the most consistent support players ever, and while he might not be on the same level as Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon as far as hard supports are concerned, he is certainly up there on the list of top picks in that role.

We’ll be seeing this new look XG at DreamLeague Season 27 in December.