Welcome to the fourth and final day of the Kiev Major regional roulette. Today it’s time to look at China.
China – The Teams
With China receiving five total spots at the event, the odds of a strong showing from Chinese teams seems likely. DAC reminded the rest of the world that the Chinese teams are to be feared. Let’s take a look at who will be representing China at Kiev:
Team Random (Formerly Wings Gaming) – Direct Invite
Image courtesy of teamliquid.net
Roster:
Position 1 (Carry) – Shadow
Position 2 (Mid) – Blink
Position 3 (Offlane) – Faith_bian
Position 4 (Support) – y’
Position 5 (Support) – iceice
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It seems as if teams and organizations parting way is the flavor of the month heading into Kiev. For the former Wings roster, the reasons are still unclear, but they will be heading into Kiev as Team Random.
The TI6 winners have been without an event win since November 2016. For a team the strength of Team Random, this is not good enough. From watching them play, it seems as if Team Random got too focused on being … random. Team Random will need to returning to winning ways or they may return to the cut-throat world of the Chinese qualifiers.
In the last few events, Team Random have been unlucky with draws and have faced strong opposition early in the tournament. They will be hoping that the swiss format will alleviate some of the issues they have faced in previous events. Team Random have one more event, TI7 in which they are guaranteed a direct invite. They need to find the answer to their recent issues and find it fast.
Newbee – Direct Invite
Image courtesy of teamliquid.net
Roster:
Position 1 (Carry) – Uuu9
Position 2 (Mid) – Sccc
Position 3 (Offlane) – Kpii
Position 4 (Support) – Faith
Position 5 (Support) – Kaka
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Newbee come into Kiev in a great run of form. In the month before Kiev, they have finished third at DAC and first at DPL Season 3. They have also racked up a victory against Chinese favorites IG.
Newbee had a long time without a LAN event but they have arrived back with a bang. They have a strong base of play and are consistent. Newbee are looking to become the first organization to win two TI’s and the first step is a victory at Kiev.
Newbee come into the event as one of the top four teams likely to win it all. The Newbee twitter team are already preparing the memes, let’s hope they are top quality as always.
Team VG.J – Direct Invite
Image courtesy of teamliquid.net
Roster:
Position 1 (Carry) – Agressif
Position 2 (Mid) – Freeze
Position 3 (Offlane) – rOtk
Position 4 (Support) – fy
Position 5 (Support) – Fenrir
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VG.J have yet to reach the heights expected of them. The reason for this is hard to pinpoint. On paper, this is a TI winning team. However, for whatever reason, they cannot put it together in-game. One potential reason could be their inexperienced mid-laner Liu “Freeze” Chang. VG.J is the first top quality roster Freeze has been a part of and it shows. He often makes solo plays that are confusing and leave his team in compromising positions.
The rest of the roster is solid, they have bags of experience and the skills to boot. It is up to the four veterans to carry Freeze to the promised land of a major win. Without it, they risk falling onto the mountain of failed Chinese God-Squads.
Invictus Gaming – Qualifier
Image courtesy of teamliquid.net
Roster:
Position 1 (Carry) – BurNing
Position 2 (Mid) – Op
Position 3 (Offlane) – Xxs
Position 4 (Support) – BoboKa
Position 5 (Support) – Q
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IG head into the event as joint favorites with OG, due to a dominant victory at DAC. In recent times, IG is the first team to make OG look average. In an amazing final, they sweep the three-time major champions 3-0.
IG came into DAC slightly under the radar and they took advantage of that fact. Ye “BoBoKa” Zhibiao was the star of the show at DAC, especially in the finals. BoBoKa’s performance on out of favor hero Riki in game one of the finals was something to marvel at. He crippled the OG support duo with intelligent rotations among other things. Check out some highlights of the finals here for a better idea.
IG come into the event in a place they have never been before. They are one of the favorites and the are the hope of China. How will this affect the squad? Let’s wait and see when Kiev is over.
iG Vitality – Qualifier
Image courtesy of teamliquid.net
Roster:
Position 1 (Carry) – Paparazi
Position 2 (Mid) – Sakata
Position 3 (Offlane) – InJuly
Position 4 (Support) – Super
Position 5 (Support) – dogf1ghts
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IG’s younger brother has not been able to find a similar form to that of their older sibling. Domestically they have been very hit and miss. Qualifying for one tournament, but missing out on the next. IG.V come into the event as one of the weaker Chinese teams, meaning they will probably do quite well.
IG.V is a team that is built around strong team play, rather than overly flashy plays. They hope that they can use this to their advantage during the swiss format. IG.V will need to address some of the drafting issues they have with their relatively limited hero pool.
China – Summary
It is no surprise that of the five Chinese teams attending Kiev, they were all at DAC. China is a region returning to power. China was the original Dota 2 superpower and history is beginning to repeat itself. With a winner likely to come from China or Europe, the pressure is on for the first event in recent history. Newbee and IG are the most likely teams to take home the crown. VG.J is hoping they will not become another failed god-squad. Team Random are hoping to achieve a strong placing heading into TI7. IG.V will be looking to step out of the shadow of IG and make a name for themselves.
China v. Europe will be the biggest regional battle at the event. The future is bright, but is the future China?
Where do you think the Chinese teams will place when it’s all said and done? Let me know in the comments below.
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