LGD’s hour of need: September’s visa denied twice, third attempt pending

LGD’s Xue “September” Zhi Chuan has been plagued with visa issues in the final moments leading up to TI6. With his visa being denied two times already, the first-time International participant remains anxious for the decision of his third attempt.

Last week, on July 13th, LGD revealed that Xue “September” Zhi Chuan was having problems obtaining his visa and was denied for the first two application attempts.

September isn’t the only member of the LGD staff having difficulties. The new manager, ReBorN0405, has also had his application denied twice.

At that time, the organization reported they were in contact with Perfect World and Valve in preparation for their third application attempt.

Wang “Banana” Jiao – the team’s official substitute – is already in possession of his US visa, along with the rest of the team members.

All of the remaining members of LGD’s lineup had traveled to the US before, having competed in TI5 for various teams, last year.

Two days ago, September took to Weibo post, seemingly desperate and anxious – posting crying emoticons and asking to “give, please”.

September joined LGD in March 2016, during the last roster change window. Prior to that, he was a member of CDEC Avengers – his first professional team – between January and March of this year.

Since joining the legendary organization, he has been able to travel to both the Philippines for the Manila Major and Kiev for StarLadder i-League with no complications.

TI6 visa issues

Thus far, the two Filipino teams TnC Gaming and Execration are also frantically working with the US Embassy, Valve and government officials after having their US visas rejected.

The managers of the two Southeast Asian teams have told Esports Inquirer that they were advised by the US Embassy to apply for P1 Athletes visas instead of B1/B2 visas (Business-Tourist). Reportedly, Execration had applied for US TI6 visas on July 8th, while TnC started the visa application procedures on July 15th. According to the two teams, they initially applied for B1/B2 visas under Valve’s advisement.

The two teams are currently receiving guidance from Valve and Senator Bam Aquino (the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship and the Senate Committee on Youth, in the Philippines), a self admitted Dota 2 fan, who helped Team Rave with their visa complications on several occasions, last year.

TI5 visa complications

Last year, after an onslaught of visa denials right before The International 5, Valve reached out to US Senator Maria Cantwell and asked for help providing assistance to struggling teams.

Akbar “Sonneiko” Butaev’s US visa was denied for three times, last year, right before The International 5. The support player managed to get approval during his fourth appointment at the US Embassy.

Chinese team EHOME faced the same situation, last year, when Chen “Cty” Tianyu got his US visa request denied before The International 5. At that time, LGD’s Business Development Consultant, Orrin Xu, reported that the US Embassy “completely disregarded Valve’s invitation letter”.

TI5 Wild Card contenders, Vega Squadron, went through the same struggles, when Semion “CemaTheSlayeR” Krivulya’s visa application was denied twice. CemaTheSlayeR faced the same situation once again, when he was forced to stay behind in Moscow and arrive later in Frankfurt for the first Dota 2 Major, due to visa complications.

Visa issues have been plaguing Dota 2 ever since TI2 and before that. While on the Mousesports roster, Alexandru “ComeWithMe” Crăciunescu was denied his US visa and replaced by Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi for The International 2012.

LGD Gaming

LGD Gaming at the Manila Major © PGL

LGD Gaming announced their new roster for the Manila Major and TI6 season, on March 18th, 2016. On the heels of the much public departure of Liu “Sylar” Jiajun and Fan “rOtk” Bai, Zhang “xiao8” Ning returned from being inactive and was joined by CDEC’s famed Sun “Agressif” Zheng and CDEC.Avenger player Xue “September” Zhichuan.

The once Chinese Dynasty ended their Shanghai Major run with a 9th-12th place finish. LGD was eliminated in the second round of the main event’s brutal best-of-one Lower Brackets by compLexity Gaming.

In the team’s first major LAN debut at StarLadder iLeague Dota Invitational, LGD showed some spectacular performances and seized the third place finish. They followed up their performance as the Chinese team to qualify for ESL One Frankfurt 2016 LAN, after overpowering ViCi Gaming.Reborn, 3:1, for the spot.

The team continued to impress taking a fourth place finish at the Manila Major and then receiving the direct invite from Valve for TI6.

LGD roster:

Sun “Agressif” Zheng
Lu “Maybe” Yao
Zhang “xiao8” Ning
Lei “MMY!” Zengrong
Xue “September” Zhichuan
Wang “Banana” Jiao