ViCi Gaming new roster includes Sylar; forces team into open qualifiers

April 8th, 2016 Cristy "Pandora" Ramadani Teams 4 comments

The ViCi Gaming new roster now includes famed Chinese star Liu “Sylar” Jiajun as a replacement for Jiang “jdh” Donghao. Following a subpar performance and results in the EPICENTER Moscow qualifiers, the team has been one of the first to make changes to their lineup during the roster lock. The switch in the squad bears significant consequences. ViCi Gaming is now required to compete in the Open Qualifiers for both the Manila Major and The International 6.

Sylar joins Vici Gaming after deadline. Burning to off-lane and rOtk to support. #SpringShuffle pic.twitter.com/wCp8mSJfgz

— Wykrhm Reddy (@wykrhm) April 8, 2016

The ViCi Gaming new roster has already been set on their weibo page. The organization is among the first teams to already make changes to their lineup during the Manila Major/TI6 roster lock period. By doing so, the team has forfeited their chance to receive direct or regional qualifier invites to both events. They will now need to participate in the open qualifiers.

Dota 2 ViCi Gaming new roster weibo

In the great Chinese shuffle of the March team registration window, ViCi Gaming looked to Fan “rOtk” Bai and Chen “Cty” Tianyu to revitalize their squad. The organization added the two star players to the lineup when Daryl “iceiceice” Koh Pei Xiang and Lu “Fenrir” Chao both parted ways with the organization to join EHOME, and Xie “Super” Junhao went to CDEC. Xu “Hym” Zhi and Jiang “jdh” Donghao were added as the new blood they hoped would bring some fresh air to their play-style.

ViCi Gaming was directly invited to the EPICENTER Moscow Chinese qualifiers, where they fell flat immediately. Losing in the first round 0:2 to ViCi Gaming reborn, they then were eliminated in the Lower Brackets by CDEC Gaming 1:2. Their performance was shaky at best and coordination appeared to be lacking.

Not wasting any time before the Manila Major qualifiers would be announced, ViCi Gaming has replaced jdh with legendary player Liu “Sylar” Jiajun. Following a very public dispute between Sylar and LGD Gaming, the carry player was released from the team and had not registered with another organization.

As part of the roster change, Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei will move to off-lane and rOtK will shift to support.

ViCi Gaming

ViCi Gaming at TI5

When ViCi Gaming failed to advance into the Upper Brackets of The International 5 main event, they fought valiantly in the brutal best-of-one elimination series and progressed all the way to the semifinals to claim fourth place.

Following the event, Chen “Hao” Zhihao returned to Newbee and the squad recruited Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei as a replacement.

Their new roster made a late debut at the Nanyang Championships LAN, where they managed to come in second. They followed suit with a 6th place finish at the Frankfurt Major. They took 3rd at The Summit 4 and in the Dota 2 Radiant & Dire Cup 2015, 3rd-4th at the Shanghai Dota 2 Open and a slightly less than expected 5th-6th place at the MDL Winter 2015.

They had a surprisingly disappointing performance at the Shanghai Major where they took 13-16th place after seeding into the brutal best-of-one Lower Brackets. Unlike at TI5, they were unable to advance, being eliminated in the first round by Virtus.Pro.