Road to The International: Newbee
By brownsfantb 0 Comments
The International 7's group stage is underway. To get you prepared, I'll be previewing each of the teams at the event. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to get all of the previews up before the group stage began but I will still be putting up new previews for the rest of the teams throughout the week. Next up are the TI4 champions and the final invited team, Newbee. Check back the rest of the week for more previews.
Newbee was originally formed in early 2014 as a "superteam" filled with successful Chinese players. That team would live up to the moniker as they took home the top prize at TI4. Since TI4, Newbee has grown into a full-fledged Chinese organization that is consistently present at the top tournaments across the world (although they're not always successful at those tournaments). The team that Newbee brings to TI7 does not include any of the players that won the tournament 3 years ago but they do have a former TI champion as their captain. Zeng "Faith" Hongda won TI2 with Invictus Gaming and joined Newbee after last year's TI. Faith had been to the first 5 TI's but failed to qualify for TI6. He came over to Newbee from TongFu with teammate Xu "Moogy" Han. They joined up with the 2 remaining players from the TI6 Newbee, Damien "kpii" Chok and Hu "Kaka" Liangzhi. Rounding out the roster is Song "Sccc" Chun, who was called up from Newbee's youth team, Newbee Young.
During this past season, Newbee dominated their Chinese competition but struggled at International LAN's. Their play in Chinese events earned them invites to both of this season's majors in Boston and Kiev, but they failed to make it out of the first round at both tournaments. Leading up to the TI invite announcement, many wondered if they were deserving of one after those failures. But, with wins at the ZOTAC Cup Masters and Galaxy Battles in Junes as well as a 2nd place finish at The Manilla Masters in May, Valve felt they had done enough to get one of the six invites. For Newbee, this is an opportunity to reclaim the Aegis and shake off their disappointing results at Valve-sponsored events since TI4.
| Player | Role | Country | Signature Heroes | Best TI Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xu "Moogy" Han | Carry | China | Juggernaut, Drow Ranger, Sven | First TI |
| Song "Sccc" Chun | Mid | China | Invoker, Queen of Pain, Shadow Fiend | First TI |
| Damien "kpii" Chok | Offlane | Australia | Slardar, Axe, Legion Commander | 7th-8th (TI5 - MVP Phoenix) |
| Hu "Kaka" Liangzhi | Support | China | Sand King, Earth Spirit, Nyx Assassin | 9th-12th (TI6 - Newbee) |
| Zeng "Faith" Hongda (C) | Support | China | Rubick, Shadow Shaman, Ancient Apparition | 1st (TI2 - IG) |
Notes
- Newbee holds the record for the most consecutive wins in professional Dota 2 at 29 during April-May 2016.
- A win is a win, however Newbee's Grand Final victory over Vici Gaming at TI4 is widely considered to be the least exciting Grand Final in TI history. All 4 of the games in that final were less than 30 minutes and the deciding game in the series was just 15:08.