Team SMG was prepared for The International 2022 and had everything worked out. With the acquisition of #iceiceice and #Poloson, the Dota2 squad was hoping to get past the TI11 regional qualifiers, but SMG's hopes were dashed when the company missed the deadline for submitting their roster.

Poloson and iceiceice were forced to leave the team when TI was absent, and SMG chose to replace them with Marvin #Xavius Rushton and Lee #CDR Jia He.

Meanwhile, China has been losing momentum as a Dota 2 region, so Vici Gaming, a well-known team with a TI victory under its belt, was unable to advance past the most recent Last Chance Qualifiers, necessitating roster adjustments.

The org revealed today that Guo #Xm Hongcheng, Pan #Fade Yi, and coach Wang #Liekkas Yutian's contracts will not be renewed by Vici.

SMG’s Photo Finish

This action introduced job modifications and completed SMG's Dota 2 lineup for the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit. MidOne will move into position three, a position he is accustomed to from his time on OG, to make room for CDR.

CDR is in position one of the SMG in 2023, followed by Kam #Moon Boon Seng in position two, MidOne in position three, Tue #ah fu Soon Chuan in position four, and Xavius in position five (position five).

MidOne switched to playing position three when OG hired him in 2020, despite having played position one or two for the majority of his Dota 2 career. CDR will take control of the safe lane after MidOne steps down, and Xavius will be by his side.

While CDR is still in the early stages of his career, Xavius recently finished a successful run with Polaris Esports, who advanced to the TI11 Last Chance Qualifiers. Polaris outperformed expectations throughout the group stage, earning a position in the higher bracket, only to lose the match in two rounds.

Given that the organization missed the deadline for roster registration during the previous edition of SMG, the group is highly unlikely to repeat the error. The group will seek retribution for a significant opportunity they lost last summer.

Vici Starting Fresh

While Liekkas and Xm had been a part of the group for more than a year, Fade had only joined Vici in August. The squad had great expectations for the roster given that all of the departing players had distinguished careers under their belts prior to joining Vici, however those expectations were not reached.

Since Vici is obligated to submit a roster before the 2023 DPC roster lock date, it is likely that the organization will shortly announce its newest members. A team's future in the DPC season may be affected if a roster is not finalized.

Vici could be better suited looking via the free agency market and making room for up-and-coming talent within the scene as Chinese Dota 2 players frequently have scary buyout clauses. Although the number of players in the region has been declining over time, those looking to break into the competitive Dota 2 scene are still making every effort to get noticed by Vici-caliber teams.

Only Yang #Erika Shaohan, Li #b a b Kongbo, and Zhou #Yang Haiyang are still at Vici as of this writing.