Chinese esports organization Vici Gaming has signed a new Dota 2 roster and is back in professional play.
The announcement, made on May 28 on Weibo, surprised fans. One of China’s legendary esports organizations is returning after a multi-year absence from the scene.
Vici Gaming’s new roster is very similar to their TI9 lineup, pictured above, although missing Pan “Frisk” Yi. Image Credit: Valve
Vici Gaming’s New Dota 2 Roster Revealed
The post on Weibo revealed Vici Gaming’s new roster, and consisting of some of China’s best Dota 2 players. Here are the players we’ll see in action:
- Zhang “Paparazi 灬” Chengjun (kikyo)
- Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang
- Zhou “Yang” Haiyang
- Hu “Kaka” Liangzhi
- Ding “Dy” Cong
Paparazi is one of the most recognizable names in Chinese Dota 2 and is often regarded as one of Dota 2’s best core players. As most of you probably remember, he used to play for Vici Gaming between 2017 and 2020, so he is back with his former organization.
Ori is another world-class Chinese Dota 2 superstar that fans will see in action. Like Paparazi, he also played for Vici Gaming (between 2017 and 2021). Ori was also a part of Azure Ray but he left the team in July of 2024.
Moving on to the other popular name here, we have Kaka. The 32-year-old hasn’t been a part of Vici before but he played for numerous other top Chinese teams. This includes EHOME, NewBee, iG, RNG, Xtreme Gaming and Team Aster.
Dy is the next Dota 2 star in Vici’s new roster. He also played for the organization before (between 2018 and 2021). The player retired in late 2024, but fans will see him back in action with Vici’s new roster.
Finally, we have Yang, who is probably the least well-known player on the new roster. With that said, he also played for Vici between 2018 and 2020 and between 2022 and 2023.
What’s Next for Vici’s New Roster?
Vici’s new Dota 2 roster will participate in the Regional Qualifiers for The International 2025, as well as all of the other big events. We strongly believe that the Immortal Cup Season 1 motivated many of the names mentioned here to start competing again. There is no arguing that the roster looks great on paper, however, it will be hard for the old-school stars to compete against the new Dota 2 talents.
Nigma Galaxy is in a similar position in terms of players, and we can see that they often struggle against some of the best in the world right now.