LaNm leaves Xtreme Gaming to join Azure Esports

Zhang “LaNm” Zhicheng is one of the oldest professionals in Dota 2. At 33, his coaching skills are certainly useful to any Chinese team.

But after the failure registered by Xtreme Gaming at ESL One Berlin Major, LaNm moved to Azure Esports, a new team with a great roster that includes legends like Lu “Somnus” Yao and Xu “fy” Linsen.

LaNm’s contribution will be vital to the team’s success, but the players are already knowledgeable enough to make Azure one of the best competitors in China and perhaps the world as well.

LaNm’s past results

As a player, finished second at The International 2011, after his team got defeated by Natus Vincere in the Grand Final. He competed at four other editions of The International, always finishing in the top eight.

In other tier 1 tournaments, he won with teams like EHOME or played in the Grand Final, with teams like Vici Gaming. Overall, his career as a player was quite successful. Not spectacular, but certainly respectable.

As a coach, LaNm did not enjoy the same level of success, but he still has impressive results that are worth mentioning. In 2022, he won Intel World Open Beijing, finished third at PGL Arlington Major, played in the Grand Final of ESL One Malaysia, and then finished fourth at The International.

He achieved all this with Team Aster, who are currently struggling to secure a top 12 DPC spot that would grant them a direct invite to The International 12.

In March 2023, LaNm moved to Xtreme Gaming and hoped to lead them to a good result at the Berlin Major. But unfortunately for him, Xtreme finished 9^th-12^th at this tournament after a lower bracket defeat against Team Liquid. This essentially meant that they got no money and no points. It was a total disaster.

So, just two months after changing his team, LaNm decided to move again. This time, he has joined a very exciting new project. The players that form the foundation of Azure Esports are legends in Chinese Dota and their achievements surpass even those of LaNm.

This means that the coach himself will need to work hard to keep up with whatever strategies fy and Somnus might be dreaming up at night. The region is extremely competitive and Azure will need to play well to secure a spot in Division I.

Header: PGL