PSG.LGD and XinQ part ways

If you ask any Dota 2 fan which is the best Chinese team of the past five years, everyone will say PSG.LGD.

It’s hard to argue against the statistics. Even though they haven’t yet won The International, they played in multiple Grand Finals of the event and won several Dota Pro Circuit Majors during this time.

PSG.LGD’s prestige and roster

Only a handful of teams have achieved results comparable to those of PSG.LGD. The list includes Team Secret, OG, and Team Liquid. But unlike these latter teams, PSG.LGD rarely change their roster.

The last time we’ve seen them doing this was in September 2020. For two years, no changes were made. And now, all of a sudden, two of them have happened. One was caused by Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida’s decision to retire. At the age of just 24, he’s had enough of professional Dota 2 and has chosen an easier life.

Like many other esports professionals who have made a similar choice at a young age, he may come to regret it and change his mind in a year or two.

XinQ’s departure

The other player that has left the club is Zhao “XinQ” Zixing. The name may not sound too familiar to some, but many will remember him as the guy who got told by his coach to go wash his face. This happened in the Grand Final of The International 11 after PSG.LGD lost game one against Team Spirit.

TI True Sight beautifully captured this tense moment and 13 months later, it seems that Zhang “xiao8” Ning, the coach of the team, has decided to make a roster change. Of course, it’s perfectly possible that the player asked to leave. But it’s unlikely.

After all, XinQ achieved very little before joining PSG.LGD and will likely fall back into obscurity in a year or two. Some players are very good if they have the right leadership and teammates. On their own they can’t accomplish much.

If XinQ manages to find a top Chinese team that is interested in his services, he may remain at the top for a few more years. But if not, his future looks much less bright than his past.

Replacements

Right now, it’s very hard to predict where the replacements for XinQ and Faith_bian will come from. Several other top Chinese teams are missing at least one player, so nobody is willing to share the remaining superstars. But as everyone knows, money talks. So a club of PSG.LGD’s caliber will certainly prove capable to make a top acquisition.

Header: Saudi Esports Federation