Just one day after Four Angry Men finally revealed its Dota 2 roster, one of its players has already reportedly been dropped from the team.
Veteran multi-position player Liu “Sylar” Jiajun was a shocking addition to the roster, with many predicting that former Vici Gaming star Zhang “Eurus” Chengjun, otherwise known as Paparazi, would be on the team. And Sylar’s inclusion on the roster was reportedly a surprise to his new teammates, too.
The other 4AM players—Lu “Somnus丶M” Yao, Zhou “Yang” Haiyang, Xu “fy” Linsen, and Ru “RedPanda” Zhihao—weren’t aware that Sylar would be joining the team, according to a Reddit post from user yjygwzs, someone who frequently posts information surrounding the Chinese Dota scene.
They, like many others, were reportedly expecting to have Eurus join them despite fy saying negotiations for his transfer from Vici Gaming fell through. 4AM and VG were rumored to have a transfer payment of around $260,000 lined up but 4AM backed out, according to yjygwzs.
The post claims that the players didn’t know about the organization’s plans to sign Sylar and decided to kick him from the roster. All four players also reportedly decided to take salary cuts so that 4AM could successfully pay the transfer fee to get Eurus.
4AM has since deleted the original team announcement from its Weibo page and hasn’t made any additional posts surrounding the Dota roster.
Fans of the organization and Chinese Dota are also angry with the organization, both for not signing Eurus from the start and also kicking Sylar immediately after announcing the roster.
“This incorrigible organization deleted their post,” one fan said on Weibo. “If Professor Sy (Sylar’s nickname) has really been kicked, it doesn’t matter what players the team manage to get, they will all become the shame of the Dota circle. The poor management of the team is a disgrace to the scene, fully explaining how this venture lacks transparency and honesty.”
Overall, this move isn’t that surprising since Eurus is viewed as one of the most skilled carry players in China.
Sylar, while a legendary figure in the history of Chinese Dota, has underperformed in several events over the last few years during his time with Team Aster and EHOME. He’s also been involved with drama before, including multiple problems with his former teams like PSG.LGD, VG, and Aster, along with their management.
4AM has yet to confirm Sylar’s removal from the team, but the original Reddit post claims Sylar confirmed he was kicked on stream, though no VOD is accessible.
