The Great Shuffle of China: IG signs a Dota 2 super team with Monet, xNova, and NothingToSay

Look at them. They're the captains now.

LGD Gaming competing at TI 2023 Dota 2 event.
Image via Valve

The Chinese Dota 2 region had one of its worst performances in 2023, but it all came together at The International 2023, with LGD and Azure Ray securing a top-four finish. Even still, no team is safe during the roster shuffle season, and Invictus Gaming just announced its super team today on Weibo.

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Snatching Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang from LGD and Du “Monet” Peng from Team Aster, IG completed its roster with other legendary names: Yap “xNova” Jian Wei, Ye “BoBoKa” Zhibiao, and Thiay “JT-” Jun Wen.

IG has been away from major tournaments for a while since the organization struggled to assemble a roster that could rise above its regional competition. With LGD performing well above expectations at TI 2023, many expected its roster to stay together, but IG successfully added NothingToSay to its ranks while surrounding him with an impressive lineup of stars.

Monet has been an incremental member of Team Aster’s success in 2022, where the team emerged as the sole representative of the Chinese Dota 2 scene major events. XNova, on the other hand, has been a fan-favorite player ever since TI11, where he had to play alone on the stage after his teammates tested positive for COVID.

BoBoKa has been hibernating since July 2023, and IT comes off from a year-long stint with Xtreme Gaming where he won the second DPC tour of 2023.

On paper, this team looks quite impressive, and with the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023 qualifiers starting today, they’ll get to test their synergy versus some of the finest teams of their home region. China only has one qualifier spot for the event, so competition is expected to be relatively high, even though most teams just got together after TI 2023.

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Image of Gökhan Çakır
Gökhan Çakır
Gökhan is a Staff Writer and Fortnite Lead at Dot Esports. Gökhan graduated as an industrial engineer in 2020 and has since been with Dot Esports. As a natural-born gamer, he honed his skills to a professional level in Dota 2. Upon giving up on the Aegis of Champions in 2019, Gökhan started his writing career, covering all things gaming, while his heart remains a lifetime defender of the Ancients.