Azure Ray had quite an impact on the Chinese Dota 2 scene in the year 2023, reviving it to a semblance of how it used to be in its glory days. This came in terms of performances and the kind of roster shuffles that they have had in the region in that period.
AR has had to change more than half of its roster twice in the last three months, and now, they are bringing back retired legends. Two players who have been in Dota 2 retirement since 2022, Faith_bian and Ori, will return to competitive play under AR’s banner.
However, despite their return in midlaner and offline, the position four spots in the team is still vacant. Ori will play in the midlane, while Faith_bian will be the offlane.
AR announced the inclusion of Ori and Faith_bian on New Year’s Eve on their social media.
Azure Ray’s comprehensive roster shuffle last year was heavily criticized and contested by its competitors before ESL Kuala Lumpur DQ, but AR prevailed and won the tournament.
Meanwhile, in a shocking turn of events after the ESL Kaula Lumpur DQ, three of AR’s players left the roster while some went to Xtreme Gaming. Some of the players who left, Xm, Xxs, and XinQ, joined AR for just one tournament, but after winning a trophy together, a lot expected the team to stick around.
However, it’s impressive for AR to be able to put together a strong and competitive roster after one dissolved, but there may be an issue for AR in Dota 2 in the future as Valve’s rules do not allow teams that are owned by the same organization to compete together in an event together.
In Dota 2’s competitive calendar this year, AR and Xtreme may participate in non-Valve events together.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
