The International 2016 (TI6) entered the Guinness World Records for its $20,770,46 prize pool. Furthermore, the champions, Wings Gaming would also be added to the Guinness World Records for winning the largest prize in an esports tournament, $9,139,002.
Although this was the sixth edition of The International it was only now that the tournament would witness the first huge upset. In the months leading to TI6, no one really knew who Wings Gaming were. For most of the Dota 2 fans, Wings popped up only about a month before the tournament when they reached the grand finals of Nanyang Dota 2 Championships Season 2. A week after that event, they gave a clear warning to all teams competing at TI6 by winning The Summit 5 with twenty different heroes picked in the four games they played.
Even so, for the majority of fans, Wings Gaming “came from nowhere” and delivered the most incredible upset on the TI stage.
It was their immense hero pool and unmatched chemistry between all team members that allowed Wings to have an extremely dominant playoff run in Seattle while also keeping everyone entertained and mesmerized by their unique playstyle.
Wings Gaming TI6 roster
Chu “Aventador.cn” Zeyu
Zhou “bLink” Yang
Zhang “Faith_Bian” Ruida
Yiping “y`” Zhang
Li “iceice” Peng
Where are the TI6 champions now?
The Wings story was short-lived. After all the glory at TI6, the five players would end up leaving the organization after a long dispute over unpaid salaries. The organization’s exit from the Dota 2 world was covered with multiple dramas, from legal aspects that nearly got the players banned by ACE, the esports governing body in China, at that time. At the beginning of 2017, the five players would eventually regroup under the Team Random tag and would compete at Kyiv Major 2017, but with no success. Unfortunately, legal aspects that were keeping them tied to the Wings Gaming organization prevented the players from attending TI7, which was the first edition that didn’t have the reigning champions able to compete to defend their title.
Chu "shadow" Zeyu
photo credits: StarLadder
After the team disbanded, shadow’s career spiralled down quite fast. In the following year, he tried his luck with Eclipse and Team Serenity but after failing to qualify for TI for three years in a row, he hanged the mouse and left the esports scene entirely.
Zhou "bLink" Yang
photo credits: StarLadder
Regarded as one of the most entertaining mid laners, bLink switched gears and left the competitive play behind in favour of a coaching career. He took an extensive break between 2017 and 2021 when he joined Xtreme Gaming in the coach seat. However, after a failed qualifier campaign at TI11, he moved to Team Zero, which is Xtreme’s Gaming secondary team formed only this year for the TI12 regional qualifiers. Team Zero placed third in the China regional qualifiers.
Zhang "Faith_bian" Ruida
Faith_bian at TI10
Faith_bian is one of the few Wings players who pushed hard after TI6 and didn’t let the drama stay in his way. Always showing that he is willing to make the extra step, Faith_bian managed to rise above all the challenges and together with the TI6 captain, Zhang "y`" Yiping, fought for his career. In 2017, the two of them joined EHOME.
Given the controversy the Wings Gaming players were in with the Chinese esports government body, EHOME was expelled from ACE and faced multiple setbacks, being limited in what tournaments the team could play in and having limited access to training partners. Even so, Faith_bian and y would stay with EHOME until 2020 when they moved together to PSG.LGD.
Faith_bian’s career was truly revitalized once he arrived at PSG.LGD. Immediately after joining, he placed top 3 in all major events of 2021. He became a Major champion in 2022 at WePlay AniMajor, and before TI10 he won a couple more events. He came close to winning a second Aegis of Champions when he reached the grand finals of TI10. However, it was Team Spirit who defeated PSG.LGD in the grand finals. In the next year, Faith_bian and PSG.LGD would place first in all three regional league Tours, and take the first place at Riyadh masters 2022. The International 2022 concluded with just a top 6 finish for Faith_bian, who announced his retirement immediately after the tournament.
Following TI11, Faith_bian moved with his wife in Germany and is now more present on the English broadcasts. He was on the analyst desk at ESL One Berlin Major 2023 and Riyadh Masters 2023.
Li "iceice" Peng
photo credits: StarLadder
While Faith_bian and y went together to play for EHOME and PSG.LGD, iceice followed bLink at Team Zero. However, much like bLink, iceice took a long break between 2017 and 2023. He joined Team Zero only in May this year and played with them for a shot at qualifying for TI12. It is unknown if he will continue playing in the next competitive season or not.
Zhang "y`" Yiping
y at TI10
Captain y is the only Wings Gaming TI6 champion who is still active. y remained with LGD Gaming after Faith_bian retired and fans will be able to watch him live next month fighting on The International 2023 stage.
Wings Gaming reunion at Chongqing Major
All five TI6 champions were last seen playing together in 2019 when they reunited for a show match against Team Liquid at the Chongqing Major.
