Photo courtesy of Newbee
Damien 'kpii ' Chok has left Newbee after two years with the Chinese organization. It is the first roster change for them since before The International 2017.
Newbee had a strong run and spectacular performance at The International 7, but it ended with them coming in 2nd place after a heartbreaking 3:0 defeat at the hands of Team Liquid. Narrowly missing the Aegis, they decided to keep together and go another round as a team.
As the runner-up team from TI7, they were bestowed invite after invite to the first round of DPC events. Not having to participate in the competitive qualifiers, their first match of the new season didn't take place until October when they clinched China's LAN spot for DreamLeague Season 8. Their run through the season was filled with peaks and valleys, a roller coaster of emotions and results on the road to TI8. They were able to take points at ESL One Hamburg, DotaPit League, StarLadder iLeague Invitational 4, DreamLeague Sesaon 9, Bucharest Major, MDL Major and the titles at ESL One Genting and Perfect World Masters, but falling short with disappointing results at Starladder iLeague Invitational 3, ESL One Katowice, DAC 2018, EPICENTER XL, ESL One Birmingham and the China Super Major. If the start of the season was a bit stronger, the end of the season was definitely weaker —having trouble in finding their way out of the group stage at times.
TI8 was a disaster for the team. Ending the groupstage in the 5th position with an 8:8 record, they were relegated into the unforgiving best-of-one lower bracket elimination series at the main event. Squaring up against the new CIS sensations Winstrike Team, they were never able to really find an opening or their footing and after 55 minutes being on the losing end of the battle, they were officially out of TI8 with a 13-16th place finish.
It is no surprise to many to see some changes happening for the fractured Chinese team. The first to make any move turns out to be Austrailian based core player Damien 'kpii' Chok.
kpii has played in Chinese teams since EHOME in 2015 and joined Newbee in March 2016 - over two years he spent playing for the blue and white banner. It is not known now if he will stay in China or head to another region - the world is his oyster at this point.
Newbee has not made any official announcements on replacements or any other changes in the lineup yet.
Current Newbee roster:
Xu 'Moogy ' Han
Song 'Sccc' Chun
Zeng 'Faith' Hongda
Hu 'Kaka' Liangzhi
