Newbee has acquired the ex-Forward Gaming roster just in time The International 9 in three weeks.
An unlikely match of two groups that found themselves in a precarious situation heading into TI9 seems to be a perfect solution for them both.
It took only three days for the players of Forward Gaming to find a new home after being unexpectedly dropped from their organization. The CEO cited financial problems and inability to keep his TI bound roster any longer, leaving them as free-agents with just three weeks until the pinnacle of all Dota 2 events.
The runner up team for The International 7, Newbee, had a subpar DPC 2018-2019 season, unable to land themselves at a single DPC event. Only last weekend they were able to rise up from the ashes and claim the WCG 2019 title and $80,000 prize. That still didn't take the sting out that the once Chinese titans would have no representation at The International 9, being hosted in their own country.
Now, Newbee answered the call by the North American team and has acquired the roster for the big event. Being dubbed as Newbee. International, the players are heading to China now for Bootcamp and preparations.
Most likely Newbee is keeping their Chinese team for the time being with no announcement of them dropping them and Valve's rules for this season have stated:
Team Ownership & Invites
Looking ahead one year to The International 2019, in cases where one organization or person has ownership in multiple teams, only one of those teams will be eligible to compete in The International, regardless of DPC qualifying points. All teams can participate in the Pro Circuit Majors and Minors leading up to next year’s TI, but all ownership conflicts will need to be resolved prior to TI Regional Qualifiers. This includes cases in which players have financial ties to other teams.
The Chinese organization is able to field both teams as only one is TI bound. But it does beg the question - What will the Chinese organization do after the conclusion of TI9 and will their decision be contingent on the final results?
Although a Chinese organization supporting an international lineup is rare, it's not unheard of.
Old Timer fans will remember LGD.International from October 2012-December 2013 featuring players such as Rasmus "MISERY" Filipsen, Per Anders Olsson "Pajkatt" Lille, and Dominik "Black^" Reitmeier and then the infamous Speed Gaming roster in 2013 that featured Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao, Pittner "bOne7" Armand and WehSing "SingSing" Yuen.
Newbee roster
Yawar 'YawaR' Hassan
Quinn 'CCnC' Callahan
Jingjun 'Sneyking' Wu
Arif 'MSS' Anwar
Johan 'pieliedie' Åström
The International 9
Valve will bring the biggest Dota 2 event of the year to the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China —home of infamous Shanghai Major of 2016. The venue is an indoor arena located on the former grounds of Expo 2010 in Pudong, Shanghai, China, with a seating capacity for 18,000 people. All 18 teams are confirmed to attend - Team Secret, Virtus Pro, Evil Geniuses, ViCi Gaming, Fnatic, PSG.LGD, Team Liquid, NiP, OG, Keen Gaming, TNC Predator, Alliance, Mineski, Na'Vi, Infamous, RNG, Chaos and Newbee. The prize pool has exceeded $25 million and that of TI8 (more than $23 million added by crowdfunding) and is now over $30 million with a few weeks still to go until the big event.
