Azure Ray are down to two after their star players went separate ways.
Six months after they reunited under the Azure Ray banner, Lu "Somnus" Yao, Yang "Chalice" Shenyi, and Xu "fy" Linsen departed the team at their own wish, the organisation announced via Weibo.
Undoubtedly one of the most successful Chinese trio, Somnus, fy, and Chalice gathered at Azure Ray in May this year and made an incredible sprint through the last part of the Dota Pro Circuit to reach the top 4 on The International stage yet again. TI12 marked the fifth time when Somnus and fy reached the finals days at the most important tournament. At three TI editions, in 2018, 2019 and 2023, they made it to top 4 playing side by side on the same team.
Azure Ray road to TI12
This year, by starting late in the DPC, Somnus, fy and Chalice took the longer road to TI and had to overcome regional qualifiers before arriving in Seattle for TI12. Along with LGD, Azure Ray were one of the only two Chinese teams at TI. But despite TI12 being the edition with the fewest Chinese teams in the tournament’s history, both AR and LGD managed to reach the top 4. LGD placed third, while AR finished fourth.
Nonetheless, entering a new competitive season, Somnus, fy, and Chalice are free agents once again. There is no confirmation on whether they intend to join another team or take an extended break and return to active play just in time for next year’s The International.
In the meantime, Azure Ray are expected to compete in less than two weeks at ESL One Kuala Lumpur. Based on their TI12 result, Azure Ray are one of the four teams that received a direct invite to the $1,000,000 tournament, and most likely will reveal their full roster in the upcoming days, so stay tuned!
Zhen “lou” Lou
