THE INTERNATIONAL 2018 TEAM INTRODUCTIONS – VGJ.THUNDER

VGJ.Thunder, formerly known as Team VGJ, is a Chinese professional Dota 2 team. VGJ.Thunder along with VGJ.Storm are both sub-organizations of Vici Gaming and are owned by the American basketball player, Jeremy Lin. All the 3 teams have qualified for TI this year and I will be covering all 3 of them. I already wrote an article on Vici Gaming if you are interested. In this article, I will be covering VGJ. Thunder.

VGJ.Thunder’s current roster:

1. Sylar
2. Freeze
3. Yang
4. Fade
5. ddc

VGJ.Thunder was almost nonexistent this season, until ddc replaced Ayo as the position 5 player for the team. As soon as ddc joined the team, VGJ.Thunder got second place in many of the DPC tournaments, securing them the last direct invite to TI8.

About the Squad:

Freeze, the solo mid player, started his professional Dota 2 career in EHOME.Keen. After the Chinese reshuffle in 2016, he joined VGJ and started getting a lot of attention for his QoP, SF and Ember Spirit plays. He is the young blood of the team and he has established himself as one of the best Chinese Solo Mid players.

Originally acquired by Vici Gaming’s scout squad Vici Gaming Potential in 2015, Yang quickly advanced himself to Vici Reborn. With VG Reborn, he qualified for TI6 but he could not attend due to visa issues. He was replaced by Mikasa. He later joined the main squad of Vici Gaming in 2016. On September 6^th 2017, he left Vici Gaming to join the newly formed VGJ.Thunder.

The captain of the team, Fade, also started out as a player in Vici Gaming Potential. He joined the team after Yang had left for Vici Reborn. During his time in Vici Potential, he gained a lot of attention as a shot caller and a player with good leadership qualities. He was invited to VGJ.Thunder to be the captain, even though he was a very new player in the competitive scene.

VGJ.Thunder’s saving grace ddc is one of the oldest players in the Dota 2 scene and he is also the only Chinese player that has attended every single TI. He got top 6 placement in 4 TIs. Just last year, he got third place at TI7 with LGD.FY. He is one of the best position 5 players in the world.

The Best Carry Player of an Era:

VGJ.Thunder’s position 1 player Sylar, was considered to be the best carry player in Dota 2 till the TI5 era. In an interview by gosugamers.net, Sylar said that he would not retire until he wins a world championship i.e. a TI. He is a veteran player and he came extremely close to winning a TI many times. He got third place at TI2 with LGD, second place at TI4 with Vici gaming and third place again at TI5 with LGD. Unfortunately, he didn’t qualify for TI6 and TI7, but he is back again for TI8 to fulfill his quest of winning a TI.

The Incredible Underdog Story:

After their early performances this season, everyone thought VGJ.Thunder was not be good enough to be considered as a tier 1 team. But through persistence and skill, they proved themselves to be one of the finest Chinese teams. It would be an incredible underdog story if VGJ.Thunder ends up winning TI8.