The Chinese Dota 2 team Azure Ray made an official announcement stating that Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida, a three-position player who was part of the TI-winning team, has departed. This news was shared on Sep. 18 via social media.
Replacing him is Li “niu” Kongbo, formerly from LGD Gaming, where he secured a third-place finish at TI12.
Image Credit: ESL FACEIT
In their announcement, Azure Ray welcomed their new three-position player:
“We warmly welcome the new member Niu to join. As a well-known domestic player, Niu has played for many well-known clubs and achieved an impressive third place in TI12.”
The current Azure Ray roster includes:
- Position 1: Lou (Lou Zhen)
- Position 2: Han (Gu Jiahan)
- Position 3: Niu (Li Kongbo)
- Position 4: planet (Lin Hao)
- Position 5: Piqiu (Yu Yajun)
- Coach: Super (Xie Junhao)
- Manager: Suan (Xie Xinbo)
Faith_bian’s departure marks the end of a relatively short tenure with the team. He joined Azure Ray in December 2023 and helped elevate the team’s performance, contributing to the resurgence of Chinese Dota 2 on the global stage.
Unfortunately, Bach’s time with Azure Ray came to an unsatisfactory conclusion as the team failed to qualify for The International 2024, with regional competitors Team Zero and G2 x iG securing spots instead. During the qualifiers, Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang substituted for the injured Gu “Han” Jiahan.
The roster changes reflect Azure Ray’s transition phase, as they currently have two players on loan from other teams. Han is borrowed from Dark Horse, while Lin “planet” Hao is on loan from LGD Gaming.
Azure Ray is gearing up to participate in both PGL Wallachia Season 2 and the DreamLeague Season 24 qualifiers in the upcoming weeks.
