With The International fast approaching, several teams across the world are preparing to give it their all to clinch a spot in the crown jewel tournament of Dota 2.
Southeast Asian org, Neon Esports have decided to bring out the former TI winner the Malaysian legend Wong “ChuaN” Hock Chuan from its coaching position and add him to its player roster.
Let’s take a look at what ChuaN was up to in the last years and why this location for The International is so important for the Dota 2 SEA teams.
ChuaN’s last comeback
ChuaN is the first SEA player to win The International, back in The International 2012 , when he became an inspiring figure for all the SEA players and set a precedent. He was a member of the famed Invictus Gaming team. Team Invictus was also the first Chinese team to win The International.
ChuaN has not played professional Dota 2 since 2018, and he joined Neon Esports as a coach in late 2021. The squad placed sixth in the SEA DPC Division I under ChuaN's direction, only one tiebreaker short from qualifying to the Stockholm Major.
Now it seems they believe that one last missing piece of the puzzle is none other than their own coach ChuaN.
SEA Teams will battle on their native soil
The International will be played in Singapore this year, marking it as a “must to attain” objective for all SEA teams since it is in their region.
Having the support of the home audience is invaluable when it comes to esports so we may be seeing many more SEA teams making it to the TI this year as compared to the previous years.
Neon is definitely making moves and showing that they are striving for the top spot now with ChuaN in their roster. With this roster change the team also tackled the problem of building cohesion since ChuaN was already coaching them beforehand and built up a nice synergy among the team since 2021.
