The Dota Pro Circuit 2023 (DPC 2023) is finally underway, and Chinese teams are traditionally fan favorites to watch.

This year however, we have a different narrative forming. With so much of the old talent in the scene retiring, we have a new wave of players and a dose of uncertainty about how China stacks up against the rest of the world.

Are we in for a dark age in Chinese Dota?

First up, EHOME and Invictus Gaming are familiar names in the last DPC season, albeit IG only recently got back into Division 1 bracket. It is still baffling that IG fell from grace so drastically after their commendable fourth-place finish at TI10. And mind you, this is a team that won the Singapore Major versus Evil Geniuses last year after losing two initial matches. While their iconic player, Zhou “Emo” Yi is still active, the rest of the roster is different.

Meanwhile, EHOME revamped their roster for the new DPC season after barely avoiding demotion into Division 2 last season. As such the roster shuffle was justified, albeit they are featuring yet another random stack of players. Regardless, at least it managed to defeat IG earlier today in a clean sweep, so their next match vs Dawn Gaming should be a breeze too.

Return of PSG.LGD

It wouldn’t be proper to talk about DPC 2023 China edition without addressing the elephant in the room, PSG.LGD.

Hailed the strongest Chinese teams of the year 2020-2022, many fans held PSG.LGD in high regard to become a TI Champion. Yet, that dream never truly happen, and TI11 marks the upsetting end of LGD’s legacy.

Wang “Ame” Chunyu, who has played under the PSG.LGD namesake since 2020, is synonymous with the team’s accomplishments. Hence, with his departure alongside Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida and Zhao “XinQ” Zixing, there’s heavy debate on LGD’s future in DPC 2023.

And even though LGD managed to win their first match in DPC 2023 China, it was against a former Division 2 team, Dawn Gaming. Their next match versus Aster.Aries will likely post a tougher challenge, considering Aries’s roster of decent players.

As for Ame, he’s not officially out of LGD’s employee list just yet, quoting LGD’s announcement that Ame is going to “rest to restore,” so fans can hold on to the hope of Ame’s return.

Aster without Ori

Speaking of powerhouses, Team Aster is another high-priority team to watch, being the runner-up at TI11 themselves. However, they are playing without their star player, Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang, who retired from competitive Dota 2.

Nevertheless, Aster remains a strong contender in DPC 2023, considering they have replacements, Zhai “Xwy” Jingkai as mid and legendary coach, Bai “rOtK” Fan.

Their first match against the Knights looked sloppy, having pulled off close calls throughout the entire series. It certainly wasn’t the cleanest execution we typically expect from a team of such calibre, but hopefully, this is enough for Aster to, at least secure top-four.

Their upcoming match vs Xtreme Gaming this weekend will be a testament to their current strength, as the latter team consists of former Vici Gaming players. We are talking about phenomenal players, such as Zhang “Paparazi灬” Chengjun, the iconic support duo, Xiong “Pyw” Jiahan, and Ding “Dy” Cong.

F-GOD returns to VG

As honorable mention, the prominent Rubick player returns to his founding team, Vici Gaming. He’s no other than Xu “fy” Linsen, who goes by F-God for good reasons. This is a major revelation considering VG hasn’t been relevant since dropping their prime roster after TI10.

Perhaps we might just see VG eventually climb the ranks to qualify for TI12, but it’s all the way from Division 2 as their starting point.

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