Chinese organization Newbee newest roster is one headed by veteran captain Hongda “Faith” Zeng.

Faith will be leading a full Chinese squad for the 2019-2020 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season, though he is most known for leading the Invictus Gaming squad that won The International 2012 (TI2). He had also joined Newbee in September 2016 and helped the team get to the grand finals of TI7, where they lost to Team Liquid 0-3.

While Faith left Newbee in February of this year, he has now returned to lead a squad of young, up and coming players as the captain and Position 5 support player.

Xingyu “Fonte” Lai and Rui “Aq” Yin join Newbee from Typhoon Esports Club, where they also played with Faith, as the team’s Position 1 and 2 players. Lipeng “Wizard” Wen — who previously played under the tag “awen” — and Chao “Waixi” Yan, who were part of the Newbee squad that played in the TI9 Chinese qualifier, round out the roster as the Position 3 and 4 players.



Newbee notably signed the roster of the now-defunct Forward Gaming shortly before TI9, where they finished at 9th-12th place, after their main Chinese squad bottomed out in the Chinese qualifier. With the announcement of their new, fully-Chinese lineup, Newbee’s TI9 roster have now been confirmed to be free agents.

After years of being one of the top teams in the Chinese scene, Newbee now seems set on a rebuild with its new core of young players. Aq and Wizard are notably only 19 and 20 years old, respectively.

“Newbee’s past have won and lost glory, and now we return in search for more […] This brand new Newbee is now together and ready to compete in the upcoming qualifiers. The legacy of the past lingers still, it’s time for us to sail once again!” Newbee said in its announcement.

Newbee Dota 2019-2020 DPC roster:

  • (1) Xingyu “Fonte” Lai
  • (2) Rui “Aq” Yin
  • (3) Lipeng “Wizard” Wen
  • (4) Chao “Waixi” Yan
  • (5) Hongda “Faith” Zeng

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