EHOME’s Veteran Player “Old Chicken” Departs After 2.5 Years
After two-and-a-half years of playing for the legendary Chinese team EHOME, Wang “Old Chicken” Zhiyong has decided to leave the team. This news was announced earlier today through a tweet on the organization’s official Twitter account.
Old Chicken gained fame during his time as EHOME’s midlaner from 2015 to 2016. However, he will no longer be part of the team.
Old chicken played a crucial role in EHOME’s success after their two-year break from Dota 2. He joined the team along with offlaner Ren “eLeVeN” Yangwei, turning the team’s fortunes around almost immediately. They secured a fourth-place finish at the Frankfurt Major and emerged as winners in the winter season of the MarsTV Dota 2 League.
Their journey continued with a solid performance at The International 2016, where they faced Evil Geniuses in one of the most exciting Dota 2 matches in history.
Unfortunately, the 2017 season was challenging for EHOME. Despite acquiring TI6 champions Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida and Zhang “y`” Yiping, the team struggled in qualifiers for important events and had disappointing results in minor LAN tournaments.
Old Chicken will be replaced by Keen Gaming’s midlaner Zhai “Ying” Jingkai, in a trade between the two teams. Keen Gaming, also known as “EHOME Keen,” is EHOME’s official academy squad, similar to the relationship between LGD Gaming and CDEC Gaming.
Although Ying is relatively new to professional Dota 2, it is common for top Chinese organizations to sign young talent onto their main team. Perhaps this change will bring the fresh perspective and energy that EHOME needs to reclaim their position as top contenders in the Chinese Dota 2 scene.