Xm said that Chinese Dota is back

Vici Gaming's Dota 2 midfielder Guo Xm Hongcheng spoke out after defeating Team Falcons in the match for reaching the semifinals of the Esports World Cup 2026. Go shared his thoughts in a post-match interview on the official broadcast.

[Question: “They had five days to prepare for this match. They watched all your games, sat in their room, rested, and you come out and close them 2:0. Did they expect everything to be so easy?”] Yes, we expected exactly this result, because five days is a huge pause. A very long break. Our hands were as warm as possible, but theirs were not. [Question: “After such a convincing victory over a strong team like the Falcons, can we finally say that Chinese Dota is back?”] Yes, Chinese Dota is back.

In addition, Go spoke about the choice of heroes for mid.

[Question: “Yes, it was clear that your hands were really hot. Especially from your Lina on the first map - an incredible performance. But I have to ask about Dagon: did you take it more for the damage or for the range? What was the idea? Have you done this before?] I actually saw this build on TikTok. I was just looking at the shorts and thought, "Okay, this looks like it's going to work." And when I saw my opponent’s draft, I decided that this build would be suitable here. And, as you can see, it really worked. [Question: “You just ruined a bunch of publics, thank you very much. Now more of the worst builds in the world will appear on TikTok. Okay, let's move on to Slark in the mid lane. This was very interesting to watch. Who makes these decisions?”] Slark has always been my weapon against Ember Spirit. I wanted to take this hero, but we still had a little discussion within the team. Then XinQ said: "I play Keeper of the Light, I can constantly give Slark mana. I think it will be a good pick here." We trusted XinQ's decision and took Slark.

Vici Gaming turned out to be stronger than Team Falcons in the quarterfinals of the playoffs at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Dota 2. The final score of the confrontation was 2:0. In the semi-finals, Hongcheng's roster will compete with the winner from the BetBoom Team - Nigma Galaxy match. The fight is scheduled for July 18, 14:00 Moscow time.

Esports World Cup 2026 for Dota 2 runs from July 7 to July 19. The teams are fighting for a prize fund of $2 million. The schedule and results of the competition can be tracked in the report.