Newbee Signs Forward Gaming Acquiring a TI Ready Roster

by Radu Muresan in Dota 2 | Jul, 25th 2019

After claiming their first important title in 18 months at World Cyber Games, Newbee has done something of even greater significance by signing the former roster of Forward Gaming. The North American organization cited financial problems and had to release its roster just three weeks before the start of The International 2019. And it didn’t take long for the players to find a new banner to compete under.

Newbee’s History as a Club

As a Dota 2 organization, Newbee is a former TI champion (in 2014) and TI finalist (in 2017). They’re also well acquainted with winning regular tournaments, small and big, and have been around for more than five years.

Newbee’s Decline

The team’s decline started after The International 2017. But it still took an entire season for the degradation to reach peak. After finishing 2nd at TI 7, Newbee finished 13th – 16th at TI 8. As a result, the players finally decided to disband after a pretty epic journey filled with important results.

Following the loss of its superstar players, Newbee simply plummeted in performance. The Chinese region is one of the most competitive in the world, second only to Europe as far as I’m concerned, and the likes of PSG.LGD and Vici Gaming simply left no room for Newbee to maintain their position as a member of the elite any longer.

The Dota Pro Circuit rules did not help either. With only three teams being sent to every event, anyone apart from the best of the best was guaranteed to be left behind. And that’s exactly what happened. In the 2018-2019 season, Newbee did not manage to get a single DPC participation. The only two significant events in which they took part were MDL Macau and World Cyber Games. And neither of them was a DPC Minor or Major.

Newbee Signs Forward Gaming

Forward Gaming proved themselves to be a very strong roster in the NA region. They’re only second to Evil Geniuses at this point on the local scene and their performance in the TI 9 qualifiers clearly proved their strength. Their main rival, J.Storm, with players such as Fear, Moo or Resolut1on, did not stand a chance against them.

This week, the Forward Gaming organization announced that they would have to release their roster as a result of financial difficulties. And this presented a perfect opportunity for Newbee to have a team at The International and maintain their status as a powerhouse team in the eyes of the public. It should come as no surprise that Newbee signs Forward Gaming.

Keep in mind that this TI is unlike any other for the Chinese region, because the tournament takes place in China itself. For the first time ever, we have the most important tournament of the season being hosted by this region, whose Dota 2 tradition is well-known. This provided plenty of additional motivation for the org as the Chinese viewership for the event will certainly be greater than ever. If today’s headline didn’t read: “Newbee signs Forward Gaming” other orgs would have jumped at the opportunity.

If you’d like to take a look at the official Dota Pro Circuit standings you can do so here, and stay tuned for more coverage as we grow ever closer to The International!