Owen thrives on the thrill of competition, particularly in Valve titles. He reached a peak of 8,500 MMR in Dota 2 and remains a regular contender on the Southeast Asian leaderboards. Beyond his main forte, he has extensive experience in the Counter-Strike 2 esports scene and a deep understanding of esports betting.
Olivia Richman is a seasoned esports journalist who has worked with Inven Global, Esports Illustrated, Esports.gg, and more. As an editor and writer at Esports Insider, she loves telling unique esports stories, especially within the FGC. When not working and gaming, Olivia loves collecting Kirby plush, eating sushi, and driving her cars at the track.
For the first time in Dota 2 history, zero Chinese teams have qualified for the top eight of The International , with Xtreme Gaming, Vici Gaming , and Team Resilience exiting TI15 in the group stage. This stings even more, as this year’s iteration is being hosted in Shanghai – their home turf.
And though China’s absence from the playoffs may shock the average Dota 2 fan, anyone who’s been following the professional scene throughout the season can tell you it’s not a surprising result – maybe even expected . The region has been on the decline over the past few years, and it has reached an all-time low in 2026.
The most concerning part in all of this is that I don’t think the players are motivated anymore, and stakeholders in the scene have made questionable decisions, too. It might be time to have some uncomfortable conversations about what used to be the strongest region in Dota 2.
As a Chinese Dota 2 fan myself, let’s not sugarcoat anything here: the country’s performance at TI15 was, frankly, not great.
Xtreme Gaming was directly invited to TI15, whereas the likes of Team Spirit and TEAM VISION weren’t. They were supposed to be the Chinese representatives securing a strong finish on home soil. But instead, they completely bombed out of the group stage with a 1-4 record.
The worst part is, they lost to Team Spirit, GamerLegion, LGD Gaming (a team with a last-minute stand-in) and Team Resilience. Aside from Spirit, a superteam like Xtreme Gaming should never be losing to teams like GamerLegion and Team Resilience.
They really went from second place last year to bottom three.
Vici Gaming Xtreme Gaming had already been on the decline throughout the season, so Vici Gaming headed into TI15 as the highest-ranked Chinese team after their top four finish at the Esports World Cup.
However, Vici Gaming went 2-3 and lost in the elimination stage. They were unable to really stand up against the top teams at the event.
Vici Gaming and Xtreme Gaming were supposed to be the best China had to offer, but I’d argue it ended up being Team Resilience. Many people assumed this group of “Chinese Rejects” claimed the charity slot, with many fans putting them 0-4 in their TI15 predictions. Turns out – they ended up dealing the most damage.
Sure, Team Resilience also went out in the elimination stage, but they left a good impression. They dealt the final blow to eliminate Xtreme Gaming in the 1-3 pool, and even took maps off TEAM VISION, Team Yandex, and Team Spirit, which are three of the top teams in the entire event.
It’s pretty wild that Team Resilience were putting in stronger performances than the two big-money orgs in the region. It should be the other way around.
Results are one thing, and I don’t want to dig into those as much. What really worries me more is the attitude behind th…