Invictus Gaming - China — Dota 2 team

China's eSports market is one of the largest in the world. So, in 2022, its revenue amounted to 21.5 billion US dollars, and 26% of Internet users in China watch eSports competitions at least once a month (which is 4 times more than in the USA, where only 6% of users show such activity). Did you know that the e-sport industry owes such popularity in the Celestial Empire to the Invictus Gaming team?

Invictus Gaming: general information about the team

Invictus Gaming (IG) is a Chinese professional eSports organization that was founded in 2011 by Wang Xicun, the son of the largest Chinese developer Wanda Group and one of the richest people in China. The availability of free capital allowed him to pay more than 6 million US dollars for the transfer of the best players at the time (mostly from China). At the moment, IG includes several rasters, and the Dota 2 raster is one of the most successful and promising among them.

The team is considered the flagship of the Chinese market, although its biggest victories took place quite a long time ago (yes, in the case of Dota 2, it was a victory at The International in 2012). Nevertheless, throughout the history of the team's existence, its players have shown themselves excellently in local and regional tournaments, which is evidenced not only by their victories in competitions such as ONE Esports Singapore Major 2021 or Dota Pro Circuit 2021: Season 1 (China, 1 division ), but also a solid total amount of winnings, which in 2023 exceeded 8 million US dollars. Today, the IG roster ranks among the top thirty Dota 2 teams in the world.

Before the advent of IG, eSports teams in China were seen more as interest clubs than as solid sports organizations capable of participating in prestigious global competitions and bringing in large revenues. Already after the first few victories, the income of the founder - Wang Shitsun - increased several times, which started the trend of active investment by Chinese entrepreneurs in eSports and the search for young talents not only in China, but also abroad.

On the way to victory

In 2022, all previous players were excluded from the team. So, according to the team's management, its Chinese team did not give the desired results and did not allow significant victories. That is why it was decided to bet on the international composition of the team. The results were not long in coming, and by the end of 2023, Invictus Gaming was ranked 16th among eSports teams in the world and 7th in China. According to statistics, the boys win 57% of the matches, although they did not manage to win the main prizes in most of the championships. IG's biggest wins in recent years have been first places in DPC 2021 S1:CN and Singapore Major 2021, as well as second places in DPC CN Tour 3 and DPC CN 2023 Tour 3.

Features of the IG strategy

Despite the frequent changes in the composition of the team, its strategy has remained unchanged for many years and includes the following elements:

• focus on the early and middle stages of the game, where the task of iG players is to gain a strategic advantage over the opponent;

• persistence and even rudeness;

• quick adaptation of one's own tactics to the style of the opponent's game;

• a flexible approach to choosing heroes and roles;

• effective management of resources available on the map;

• creating strategic traps for rivals.

Also, the team management emphasizes the high level of professionalism of each of the invited players.

Prospects

Despite significant funding and having a successful strategy, Invictus Gaming has not been able to achieve any truly meaningful victories in recent years. The team's problems were frequent changes in its composition and lack of coherent coordination. According to experts, in the coming months, IG's task should be to form a strong core of the team and actively fight for entry to the finals of the most prestigious Dota 2 competitions.