EHOME and PSG.LGD Swap Players

EHOME and PSG.LGD just made a massive player swap that will undoubtedly change the professional Chinese landscape. In this article, I will take a look at the changes and analyze their implications for both teams.

The New PSG.LGD Roster

If you’re familiar with the former PSG.LGD roster, you’ll be shocked to discover that not a single player on that roster is left on the team. In effect, the lineup that finished 2^nd at The International 2018 and 3^rd at The International 2019 is gone. In traditional sports, this would be unthinkable. But in esports, such moves happen more frequently than you’d think.

The new PSG.LGD is made up of some very strong players, such as y` and Ame, as well as some lesser-known ones, such as NothingToSay. Overall, the team has 3 stars: y`, Ame, and Faith_Bian. Ame finished 4^th, 2^nd, and 3^rd at The International, in 2017, 2018, and 2019 respectively. The other 2 won the tournament with Wings Gaming in 2016. The remaining two players look a bit weak. Especially XinQ. In NothingToSay’s case, the fact that he’s over 10,000 MMR is encouraging. But he still needs to do a lot of work before he can compete against the best players in the region and win.

If I had to make a comparison with PSG.LGD’s former roster, I would say this one is considerably weaker. So the question is: why change everything almost overnight if the results are excellent? Perhaps the organization was paying a lot of money on salaries for these superstars who left and thought that since we’re likely to have another year of global pandemic with zero LAN events, why not minimize expenses while still having a decent roster?

The New EHOME Roster

Same as with PSG.LGD, EHOME has a completely new roster. Two of its players (Yif and Xm) come from CDEC. Another two (Chalice and xNova) come from PSG.LGD. And one (Sccc) comes from Aster. These last 3 players are exceptional and could potentially achieve a lot of things together, if they learn to cooperate and find a winning formula. But the first two are of questionable value. In Xm’s case, the fact that he’s 21 years old and has reached 10,000 MMR this year is encouraging. But still, he’s a bit green for this competitive level. We’ll have to see if he turns into Miracle- this season, but it’s not very likely.

What to Expect From PSG.LGD and EHOME

PSG.LGD and EHOME are likely to do well in China this season, in spite of these somewhat questionable roster changes. In my opinion, EHOME is better off than before while PSG.LGD is definitely in a worse position. But only time can prove this initial impression right or wrong. Luckily for these two teams, other top competitors such as Vici Gaming have troubles of their own. In Vici’s case Eurus left the team and was replaced by a much weaker player. Thanks to all of these changes, the Chinese region is a huge question mark right now and only professional tournaments can clarify the situation.

 

Photo credit: Valve