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esports
Know Thy Player: xNova
xNova makes it to the top from a humble beginning. Where did he come from?
Jian Wei ‘xNova’ Yap is the most highlighted player of recent days, especially after having assisted the Chinese region to secure their first Major of the 2017/2018 Dota Pro Circuit season. With his unannounced and surprising entrance into the Chinese scene at the beginning of the 2018 season, he has since racked up 1,290 points at time of writing, and almost secured a guaranteed invitation for the team to The International 2018.
His roots, however, were as humble as anyone can believe. Already playing in local tournaments at a young age of 16, xNova was at the time already a prodigy in the making. We take a look at how the upstart young player hustled his way into the upper echelons of competitive Dota 2.
Celebrating success at Epicenter
© Epicenter
Starting his transition into Dota 2 from Lowyat.net Esports in 2015, he played under the Who2bet organization along with players like Siong Tait ‘Johnny’ Lee and Shi Jie ‘Mercury’ Yoong. Together, they managed a second place finish at the South East Asia Dota 2 Championship, which was the only achievement of the team.
His next major transition was when he joined the Malaysian iteration of Mineski, joining forces with players like Litt Binn ‘Winter’ Chan, Joel ‘Xtinct’ Chan, Fadil ‘Kecik Imba’ Raziff and Soon Khong ‘Kang’ Chua. The team however hit an inconsistent patch at the time, where it almost made it to the regional qualifiers of The International 6, but ultimately failed to win against White Fries Gaming, led by Benedict ‘hyhy’ Lim.
xNova then join WarriorsGaming.Unity in the middle of September 2016. Teaming up with the likes of Jay Son ‘ahjit’ Lai, Boon Seng ‘NaNa’ Kam and Soon Chuan ‘ahfu’ Tue, the team proceed to take Southeast Asia by storm, finishing in podium places in multiple tournaments and even making it as far as a shared fifth place at the Boston Majors. Unfortunately, the team’s downfall began as it fell to Team Faceless in the Dota 2 Asia Championships qualifiers, followed by a lost to Clutch Gamers at the Dota Summit 7 qualifiers to as well as losing to Moogle at The International 2017 SEA Open Qualifiers. The inconsistencies of WarriorsGaming.Unity’s performance continued and they ultimately disbanded at the end of 2017.
xNova then had a short stint with Clutch Gamers where they narrowly lost to TNC at the ESL One Genting 2018 SEA qualifier finals. Shortly after, he flew to China to join the LGD Dota 2 unit. It was there where xNova truly shone. He won multiple podium finishes under the LGD banner and was within arms reach of several Major championships but failed to go past the final hurdle. However, all the hard finally paid off when the team triumphed with satisfying victory at EPICENTER XL, becoming the first Chinese team to win a Major.
LGD is now, more or less confirmed to receive a direct invite to The International 2018, with 4,071 points and only three Majors remaining. Currently, they have qualified for MDL Changsha and Dota 2 Supermajor, where any top four finishes in both tournaments will secure them a spot in The International 2018.
Will xNova become yet another beacon of hope for Southeast Asia in The International 2018? Stay tuned to Red Bull Esports as we continue our focus on the growth and powerhouse which is South East Asian Dota 2.
