Azure Ray's New Dawn: Ori, Faith_bian, and fy Lead the Charge in 2024

On December 31, Azure Ray announced the addition of Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang, Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida, and Xu “fy” Linsen to their roster, marking the organization’s success in bringing players out of retirement. Notably, coach Zhang “LaNm” Zhicheng, who briefly left the team for a month, also returned with this lineup.

The new additions, alongside Lou “Lou” Zhen and Jiang “天命” An, are set to join the team after several players departed to Wang “Ame” Chunyu’s new squad, Xtreme Gaming, following their victory against Gaimin Gladiators in the ESL One Kuala Lumpur grand finale.

Azure Ray’s roster for The International 2023 initially featured three former legends from the PSG.LGD roster. While the other two have temporarily left the competitive scene, fy is making a return to the team in 2024.

The surprising comebacks include midlaner Ori, who was a long-time member of Vici Gaming and later played for Team Aster, achieving his best result at The International with a fourth-place finish at TI11. Faith_bian, the legendary offlaner from Wings Gaming, returns after a successful stint with PSG.LGD, contributing to their victories at Riyadh Masters 2022, the WePlay AniMajor, and securing a second-place finish at TI10 in 2020.

Azure Ray, formed in May the previous year, emerged as a bright spot for China, earning a spot at TI12 and finishing fourth. The team retains its successful safe lane duo while introducing an intriguing off lane pairing of Faith_bian and fy, two of China’s most skilled and versatile players in their respective roles. The collaboration between these two legends on the same team promises to be a captivating spectacle once they shake off any initial rust.