TI 2026 Xtreme Gaming: The Longma

The International returns to Shanghai in the Year of the Horse. For Dota 2's biggest tournament, it's a fitting symbol of strength, endurance, and freedom. Each of the sixteen teams brings a distinct equine spirit to the arena, but China’s finest squad brings something more.

Xtreme Gaming are the Longma.

In Chinese mythology, the Longma is a legendary creature that resembles a winged horse with dragon scales. It is said to have emerged from the Yellow River, carrying ancient wisdom on its back, a divine omen of prosperity and greatness. It’s a creature of power, wisdom, and destiny.

Xtreme Gaming are last year’s runners-up. Their roster features true legends of the game, not only of the Chinese scene. For Ame, TI15, in Hamburg, Germany, marked his third grand final at the pinnacle Dota 2 event. Three times he came one game away from lifting that Aegis, three times he pushed the series to a decisive game five, but fell short at the end of it.

He is dubbed Uncrowned King” by the Dota 2 community, and with TI returning to China, he has the perfect stage to rewrite his legacy.

Legends reunited

Following last year’s yet another defeat, Xtreme shuffled right away. The end result was that they brought in two players who had played TI grand finals alongside Ame before. NothingToSay played the TI 2021 grand finals under the PSG.LGD banner. It was Team Spirit who defeated them 3-2 that year. A few years before that, Ame reached his first TI grand finals with fy in 2018, when OG won “Against all Odds” in one of the greatest grand finals in TI history.

Xtreme Gaming roster

• Wang "Ame" Chunyu
• Cheng "NothingToSay" Jin Xiang
• Lin "Xxs" Jing
• Xu "fy" Linsen
• Yap "xNova" Jian Wei
• coach: Zhang "LaNm" Zhicheng

One of the headlines for this stacked roster is the return of fy to competitive play after more than a year of absence. As one of Dota 2's most iconic support players, fy made a name for himself under the Vici Gaming banner, finishing as a runner-up at TI 2014 in his debut appearance. Over the years, he became a legend of the competitive scene, claiming Major championships and earning five Top 4 finishes at The International. The Dota 2 fans call him “fy God” for a very obvious reason.

So close, yet so far

No team at TI 2026 carries more TI experience than Xtreme Gaming. Combined, these five players have 17 top-four finishes at The International. Ame and fy each have five top-four placements. xNova has three. NothingToSay and Xxs have two each.

But for all their star power, Xtreme Gaming's 2026 season has been defined more by potential than trophies. Their best result came at ESL One Birmingham 2026, where they secured a third-place finish, right after patch 7.41 was released. However, the new patch seems to also be one of their biggest issues. After Birmingham, they never came anywhere near a top 4 finish at the next tournaments, and perhaps that’s what triggered the very recent change in the coaching seat.

LaNm and Maps took over the coaching duties only at the very end of July, and sources suggest that internal conflicts were resolved once they joined.

XG’s playstyle so far this season was defined by controlled aggression with Ame almost always on a late game hard carry. Despite the patch changes, Terrorblade is still his most played hero, followed by Drow Ranger. In all fairness, Ame has always been one of the most reliable carries in the professional scene, so it makes sense that no matter the number of the patch or the meta, creating space for him to farm, knowing that he will deliver in the late game scenario, was always the first option for the teams he played with. It’s no exception now.

To get to that late and very late game scenario it is up to NothingToSay to provide stability in all lanes with his ganks, and it’s in the support duo’s hands to execute a disciplined, high-synergy game plan.

In Chinese mythology, the Longma emerges as an omen of greatness, a winged, dragon-scaled horse that soars above the ordinary. For Xtreme Gaming, TI 2026 represents their chance to finally live up to that myth, but the pressure could be overwhelming yet again.

More TI 2026 team previews

• Team Yandex: The Colt
• Nigma Galaxy: The Show Horse
• LGD Gaming: The Trojan Horse
• BoomBoys: The War Horse
• GamerLegion: The Wild Horse
• Aurora Gaming: The Mule
• Team Resilience: The Chase Horse