Team Aster in Hot Water For Not Paying LaNm, Ori and Fade

The three Chinese stars have made allegations of unscrupulous actions by the ESL One Malaysia finalist organization

Former Position 2 player Zeng “Ori” Jiaoyang, support player Pan “Fade” Yi (also known as “Frisk”), and legendary Chinese Dota star and former player and coach Zhang “LaNm” Zhicheng (former player and coach) have publicly accused Team Aster of not clearing the dues of many former players and staff.

Former Mid Ori — who decided to retire at the end of the last iteration of The International — was the first to post about the matter, and although many in the community were initially taken by surprise, other Chinese Dota 2 personalities spoke out in support of the 22-year-old’s accusations with corroborating stories of their own.

Within a few minutes of Ori making the post on Chinese social media site Weibo, ex-player and coach LaNm reposted Ori’s words while condemning the organization for not following through on their financial promises.

Pan “Fade” Yi, former Position 4 player, also commented on the original post made by Ori. The Chinese player used to be on the team a couple of years ago, and he spoke out about the organization not paying him the prize money he had won even three years on.

Last year, Team Aster rocked the Main Stage of TI11 with a solid top four run, during which they took out their mighty rivals PSG.LGD. They also finished third at the Arlington Major, and reached, and these achievements made them quite popular among Chinese Dota 2 fans. However, such a debacle may damage the team’s carefully-grown image.

The establishment has continued to see success as they placed 2nd in the Chinese Dota Pro Circuit Winter Tour Division 1. The community is eagerly awaiting their performance at the much-hyped Lima Major 2023. 

At the time of writing, the public is awaiting Team Aster’s statement regarding these allegations. The team’s co-owner Xu “BurNIng” Zhilei is a bonafide superstar in China, and his reputation will also be on the line as his organization is put on Twitter’s crosshairs, if not worse.