Valve invites numerous Chinese personalities to work at the International 2014
Over the weekend, various Chinese commentators and casters have been posting on the Weibo accounts news of their invitation to the upcoming TI4, representing the Chinese community. Without further ado, the list of names that we could find and are confirmed thus far is below. This looks to be the largest Chinese contingent yet, both in terms of quantity, and in terms of name recognition...
- 2009
- 820
- Haitao
- bbc
- Haibara
- Zhou/ZippO/LongDD (the three of them have formed a casting crew/studio of sorts and have been very active lately)
- 啸天 (Xiaotian -- SCNTV caster)
- Mik (SCNTV caster)
- Nekomata
- 沐沐 (Mumu)
- Miao (commonly affiliated with LGD)
- 追忆曾经 ('Zhuiyicengjing', affiliated with LGD)
Rumors are that last year's heavily anticipated commentary invite, Cold, rounds out the group, but there does not seem to be a solid indicator of such one way or another just yet. Another notable name missing -- for now, at least -- is DC, known for his wit and charisma. On the other hand, a familiar name in 2009 makes a return to the list, and it also looks like Zhou has found a way to return despite his retirement earlier this year.
A selection of the invitees' Weibo posts are translated below.
Haitao: "Thank you to IceFrog for personally inviting me. This year I will continue my appearances in Seattle to witness Chinese teams taking on the best of the world in search of glory. I believe the full commentary roster will be revealed soon, looking forward to it."
bbc: "Got invite from IceFrog to Seattle. See you all at the TI4 Grand Finals, Chinese teams add oil!"
820: ”Thank you Valve for the invite. I hope this year we may witness Chinese teams standing at the top the world. The Qualifiers are about to begin and LGD is ready. We will do our best."
Zhou/ZippO/LongDD: "Celebrating Zhou/ZippO/LongDD being invited to TI4, we will be having fan in-houses as well as giveaways, Compendiums, come one come all~ Thank you all for your support~"
Haibara: "Today is a good day! One year later, I've again received IceFrog's personal invitation. I am so excited that I've even gotten on the wrong train on the subway. Last year I personally experienced the Chinese teams' struggles, and it is something I wish not to taste a second time. I officially announce that I have been invited as a TI4 Chinese caster, and I look forward to my other friends in the commentary team. I am coming, Seattle! Here's to a Chinese team coming victorious this time! Victory! Victory!"
Mik: “Thank you to IceFrog for personally inviting me. I will be going far away this year to Seattle to bring TI4 commentary to you all. Your hopes and cheers will accompany me on the trip as I go to support the Chinese teams! I will absolutely work even harder to make sure I do well, and not let you all down. Thank you for your support all along, the rest need not be expressed in words, love you all!"
啸天: "[...] Thank you to HippoVic for bringing me into the scene. Thank you Mik for being my good partner in success. Thank you to IceFrog for your recognition and invitation. The weather is nice today, I'm not crying."
Miao: "Very happy to receive invite to TI4 as a caster. 7231 hours in-game, this has been my life the past few years. Thank you IceFrog."
Nekomata: "IceFrog said to me, TI4 is missing a warrior (Chinese meme surrounding this guy), you want to come? I said, I'll see you July 6 in Seattle. Now I'm having a giveaway on my stream of Compendiums and Compendium points!"
2009: "I got up late yesterday, missed the message. But to hit back at certain people who are insistent on flaming me, I've decided to accept the invite, and for those friends that support me, I will make up for recent tournaments. I see that a lot of fans seem to think that I play too many different games, calling into question my loyalty. I think this is amusing; from my beginnings in 2008 winning titles to my work uncovering new talent to eventually becoming a commentator, have I put less love and work into this than you? [...] Not being invited to TI3 was a very unexpected, very unfortunate, and very sad thing. I originally promised that, for TI4, no matter what I wouldn't go. But I thought a bit and figured, forget about it. I might as well go -.- can't let the flamers win, after all this is a beloved major gaming event."
