Zhang ‘xiao8’ Ning is a talented Dota 2 cyber athlete playing for Newbee Boss. Ning is the captain of the squad with the intention of competing for fun. Zhang’s nickname originated from playing another online game called ‘Xiao Xiao’. In the registration process he found out that xiao 1 till 7 were all taken and he settled for the alias xiao8.
Xiao8 has the flexibility to play two roles, the offlaner and support for his team Newbee Boss, thanks to his past experience with LGD Gaming. Playing support can sometimes be challenging so xiao8 makes sure that he picks a support hero to get his unit out of trouble.
Where it all began:
Ning began his gaming profession in 2010 with the squad called Dream with former players Yao, DD, LI and SJQ. Before Dota, Xiao8 used to play ‘Romance of Three Kingdoms’, the majority of pro players were all friends. Xiao met another player ZSMJ, who had given him the motivation and influence to switch to Dota 2.
The Team:
Newbee is a reputable esports company that was founded in 2014 based in China. The organisation has various squads that specialise in different video games like Dota 2, League of Legends, and Hearthstone. Xiao8 founded Newbee dota for the simple reason that he wanted to compete at the premier TI4.
As from January 2017, Xiao8 forms part of the Newbee boss roster. Apart from Ning, the lineup includes Ferrari_430, Axx, a top female dota 2 player, Chuan and Zei9, the owner of the Newbee organisation.
Competition Participation:
As a pro Dota 2 player, xiao8 has participated in quite a number of major and premier tournaments. At the i-League Season 3, Ning competed for LGD Gaming that beat Vici Gaming winning $213K and at The Summit 3 they finished in fourth place losing to EG walking away with $27K. AT TI5, LGD lost to Evil Genuises, where they took home a reward of a sensational $2.2 million.
At The Boston Major 2016 – Chinese qualifier, xiao8 was with the squad, LFY who beat Invictus Gaming, knocking them out of the qualifying stage.
Winnings:
The greatest achievement for Xiao8 was with Newbee who beat Vici Gaming at The International 2014 for a jaw-dropping prize pool of $5 million. A motivating boost for Newbee was when they were awarded the Guinness World Record of winning the highest prize at The International 2014.
