Daryl Koh ’iceiceice’ Pei Xiang has confirmed in an AMA earlier today that 
Dominik ’Black^’ Reitmeier will be leaving the 
Vici Gaming squad. The roster change confirms rumours that were circling throughout the tournament, with iceiceice himself being the first to ignite the discussion, however many thought that the rumours were unsubstantiated when Xu ’fy’ Linsen denied them in an interview during the tournament.
Vici’s performance was far from lacklustre at the recent DAC Asia Championships, only missing out on the trophy after a crushing grand final loss to
Evil Geniuses. However, iceiceice has cited communication issues as the catalyst for the roster change; acknowledging Black’s individual skill, but recognizing the need for fluent conversation within the team.AMA confirmation by iceiceice:
Black is leaving for real, i'm not in a position to say whose replacing him but it's gonna be someone aggressive in terms of playing.
In response to a question about Black’s communication deficiency:
Communication issues existed in the first place due to the difference in the understanding of the language and black is more of a player that just does his own stuff, language barrier made it worse. He did improve overall as a player and in this aspect as well but he still wasn't standing out at times when we needed him to especially when me and super gets a bad start at the lane. This is more of the main reason.
Vici Gaming have yet to announce Black’s replacement, with iceiceice stipulating that no decision has been made as of yet. However, since the organization has still yet to officially announce the change, iceiceice’s AMA is still the primary source regarding Vici’s roster changes. Black also took to Chinese social media earlier this week to express his regrets and tease what the future may hold:
Black’s Tencent Weibo post:
I am very sorry for the disappointment we have caused in the Finals of DAC and it will probably be the end of one journey, hopefully for another to begin. I am very happy to have fans like you around.
Aside from revelations regarding the status of Vici’s roster, iceiceice answered a multitude of questions in his AMA, including his favourite anime, his take on the MMR system and even his favourite soup! You can read the entire AMA here.
Matthew Elmas, joinDOTA's senior writer. Matthew has been an e-sports fan since 2008 and is currently undertaking the second year of his university studies; majoring in journalism. He also manages the Southeast asian team Can't Say Wips. Location: Melbourne, AustraliaFollow him on @Moxjoo.
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