XLG Esports, VCT China’s top seed for the Toronto Masters, are taking advantage of a short break before the competition resumes to tweak its active roster. James “NoMan” Man, who previously played for Rare Atom and in the EMEA Tier 2 scene, will now try to help the Chinese team maintain their momentum, as announced by the organisation on X on Friday.

Zhang “Midi” Jiajun, who had been brought in at the last minute for the Masters after Yip ‘YoU’ Man Ho was benched just before the event. The latter was officially sidelined due to an old match-fixing case, for which he served a 12-month suspension in mid-2023. Unofficially, his exclusion could also be related to past pro-Hong Kong comments made several years ago.

XLG tries to maintain the momentum

In any case, the last-minute change didn’t pay off for XLG, who exited the Masters after two heavy losses to Sentinels and G2 Esports, both teams from the Americas league —a disappointing outcome for a squad that had finished first in VCT China Stage 1, defeating regional powerhouses like reigning World Champions EDward Gaming and Bilibili Gaming along the way.

To get back on track, XLG has turned to NoMan—a familiar face. He nearly qualified for VCT China in 2024 through Ascension, but lost the grand final to XLG while playing with Rare Atom. Now, the Hong Kong Duelist joins the very team that once denied him access to VALORANT’s top tier. Since then, he left China and returned to Europe, where he played for ESC Gaming in the NORTH//EAST Challengers league. A scene he knows well, having competed there in 2024 with a mixed roster before his brief excursion in Asia with Rare Atom.