Somnus hints at retirement

One of the most well-known and talented Chinese superstars Lu “Somnus” Yao hinted that he might be retiring from the professional Dota 2 scene.

After RNG’s grueling loss against Entity in a 1 hour 47 minute-long match that broke the record as the longest match at any TI mainstage, Somnus took to Weibo, posting a cryptic message that could indicate that he might be hanging up his keyboard and mouse. His post read:

“My youth is destined to have regrets and hard feelings, right? Thank you all for your concern and encouragement. My youth is over, Somnus Out”.

Even though the social media post does not explicitly mention Somnus’s retirement, many speculate that the cryptic nature of the post hints at the possibility.

Even though his current team Royal Never Give Up made a fantastic run through the Dota 2 Pro Circuit 2021/22 season and qualified directly for The International 2022, making a strong showing during group stages, they fell short with their performance during the tie-breaker series, getting into the mainstage at the lower brackets. They were eliminated in the first round of their lower bracket series against Entity. 

Somnus’s esports journey

It is regarded that Somnus, who used to go by the tag “Maybe” in his early days, is one of the most iconic players that has ever graced the game with his presence. He started his career in Defence Of The Ancients as a part of team Greedy before coming into Dota 2 pro scene.

He entered Dota 2 with Vici Gaming in early 2013 and made a name for himself by taking on calculated aggressive plays that always had him coming out on top. He played for top-tier Chinese teams such as LGD Gaming, LGD.CDEC, CDEC Gaming, PSG.LGD, Elephant, RNG, winning multiple Majors during his professional career. However, it seems that The International title was out of his reach no matter how painstakingly close he came to grasping it.  

Playing for LGD, Somnus placed third at TI5, 9th-12th at TI6, and once again third at TI7. However, his greatest painstaking defeat came at TI8 when they were defeated by OG, who were considered the least possible team to win TI8, in the grand final. At TI9, they finished third again. Somnus then decided to switch teams coming into TI10, representing Elephant, however,  they were eliminated in the first round of the lower bracket series.

The highlights of his career came with PSG.LGD, with whom he won the MDL Changsha Major and Epicenter XL in 2018 before securing a consistent top-three finish at The Internationals, according to Liquipedia. Somnus has earned over $3.2 million in prize winnings throughout his Dota 2 career.

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