Disappointed 27-year-old ends his professional career after a year of epidemics – if he sees Messi at the World Cup, he will continue

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27-year-old Chinese Lu “Sonus” Yao has been a successful pro player in DOTA 2 (Steam) for 9 years. After an epidemic year in 2022, he ended his career disappointed. But the decision only lasted until Argentina won the World Cup.

Who is this?

  • The 27-year-old Chinese “Somnus” is an extremely successful player in MOBA DOTA 2. He plays the role of “Solo Middle” and is known for playing with heroes like Shadow Fiend, Storm Spirit or Kunkka.
  • During his 9-year career, he has raised over $3.2 million in prize money. In 2018 alone, he earned $817,000 for second place in The International 2018, DOTA 2’s massive tournament (via esportearnings).
  • Although he played DOTA 2 successfully for so long, it was never enough for the big win: Somnus never became world champion, even if he came close to it a few times and took second and third places several times.

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    Corona virus kills Somnus’ last big tournament – he gives up disappointed

    Why did he end his career? 2022 was a year of epidemics for Somnus, in the truest sense of the word: Somnus caught the corona virus during the “The International” tournament. They even had to give up a game because Somnus was hospitalized after testing positive for Covid-19.

    Later Somnus had to be quarantined and other members of the team had to be isolated as well.

    Despite a great group stage, the tournament went haywire from that point on, with Somnus’ team, Royal Never Give Up, only finishing 13th-16th.

    Somnus disappointedly announced the end of his career after leaving:

    “[…] I accept the situation that I can’t change because it’s too late for that. Thanks everyone for your support. My journey is over. Somnus Out.”

    That was October 20th.

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    Somnus finds new motivation in Lionel Messi

    What has changed since then? Somnus has looked at the world champions in football and apparently that has changed a lot:

    “Seeing Messi win the World Cup is inspiring and moves me. Messi didn’t fulfill his dream until he was 35 and after seeing Messi I want to compete again.”

    Somnus then started tapping into his old contacts and appears to be planning to reunite with old friends from a legendary team he came close to winning the World Cup with between 2018 and 2020.

    And the old friends don’t seem averse. Maybe there will be the next miracle in 2023 when the World Cup is held again. In DOTA 2 you play for the world championship every year and Somnus apparently plans to hang on for a few more years.

    Maybe another big payday is waiting for him:

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