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Published: November 9, 2023

Written by: Stefan Velikov

  • The 27-year-old player has allegedly expressed a desire to leave the team
  • Apparently, he wants to take a break from competitive Dota 2 as a whole
  • Currently, neither he nor the organization have confirmed anything

If rumors turn out to be true, then Azure Ray, which finished fouth in the recent The International 12, might lose their star midlaner Lu “Somnus” Yao, as the player allegedly wants to take a break from competitive Dota 2.

Hearsays Circulate

Following the end of The International 12 comes the time of the year when many Dota 2 teams reorganize and change up their rosters. Players leave some teams and are signed by others, new faces arrive on the competitive scene, and so on. However, there are also those Dota 2 pros who decide to leave the sport for a variety of reasons, and if recent rumors turn out to be true, the popular midlaner Lu “Somnus” Yao might be one of them.

The report comes from CN Dota In a Nutshell and states that the Azure Ray will be going on a hiatus from competitive Dota 2 for an unspecified period of time. Here is a translation of what are allegedly Somnus’ words, provided by the aforementioned profile on Twitter:

“As far as I know, Lou [Lou “Lou” Zhen] and 天命 [Jiang “天命” An] are most likely still going to be in AR [Azure Ray], or maybe they will join XG [Xtreme Gaming]. But I’m definitely not in AR anymore. I talked to Chalice [Yang “Chalice” Shenyi] and said that I’ll take time to rest now, then he said he wants to do the same thing. Our team’s owner wants me to persuade Chalice to keep playing, but Chalice still made the same decision as I do eventually.”

It Would Ngeatively Impact the Team

At the time of writing of this article, neither the player nor Azure Ray have commented on the rumors. However, it would be interesting to see how the team would fare without Somnus, who has proven to be one of the organization’s most crucial players.

Speaking of Azur Ray, it is a newly formed team that achieved an impressive 4th place finish at The International 2023. The Chinese organization’s outstanding performance throughout the year also earned them an invitation to the ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023. Here you can read about the other invited teams for the Malaysian event, which starts on December 11.

It would be interesting to see how Azur Ray will perform at the tournament if the rumors turn out to be true, and Somnus, as well as fellow team member Chalice, leave the organization before ESL One Kuala Lumpur starts.

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Stefan Velikov

Stefan is a well-versed gamer who loves every aspect of gaming - including its most competitive nature. He is bringing you the latest updates from the world of esports as he painstakingly tracks dozens of competitions. 

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