- Lu “Somnus” Yao talked a lot about his professional Dota 2 career and what he plans next
- He will take some time off high-level professional play and focus on streaming
- He did not entirely rule out returning to the competitive scene one day
In a recent stream, kindly translated and shared by a Reddit user, Dota 2 veteran from Azure Ray Lu “Somnus” Yao talked about his future with the game and streaming plans.
The Player Talks About His Career
Esports can be a very rewarding career, gifting players with fame and a load of money. However, it could also be quite stressful and tiring playing at the top, so a lot of pro gamers often decide to withdraw from esports before they reach 30 years of age and concentrate on something else.
This also seems to be the case for world-famous Dota 2 player Lu “Somnus” Yao, who revealed in a recent stream why he’s decided to take a step back from competitive play. His words were helpfully translated and posted on Reddit by user Proud-Principle-3452, but we will have a short overview here.
When asked why he stopped playing Dota 2 professionally, the player explained he was simply burnt out from it. “First off, I’m a bit tired, playing is very tiring, and then let me tell you why I decided to play this year, and you’ll know why I won’t next year… I’ve had my fun, the excitement has ended, the passionate phase is over, I’ve reached a plateau,” Somnus explained.
What Are His Plans for the Future?
It seems that for the time being, the player will be focusing on streaming and taking a break from pro play for an unspecified length of time. That being said, he implied there’s a small possibility he could be back on the big scene next year. “I can be idle for a while, but not all the time. So, quite coincidentally, I mentioned it to them and it went smoothly from there. Next year, who knows, after watching so many games, I might feel like playing again.”
Somnus’ chat also asked him if he would be interested in becoming a coach instead. After all, many coaches in esports, Dota 2, and others, have played professionally for years before deciding to teach a new generation of pros. However, it seems Somnus might not be one of them. “I can’t be a coach, I can’t stand watching from below,” he said. “Maybe after I become a coach, after watching them practice for a few days, I’ll say: Hey, that’s not right, brother, you go watch, let me show you how it’s done, learn a bit.”
To fans of the player, it should not be surprising that he decided to take a step back from the pro scene. There have been rumors that Somnus would leave Azure Ray, his last Dota 2 team, for some time now. Furthermore, as we already mentioned pro players can also burn out, especially if they play at the highest of levels for long periods of time, like Somnus has.
Despite the player stepping down from the pro Dota 2 scene for some time, it looks like he is still eager to pursue other things and might even return to competitive play some day.
