You can rest now Mr. Babaev. You’ve earned it.
The iconic Arteezy is stepping down and taking a well deserved break. After over a decade since his professional Dota 2 career started, Artour "Arteezy" Babaev is stepping down from competitive Dota. Although not all hope is gone, as Arteezy still plans to stream and be involved in the Dota 2 community. Regardless, this is truly an end of a massive, decade long era for the Dota 2 community.
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Arteezy steps down and takes a break from pro Dota
It's a sad moment for the Dota 2 community. Arteezy has been a household name in the Dota 2 community and an inspiration for North American players since his career began back in 2014. From standing in for bOne7 at MLG Columbus, to becoming the most popular North American Dota 2 player. However, he announced in a statement earlier today, that he's taking a break from professional Dota 2.
Arteezy's career in professional Dota 2 skyrocketed after he won the first LAN event he participated in (MLG Columbus). The attention he received was incomparable, making him the talk of the town. He then formed the iconic S A D B O Y S with Zai, Universe, ppd, and Fear, which would go on to picked up by the Evil Geniuses. This roster squad became one of the best ever North American Dota 2 teams. Their strong performances on the international stage allowed Arteezy to become the fan favorite player the Dota 2 community knows and loves.
However, after some time, roster shuffles would occur, teammates would retire and eventually, Evil Geniuses would let go of their roster. This led to a move to Shopify Rebellion, who stepped in and picked up Arteezy and his crew. Shopify experimented with several different rosters, all focused around Artour. Despite great performances here and there, Arteezy's was never able to break the 'third-place curse'. A defining moment came recently in qualifiers for The International, where Shopify lost to Nouns and failed to qualify. This was a massive nail in the coffin for Arteezy, especially since most of his friends and career-long teammates had retired, which he reflected in his statement.
"Competing in Dota without some of my closest friends and former teammates has made me consider taking a break"
Since that event, Arteezy has got back into streaming. While Arteezy won't be competing in Dota 2 for the forseeable future, fans of Artour will be able to continue to follow him through his streams. However, his drive to compete in Dota 2 isn't gone. So there is hope Arteezy will return, but not after a well deserved break.
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