Dunoo – The Iconic Caster Behind Lakad Matatag has passed away

It's a sad day for the Dota 2 community, as we mourn the death of legendary caster Aldrin Paulo "Dunoo" Pangan. While the name might not ring a bell, his famous series of phrases no doubt will. Dunoo was one half of the casting duo that brought us the iconic "Lakad matatag, normalin normalin" line, along with co-caster Marlon "Lon" Marcelo.

It was the intense match between Fnatic and Team Secret at ESL One Katowice, in the February of 2018. Following a seemingly botched high-ground defense from Fnatic, a hail mary Underlord Dark Rift to close out the game abruptly led to not just one, but multiple now famous caster calls from the duo.

As if the phrase wasn't epic enough on it's own, OG would also heavily utilise it in their road to win TI8. These days, the voiceline is synonymous with the OG brand of chat-wheeling in matches non-stop.

Members of the community were quick to pay their tribute to the legend on Twitter.

Indeed, as fellow caster Johnxfire says in his tweets, "Dunoo's voice and call outs will always ring true to Dota fans everywhere, and his passing is a great loss to everyone."

Dunoo had first alluded to testing positive for COVID in a post on his Facebook page on August 9th. Subsequently, he confirmed his diagnosis in a video post titled "COVID Day 5" on August 12th.

The last post from him would be on August 17th, where he went live on Facebook. Dunoo had a oxygen mask on, and was barely able to speak in the video.

With his passing, fans are calling for the voiceline to make a return in the game. Whether that ends up happening or not, one thing is certain. Dunoo's calls have transcended language barriers, and just being a voiceline. It is a rallying call of pure passion and love for Dota 2 clear to all who heard it.

Just like "Lakad matatag", Dunoo is without a doubt immortalised in Dota 2's history.

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