The return of Somnus into Dota might be in the realm of possibility. Even more so if he gets to play with his former teammate Ame.
Dota professionals have a very interesting definition of retirement. They would loosely throw the word around, spelling the end of their careers. But in reality, not many can ever truly commit to it. Take a look at Sébastien "Ceb" Debs or Anathan "ana" Pham. And now, Chinese star mid-laner Lu "Somnus" Yao might be following the same pattern.
Somnus opens up about his feelings after TI11
In a recent stream on DouYu, Somnus (also known as Maybe) opened up about his feelings regarding his loss at The International 2022 (TI11) — a loss that was especially difficult to swallow because he along with three of his teammates at Royal Never Give Up (RNG) were affected by Covid. And after grinding it out for eight years, and seven TIs, he is understandably exhausted.
Even though it was not official, Somnus hinted at his retirement through a rather somber post on Weibo following his elimination from TI11. In the post, he closed his statement with a chilling "Somnus out" convincing the world that he was done with his Dota career. However, this might not be the case.
Somnus talks possibility of joining a new team with Ame
Somnus mentioned on his stream the idea of teaming up with Wang "Ame" Chunyu once again. While he specified that it was still too early to talk about it, he stated the possibility of joining a new team with Ame. He then talked about TI8 PSG.LGD. He believed that iteration of LGD had what it takes to win TI as they had the trust in the team just like OG, Team Spirit or Tundra Esports.
Somnus plans for the future
For now, Somnus plans to focus on streaming. If a good opportunity arises, he intends to come back. However, he acknowledges that he is reaching the end of his career and will focus more on having fun playing with the people and team he likes.
People should not live in the past and saying Chinese Dota is dead is meaningless
Somnus also addressed the community with a piece of advice, suggesting that people should look forward to the future and not live in the past. He added that people should not be too sad even if China did not win TI again, denouncing those who said Chinese Dota is dead. It has been five TIs since China's last championship.
RNG has not made any known changes to the team other than the transfer of Yap "xNova" Jian Wei to BOOM Esports. Ame is officially still a part of LGD as well. At the very least, fans can have some hope that Somnus is here to stay. Be sure to follow Esports.gg for more information on roster updates.