“This year has given me a lot of clarity”: Topson retires from competitive Dota

For the second time now, Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen decided to step aside and retire from the competitive Dota 2 scene. While he has not made a personal statement about this, Tundra Esports posted an emotional video about the news.

In the official announcement, the organization didn't clarify on the reasons why he's retiring. Despite not winning The International this year, they still got an impressive third place, playing with a stand-in: the experimented Martin "Saksa" Sazdov.

"All my life has been about Dota", said Topson on his farewell video piece. Topson is the only midlaner that has achieved a back-to-back TI championship during his OG days. Having such a huge and historic success at his young age (and his first LAN event being also his first TI) could be part of this decision.

At the age of 26, the Finnish player is retiring with the approximate amount of $5,898,600 USD in tournament earnings. A well deserved amount for the player who changed the meta on multiple instances: With the Diffusal Blade Gyrocopter, the Dazzle mid, and the courier tormentor-kill being some of them.

As we said before, this is not the first time Topson retires from Dota 2 competitions. The first time, he took a break to spent time with his newborn daughter; just after placing 7th-8th at TI10. He came back to play as a stand-in for T1 on TI11. Later, he played the Dota Pro Circuit with "Old G"—a stack with his former teammate, Sébastien "Ceb" Debs.

This time around, many think it's a family decision again. If that's the case, we could still see some Topson action on his streams.

However, some rumors state that he may have been drafted for military service, following the Finnish laws. This was also the case for Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen, with the difference that he took it voluntarily after retirement.

The rumors track to Vladimir "Maelstorm" Kuzminov's Telegram group, where he shares leaks from the competitive scene. Maelstorm is a well-known caster for the Russian language, which gives credibility to his posts.

The Finnish military program's duration could last from six to nine months. Therefore, if the rumors are true, the Godson could come back soon. Stay updated with us!