Cover-Credits:
Valve
Last week, the Dota 2 community was abuzz with the story of the return of Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen. MATUMBAMAN will be participating in a Tier 4 tournament called Fuzer Lategame Open 3, as part of the only invited team. The description of the tournament reads, “Top players in Finland compete live in Tampere in a wicked setting - no team's combined MMR can be higher than 31K.”
Adding more excitement, Dota 2 pro, analyst, and coach Robson "TeaGuvnor" Merritt recently took to Twitter to share that Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen was seen playing Dota 2 again.
MATUMBAMAN’s Dota 2 Comeback Post Retirement
MATUMBAMAN, who retired last year, disappeared from the eyes of the Dota 2 community as he became inactive. He last played for Team Liquid and secured 3rd place at The International 2022 (TI11) with Team Liquid. It is to be noted that MATUMBAMAN joined the Finnish army after finishing last year’s The International in Singapore. He completed his military service in June of this year.
TeaGuvnor’s enthusiastic post shared on Twitter welcomed MATUMBAMAN back to Dota 2. TeaGuvnor wrote, “Welcome back to Dota @MATUMBAMAN.”
On 11th November, he was seen playing Necrophos in ranked and won the game after 41 minutes. His KDA was 22/4/18.
When a Twitter user said, “Poor bro can’t just dabble in peace,” TeaGuvnor replied, “The return of a king is a momentous occasion.”
MATUMBAMAN made a name for himself in the Dota 2 esports scene as one of the most formidable carries and still remains so after his retirement. Even two-time TI winner Johan "N0tail" Sundstein revealed that he wanted to play with MATUMBAMAN once in his career during a live stream while talking to Janne "Gorgc" Stefanovski. When asked why N0tail wanted to play with Matu, Notail simply said it was the “fear factor” that Matu instilled.
Earlier, this month he was spotted enlisted in a team for a Tier 4 tournament with a modest €1,500 prize pool in Finland called Fuzer Lategame Open 3. Even though this is a Tier 4 tournament, the community is excited about the possibility of seeing MATUMBAMAN return to action. In addition to giving him a chance to rediscover his love for the game, the event gives spectators a rare opportunity to experience some of the magical moments he has created over his storied career.
It remains to be seen, though, if MATUMBAMAN's return to full-time professional play will be a potential result of this comeback or if it will just be a temporary moment in the spotlight.
