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In a surprising turn of events, Azure Ray’s midlaner Lu "Somnus" Yao reportedly revealed his decision to part ways with the team and take a hiatus from the competitive Dota 2 scene. This announcement comes as a shock to Dota 2 fans worldwide as Somnus has been a prominent figure in the industry for several years.
The news of Somnus' departure was initially disclosed by the Twitter account CN Dota In A Nutshell, a reliable source for Chinese Dota 2 news and updates. Somnus' status as a celebrated Dota 2 star was recently solidified when Nvidia announced a Somnus edition RTX 4090 for the Chinese market.
Somnus: Chalice Will Also Leave Azure Ray
Somnus, known for his extraordinary skills and contributions to Azure Ray, reportedly shared his reasons for leaving the team.
According to the translation provided by CN Dota In a Nutshell, Somnus stated, "As far as I know, Lou [Lou "Lou" Zhen] and 天命 [Jiang "天命" An] are most likely still going to be in AR [Azure Ray], or maybe they will join XG [Xtreme Gaming]. But I’m definitely not in AR anymore. I talked to Chalice [Yang "Chalice" Shenyi] and said that I’ll take time to rest now, then he said he wants to do the same thing. Our team's owner wants me to persuade Chalice to keep playing, but Chalice still made the same decision as I do eventually.”
Somnus said that both he and Chalice are the type of people who are happy to play in the pro scene even without a salary. But when they don't want to do that anymore, their decision won't be swayed even if someone provides them a salary.
He added, “About fy [Xu "fy" Linsen], I think he probably will still play; I think he still wants to do that."
Azure Ray is a newly formed team that achieved an impressive 4th place finish at The International 2023. Its strong performance secured the team an invitation to ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023, which is scheduled to kick off on 11th December. The team will have the opportunity to prove its mettle once again at this upcoming event.
However, Somnus' decision has raised questions about the future of Azure Ray, as both he and Chalice, a fellow teammate, have reportedly expressed their desire to step away from the competitive arena for a while. The likely departure of key players like Somnus and Chalice right before marks a significant turning point for the team.
Fans of Azure Ray and Somnus will be closely watching how the team adapts to these changes and whether its performance remains at the top level despite these roster shuffles.
