Somnus: "I am the sinner of the Chinese scene"

The old-school Dota 2 veteran and former pro player Lu "Somnus" Yao has been vocal about his efforts to restore the Chinese professional Dota 2 scene to its former glory. Recently, he highlighted a major issue — the lack of active players on Chinese servers, as many users have shifted back to Southeast Asia.

"Reviving the Chinese server isn't something I can do alone," Somnus said. "I tried, I called on everyone to return, and we started playing. But one by one, my comrades left, and now I'm alone. I'm the only one left playing on the Chinese server, waiting over 30 minutes for a single game—what else can I do? If I want to play Dota, I have no choice but to return to Southeast Asia. And now people blame me.

Yes, I indeed encouraged others to play—fine, it's my fault. Maybe I should just go win three TIs? Then the Chinese server wouldn't even need revival—everyone would come back on their own. But you want someone who can’t even qualify to win a TI? Yes, it's my fault. I'm the sinner of the Chinese scene."

Somnus' last competitive outing was with the streamer team TEAM TURTLE. They attempted to qualify for ESL One Bangkok 2024 but were eliminated by Titan. The team concluded its run on 16 November.