Two of the most well-known players from the NA Dota 2 scene, EternaLEnVy, and Ryoya, will no longer be competing in the competitive scene as they announced their retirement today.
Eric “Ryoya” Dong, the more recently active of the two, stated that he no longer enjoys his time while playing Dota 2. Eric has been active in the competitive scene since 2014, and he last played for simply TOOBASED, which he parted ways with last May. Despite getting to the first division after an explosive season in the lower division, simply TOOBASED couldn’t achieve a high-place finish in the NA DPC, and were eventually relegated to the second division.
On the other hand, best known for his high-risk plays, EternaLEnVy was always one of the scene’s most entertaining players. When he was with Cloud9, he led the esports organization’s efforts to break through in Dota 2 in multiple stints.
Though NA was historically known to be a top-heavy region with Evil Geniuses’ reigning, EnVy’s Cloud9 team with Wehsing “SingSing” Yuen, Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling, Johan “pieliedie” Åström, and Pittner “bOne7” Armand were one of the most beloved teams capable of taking games off any opponent.
Breaking out onto the scene with No Tidehunter, the squad that eventually became Alliance, EnVy’s most successful stint was his time with Team Secret, where they won the Shanghai Major in 2016. He played a terrifying Terrorblade and Ember Spirit during his heyday who maximized farm and efficiency very well: a mechanically skilled player. EternaLEnVy, on the other hand, has been absent from the competitive scene for a while.
After his glory days in Team Secret back in 2015, EternaLEnVy bounced around a handful of teams. Fnatic, Cloud9, compLexity, and beastcoast are just some of the teams he’s been a part of until 2021, as the player also played with various stacks.
It is now unknown what EternalEnvy will be focusing on now that he is a retired pro player. He has had support roles in terms before, having served as a coach once in his career. Perhaps he could also make appearances in tournaments as an analyst, lending his experience and insight to the panels he’d be joining
Ryoya and EternalEnVy have two of the longest-running careers in the NA Dota 2 scene. Both players have been part of the scene almost since the game’s launch, but there always comes a time when a player struggles to find that will to continue improving at the game. Dota 2 is an ever-evolving game, meaning staying at the top will be as hard as getting there. Two legendary names may have officially stepped down today, but there’s no doubt that they inspired hundreds of players to train hard and work toward reaching similar heights.
