As far as I know there isn’t much interest in dota on tumblr and that’s fine. Back in the days that I played the game, there was little to nothing about the game. However seeing I want this blog to be a bit more personal, I’ll write about it now, because it was one of the main things on my mind this weekend.
So, this weekend was the conclusion of the 11th International. It was the biggest tournament of the scene for years due to its big prize pool, mostly funded by its players and fans. And one of my favourite players retired. His name Lasse Urpalainen, better known as Matumbaman. He played for 7 years and won the tournament once – back in 2017 with Liquid.
This year he returned to the organization he won with and there are many stories involved with this and I’ll spare you all of them apart for one. Thing is Matu was the one of my favourite players for the humor and insanity he displayed on his streams before becoming pro and then becoming and being a professional for the next 7.
It was this year’s international he wanted his last tournament to be and that was quite a challenge as Liquid first had to get through the Last Chance Qualifier, an onsite tournament giving out 2 more tickets. Secret took the first, Liquid the second.
After finishing second in the group stage, they lost the first round in the upper bracket and had to claw themselves through the lower bracket. At times, the opponents were tough and games could go either way. Still, they made it to the final day, which is an impressive feat, where they met Secret again, who beat them. One match too short if you ask me, I would have liked Matu’s last game to be the finals, but it wasn’t meant to be. The 2 finalists were both strong teams.
And that’s how it ends. It’s only fitting he ends his career at the organization with which he won the biggest prizes. Yes, his teammates are different now, but they too deserve praise. Micke played out of his mind this TI and Boxi carried games. Zai didn’t have the best tournament, but still had clutch moments and Insania is a solid leader, which he showed plenty of times this month.
I’m not a sentimental person. In the days ahead of finals weekend, players were interviewed. Matu spoke about his reasons for retiring. He said he was tired. Seeing him play these past weeks was fun, he’s still a great player, but if you feel you’re done, you’re done. I wouldn’t want to force someone to do something against their will. I wish him and his former team all the best.
