After over a year of speculation, Anathan “ana” Pham will finally return to pro Dota 2 with Team Liquid.
Team Liquid has announced that ana will stand-in for Team Liquid at Riyadh Masters 2022. This will mark the first time ana has played in formal pro Dota 2 competition since May 2021 at the European Dota Pro Circuit. This could potentially mark the beginning of a major comeback for the fan favorite. ana will start the potential comeback with Liquid on July 20.
Neither the two-time International champion carry nor Team Liquid have yet formally announced plans for ana to stand in. The information appears to come from documents given to Liquipedia for verification. ana is listed on Team Liquid’s roster on the Riyadh Masters page. While still not formalized, this is enough evidence to solidify that ana will compete. It’s not clear why Lasse Aukusti “MATUMBAMAN” Urpalainen is unable to attend, but Team Liquid staff is expected to release an official statement soon.
Riyadh Masters is a $4 million Dota 2 tournament that begins on July 20. The event will take place on LAN in the Saudi Arabian city of Riyadh. Despite the scarce leadup to the event, it will likely have the second-largest prize pool of any 2022 Dota 2 tournament other than The International.
Team Liquid will sport the following roster heading into Riyadh Masters.
One of the few things confirmed about this last-minute replacement is that MATUMBAMAN will continue to play on the starting Liquid roster after Riyadh. MATU, who claimed his own Aegis of Champions at The International 2017, should return to play at the Arlington Major in August. As for ana, this could be the start of a major competitive comeback.
While ana has not confirmed plans to return to pro Dota 2, his presence at Riyadh could be the start of something more.
It’s important to clarify why ana stopped playing to begin with. After winning The International twice, ana was the first of the original five OG players to depart. After winning more than $6 million, ana likely has enough money to live the rest of his life in comfort.
But fellow OG alum Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka has already made a comeback after a brief retirement. ana was rumored to be trying out for existing pro teams, though nothing ever came of those rumors. Standing in for Team Liquid is a great way for ana to show teams that he can still compete at the top level. If he leaves a good impression, ana could return to the Dota Pro Circuit wearing an entirely new jersey.
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