catJAMMERS, the lineup formerly sponsored by CR4ZY, is now shorthanded after losing arguably its biggest name.
Support player and team captain Kurtis “aui_2000” Ling has announced that he is stepping away from professional Dota 2. No further details were given on why this decision was made or who will be filling in for the team. catJAMMERS retains the following players:
aui_2000 stepping away from catJAMMERS is a tough blow for the team. catJAMMERS is set to compete in Realms Collide: The Burning Darkness in just three days. The team will need to come up with a replacement for aui_2000 before then.
No longer playing with catjammers. No current plans
— Aui 2000 (@Aui_2000) November 10, 2020
This follows an extended stretch of underwhelming results for the team. Though catJAMMERS has a solid lineup, the team has found itself a definitive step behind other North American teams. Early on in the online league era, Evil Geniuses reigned supreme. This was followed by Quincy Crew dominating every North American event of the summer.
aui_2000 and company haven’t been able to get the better of either of those teams at any point, and most recently flopped at Dota Summit 13.
It is unclear what led to aui_2000 taking a break, but it isn’t necessarily a big surprise. aui_2000’s abrupt split from catJAMMERS follows a number of prominent Dota 2 veterans walking away from the game to take indefinite leaves of absence due to stagnation in the pro scene.
The most notable example of this is Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang, who walked away from Fnatic despite enjoying consistent success with the team. Shortly into the online league era, Peter “ppd” Dager left Ninjas in Pyjamas in a move that ultimately saw the team’s roster dissolve entirely. More recently, Clinton “Fear” Loomis left business associates and noted he may return once high-stakes Dota 2 matches come back.
Though it is possible that aui_2000 walking away from pro Dota 2 stems from him being kicked off of catJAMMERS, his reluctance to announce his next move makes it feel more in the vein of ppd and Fear.
Expect a replacement for aui_2000 to be announced in the immediate future.
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