Dota 2 legend UNiVeRsE retires from competitive play

In early April, Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP) released the legendary Dota 2 player, Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora, from their roster. This was due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the competitive Dota 2 scene to a regional league format. 

Dota 2 fans already had to deal with Peter "ppd" Dager's retirement this week, and now, Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora has followed his former teammate's lead, retiring from competitive play.

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UNiVeRsE is a TI winner, having lifted the Aegis of Champions with Evil Geniuses during The International 2015. At 30 years of age, UNiVeRsE is considered one of the best players of all time. He is also one of our picks for the top 10 Dota 2 players of all time. 

Instead of finding a new team, however, UNiVeRsE announced his retirement.

https://twitter.com/UniverseDota/status/1253376578307883008

In a Twitlonger post, UNiVeRsE gave a short explanation about his decision, simply stating:

"I have decided to retire as a player from competitive dota 2. Whenever I do anything in life I tend to be an all or nothing type of person and dota was no different. For the past 10 years, I have given everything I have to this game/competition and it was an incredible experience. Now the time has come to pursue other interests and figure out what comes next. Thank you to my fans and past teammates for the amazing memories I will never forget."

We will never forget UNiVeRsE with his Earthshaker, blinking in and hitting the absolute perfect Echo Slam at the exact right moment.

Yes, we are talking about the "6 Million Dollar Echo Slam" against CDEC at The International 2015, which made it into our list of the five greatest moments in Dota 2 history.

We wish Saahil “UNiVeRsE” Arora all the best of luck in his future endeavours, as we will no longer see this Dota 2 legend compete in the scene. 

Header image via ESL