Taiga’s return to competitive Dota 2 with Bleed Esports in a different region will barely last three months after the Norwegian retired on Thursday.
The Norwegian has always shown his love for Dota 2 despite the adversities he’s had to face. A string of bad results saw him exit Bleed in December 2023, and he has been without a team since then.
Despite the weight of the decision, Taiga’s new move has taken the shine as the Norwegian has said he will become a full-time streamer, both on Twitch and the gambling streams platform Kick.
The decision to go on the former is ironic with Taiga’s public discussion that happened at the start of 2023, where he publicly discussed his battle with gambling addiction. Dota 2 fans have been concerned about his well-being since his retirement announcement alongside a move to Kick.
Taiga is not the only Dota 2 personality that has moved to Kick in 2024, with Arteezy leaving Dota 2 fans with mixed feelings after his Kick deal led to gambling streams, and many players also stopped following streamers from Twitch to Kick, causing their viewership numbers to drop drastically.
Taiga has been on impressive rolls in Dota 2 ranked matches as the experienced position four. It is an admirable achievement where he’s won almost 1000 MMR, grinding from 10,000 to 11,000 points in the last ten days.
He’s currently ranked 176th in the European Dota 2 leaderboard, and he may still move up the top slots during his streaming journey.
Competitive Dota 2 retirements can sometimes be short-lived, and veterans have been found to find it hard to resist being away from the stage, just as Chinese legend Ame returned to competitive Dota 2 for the 2024 season after a retirement that looked like a final.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
