Ylli Ramadani · @gartergaming
2nd Jan 2020 from TwitLonger
Out with the old, in with the new
Hey guys,
Apologies in advance, this is going to be a long one.
I have spent the last decade giving my life to Dota 2 - competing, grinding, moving across the ocean and back and streaming all with the goal in mind to play at The International on a top team and be one of the best. For the last 10 years I gave it my all, sometimes less and sometimes more than others, but always my best. Unfortunately, not all of the best laid plans come to fruition. For the last three + years I have encountered many obstacles one after another in the competitive scene.
*Aspiring Tier 1 teams
Any high level or even $500 salaried team can poach any player from your team at any given time - mid season, one day before qualifiers, mid event even. The most recent example is Dendi's stack who won a tournament and a day later Nongrata was poached by Team Spirit which possibly ruined a team with potential (not faulting Nongrata on this). I have also had this experience happen to me multiple times including during ProDota Gaming with 33, INsania, MiCKe, Biver who were all taken from my rosters at various times. When I went to NA and hustled it up with Leviathan but Monkeys Forever and BSJ were taken shortly after I arrived and I was forced to come back to Europe earlier than expected. In my last team Mastermind taken by Infamous two days before the TI9 qualifiers to go to South America after we practiced for months. I have another 100 examples I can give but I'm trying to keep this short but poignant. BTW - I love you guys, this isn't to throw you under the bus or flame anyone, its to point out the instability and struggles of the actual system
*Tier 2 scene
Online/Tier 2 events are scarce. Even as scarce as they are, you can't count on the money won because they just don't always pay out. I am owed at least 5 digits worth of money that I will never see. Three years ago I had a $2k a month salary with multiple bootcamps and equipment and consistently was offered positions on other teams that were equal to or better terms, two years ago I was offered multiple $1k salary teams and last year $500 or fly to SEA, etc to compete for an unestablished organization with higher hopes ---- because the funds for anything less than tier 1 teams don't exist anymore so the sponsors aren't interested.
* MMR system (the last straw)
There have been so many changes and inconsistencies that result in either one hour queue times or extremely unbalanced free-for-alls. I am a 2 account 8kmmr player (top 100 EU on two accounts) but I can not play my role because X random 4kmmr guy decides that he is somehow more important and takes it. This is mostly coz ppl are tired of the system, the constant changes and general toxic community. I can't even stream under these conditions because I'm either not enjoying the game at that time or it ends up a complete disaster with ppl under-performing (because of the skill gap), pinging, throwing games or destroying items which becomes unplayable for me and unwatchable for viewers.
What should have been a hard decision has now come easy to me after all of this. There comes a time when you can't keep fighting against a broken system that won't give. Dota 2 is really an amazing game and I have met some incredible people and had some positive and impactful experiences, but it's time to hang up my Dota 2 hat and start the new year, the new decade with a new start.
I'm a gamer, I'm competitive and I'm not nearly old enough to retire from esports. Instead, I've decided to dive into the world of League of Legends and I intend to pursue it through the competitive level because I am not satisfied until I am one of, or the best.
First Dota 2 pro gone League of Legends pro incoming.
I have not yet even unlocked the ranked queue requirements in LoL, but I am already in love with the game and it has been awhile since I have gotten such a beating from everyone that I end up smashing my keyboard and mouse. I'm going to take my entire journey live on stream -from trying to figure out what is actually going on to grinding it hard and to finding a new home in the competitive scene. Catch me on my twitch channel from 21CET/15EST until 05CET/23EST daily.
I will be much more active in creating content overall including vlogs. I will talk about this decision in even more detail then and will be more than happy to answer questions on stream for those that have more interest in my thought process. I want to thank those that helped me come to this decision, that supported me in Dota 2, through the last decade and that support me now in this change. I really hope that the LoL fans and community will give me a warm welcome just as much as I hope that my Twitch family will follow and join me in my new adventure.
Shoutout to all of my fans, my discord community and Twitch family that have been by my side in this wild ride and hopefully they will continue to be there with their bro doing what he does best - Smash
twitch.tv/garter
fb.com/gartergaming
twitter.com/gartergaming
youtube.com/c/gartergaming
instagram.com/gartergaming