One of the most iconic figures of the North American Dota and a polarising personality in the professional scene, Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao announced his retirement on his 31st birthday along with his friend, Eric “Ryoya” Dong.
Although he is a prominent figure for the NA Dota, Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao’s professional career started a decade ago with No Tidehunter, which later would become Alliance, the Swedish stronghold organization.
His very particular high risk/high reward playstyle, uncommon item builds and interesting in-game decisions got him dubbed by the community as EE-sama. His unique approach produced some of the biggest memes, “fiftEE/fifEE” and “Scientists Baffled” becoming his legacy.
Over the years, EnVy managed to rally the professional community against him more than a couple of times due to his impulsive decision-making nature, which often times translated outside the game as well. He made a name for himself for switching teams in a blink of an eye and kicking teammates for no apparent reason.
He’s been at the centre of some of the most controversial roster changes, including Fnatic’s 2018 infamous “pizza party”, which was meant as a celebration for qualifying for the ESL One Katowice Major, but not for all the players, as Khoo “Ohaiyo” Chong Xin was informed at the said party that he was removed from the team. EE’s name was linked to the Rasmus “MISERY” Filipsen and Aliwi “w33” Omar kick from Team Secret in 2016, after winning the Shanghai Major and more recently, to the controversial roster change of Team Team after qualifying for the MDL Disneyland Paris.
But, besides controversy, EternaLEnVy will remain known as one of the most entertaining carry players to watch in both professional games and public games. His competitive career highlights were registered during his stint with Team Secret, with whom he reached the Frankfurt Major grand finals in 2015 and won the Shanghai Major 2016, and with Cloud9, with whom he placed top 6 at The International 2014.
EnVy hasn’t played competitively with a team for the past year. In 2021, he played in the second DPC tour with Black N Yellow and has briefly stood in for 4 Zoomers (now known as nouns) at BTS Pro Series Season 7 & 8.
On the same day EnVy announced his retirement, his friend, Ryoya shared a similar decision, citing that he “no longer has the same enjoyment” of playing Dota 2.
Ryoya and EternaLEnVy played together through the past couple of years at beastcoast, Team Team, Flying Penguins, Balck N Yellow and Sad Boys. Towards the end of 2021, Ryoya joined simply TOOBASED for the Dota Pro Circuit, but in the Spring Tou, the team was relegated to Division 2, which led to four players, including him, leaving the roster.
headline picture courtesy of WePlay Holding
