Paparazi Dismisses Rumors of Return to Competitive Dota 2

A few rumors have recently swirled around the return of former Xtreme Gaming midlaner Zhang “Paparazi” Chengjun, who retired earlier this year, to competitive Dota 2. According to the player, he has no intentions of returning to pro Dota in addition to mentioning the reason for not wanting to do so. Paparazi stated that he was unaware of the discussions circulating about his return and attributed his decision of not returning to a belief in his own “unluckiness.” In his view, making the right choices is more important than working hard, but he has not had the best luck with his decisions.

Paparazi dismisses rumors of his pro Dota 2 comeback

Twitter user CN Dota In A Nutshell (@Tr1H4rd3rDota2) quoted Paparazi who refuted speculations about his return to professional Dota 2. “Who said I will come back to pro scene? I don’t even know that myself. Pyw told me that some foreign media said that I’ll come back to pro scene and join AR,” he said.

“Is there any possibility for me coming back to pro scene? I don’t really think so. I think I’m really unlucky tbh, I don’t know why is that,” Paparazi said, adding that making the right decisions is a crucial part of success. As he put it, he has always “made bad and wrong decisions.”

Xtreme Gaming officially announced the retirement of Paparazi in July 2023. According to Xtreme at the time, the player had sought retirement after The International 11 (TI11) completed in October 2022 and even before the Riyadh Masters 2023 in July, but remained for various reasons.

During his career, Paparazi established himself as one of the most popular players to emerge from China, notably following his victory at the DAC 2017 Solo Tournament, where he defeated players such as Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan and Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi. He also has two Major victories to his name, although he did not win The International.

In the past, several prominent players, like Sébastien “Ceb” Debs and Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka, and others, have made comebacks in professional Dota 2.

They largely represent the first notable generation of pro Dota 2 players and have found it difficult to transition away from the thrill of the competition that the game provides, therefore making comebacks.

At the same time, some of these comebacks have been short-lived, and players such as EternaLEnVy and JerAx have been out for some time and are unlikely to return.