In the recent off-season transfer window at the end of the 2021 season, one of the most talked-about names was Doggo when this young AD Carry joined Bilibili Gaming from Beyond Gaming. Despite having a good performance at the 2021 World Championship, BYG was still considered a weak team and PCS was viewed as the “valley” of the League of Legends world.
Not to mention, Doggo is still very young while the LPL is one of the most competitive regions in the League of Legends scene. Additionally, Doggo will have to compete for a spot with the legendary “Super AD Carry” Uzi – who has just decided to make a comeback after a long hiatus due to injuries, illnesses, and contract obligations with Royal Never Give Up.
Surprisingly, not only did Doggo join BLG, but he also secured a starting position over Uzi, from the Demacia Cup up to the current point of the LPL Spring 2022. Doggo’s performances, of course, did not always hit max ping 100% and he did not perform well in every match, but overall, Doggo has exceeded expectations as a 19-year-old rookie making his first foray into the big leagues. It can be said that BLG’s investment in Doggo is an investment in the future of this prestigious yet title-lacking team.
However, instead of committing long-term to BLG, Doggo unexpectedly took an action that left not only the fans of this team stunned and outraged, but even League of Legends viewers in shock. Specifically, Doggo shared on his stream that he has no intention of playing professional League of Legends for long, aiming to play until he is about 21 or 22 years old. After that, Doggo plans to retire and return to his home country to get married, ending his professional player career.
According to this young player’s reasoning, professional League of Legends may affect longevity, as he believes that the longer one plays professionally, the shorter their lifespan becomes. Additionally, he also mentioned that if he feels he is not playing well anymore, he will proactively retire. This may be an extremely rare case in the League of Legends scene where someone announces an early retirement, especially when their career is just starting.
However, Doggo’s reasoning is not unreasonable. Professional players are often tied to a rigorous training schedule and unscientific living habits. For example, some players who try hard like Doinb may stay up until dawn despite having just played a stressful match. There have also been many cases of players suffering serious injuries due to intense training schedules and poor living habits, a prime example being Doggo’s teammate at BLG – Uzi. In addition to his persistent hand injuries, Uzi also suffers from diabetes – a condition stemming from his stressful training days coupled with poor eating and resting habits.
However, there are also many players around the world who manage to maintain a reasonable living schedule, experience fewer injuries, and sustain good performance despite having undergone a long professional career in a harsh environment. A prime example is Faker. The “Demon King” has been playing professionally since the early days of the LCK and League of Legends in general, when names like Reginald (president of Team SoloMid) or Ocelote (president of G2 Esports) were still active players. To this day, there are many matches where Faker is the oldest player on both teams. His teammate Zeus is 8 years younger than him. This means that when Faker began his illustrious career, Zeus was still in elementary school.
However, everyone has their own path, and cases like Faker are extremely rare, making Doggo’s reasoning understandable. But after all, Doggo is still young, and he has plenty of time ahead. Doggo’s current mission is simply to maintain good performance, focus on each match, and help BLG aim for titles both in this season and in the future.