After having announced his retirement in April 2020, American Dota 2 pro and TI5 champion Peter “ppd” Dager is ready to make a comeback in the competitive realm. He explained his decision and expounded on his time away from competition in a WePlay Esports blog post.

After experiencing disappointment due to the ESL One Los Angeles Major’s cancellation, to soldiering on with his then team Ninjas in Pyjamas, ppd eventually decided to call it quits altogether.

“In hindsight, maybe taking a month or two off may have been the safer play. But that’s not who I am. I’m spontaneous and often reckless, especially with major life decisions,” he wrote.

In the aftermath, he admitted to staying away from Dota during the first month home, and spent that summer “exploring what else might be out there for [him].” He worked with players and influencers to build their brands, and considered collaborating with game developers. Once he refocused his attention on Dota, he even thought of casting, coaching, and managing,

Ultimately, ppd chose to begin streaming, as he had always wanted to try it. However, after three months of livestreaming six days a week, he realized that this was not what he was most passionate about. “So, for now, I’m back,” ppd concluded. “I’ll be competing in NA Dota tournaments and, hopefully soon, international tournaments with Fear, DNM, Moo, and Sneyking.”

Crediting his teammates, he further wrote, “I am very grateful to these guys for carrying me and, honestly, I don’t know if I would have come back if I didn’t find such an amazing team to compete with.”

Current Sadboys roster:

(1) Clinton “Fear” Loomis
(2) David “dnm” Cassio
(3) David “Moo” Hull
(4) Jingjun “Sneyking” Wu
(5) Peter “ppd” Dager (captain)

Sadboys is one of four teams that received direct invites to the upper division of the North America DPC Regional League which begins on January 18. They are currently fielding offers from interested esports organizations.

Ppd comes out of retirement and rejoins Sadboys roster for DPC 2021