Not only have these professional Dota 2 players gained fame and wealth for doing what they do; their commitment and dedication are also an inspiration to all.  
 
EternalEnVy
 
EternalEnVy.(Twitter/@EternalEnvy)
Jacky “EternalEnVy” Mao is a 24-year-old Dota 2 professional player who has been playing since 2011.
 
In December 2011, EternalEnVy, a virtually unknown player, wrote a long blog post about how he was going to quit engineering school and pursue a career as a professional Dota 2 player. He was later mocked and ridiculed by the community and no one heard from him again for the next few months, assuming that he had given up on his dream.
 
Several months later, he came back with a team called NoTidehunter, who won the Star Ladder tournament in the next few months. Afterwards, he was kicked out of NoTidehunter, who reformed themselves as Alliance and won one of the largest Dota 2 tournaments, the International 3, leaving EternalEnVy in the dust.
 
After being kicked out, he was ridiculed and, even after forming a new team, only managed to secure a string of second places, never actually winning a tournament. Finally, after joining the reformed Team Secret in late 2015, he won three championships in a row and is now considered one of the best players in the world.
 
Suma1L
 
Suma1L. (Twitter/@sumaaaail)
Syed “Suma1L” Hassan is a 17-year-old professional Dota 2 player who plays for the Evil Geniuses team.
 
Born in Pakistan, Suma1L’s family came from humble beginnings. He was only 8 years old when his cousin introduced him to Dota 2 and from that point on he was so determined to play the game that he sold his bike just to get more time to play.
 
He is what you would call a “born to win” player, since he has played from such a young age. Due to his hard work, he finally received an offer from the premier team, Evil Geniuses, to join them and, from that point on, has had great success, even winning the largest prize pool ever (US$18 million) in Esports of the International 5.
 
However, this sudden influx of fame did not change him as he spent most of the $1.5 million that he won buying a new house for his eight family members who used to live in a small apartment.
 
Fear
 
Fear.(evigeniuses.gg/-)
Twenty-eight-year-old Clinton “Fear” Loomis is one of the oldest players in the Dota 2 competitive scene. He has been playing Dota since the second edition was released in early 2006.
 
Pegged as the Old Man Fear, he is a shining example of a person who has been through the most of all the players in the competitive scene. Unlike Suma1L, who has just entered the scene, Fear was playing when there was no money to be made and would stay up until 5 a.m. to play with Europeans in their time zone.

He has been kicked out of his house by his mom and was forced to live alone at the age of 22. At the time, his mother was single and raised him alone, therefore he put all of his eggs into the basket that is Dota.
 
Today he is one of the most, if not the most accomplished player in the scene, leading his team Evil Geniuses to multiple tournament wins.
 
He is also known as one of the few players that has been known to play every position in Dota 2, whether it be support or carry, he has mastered them all.

***

Kenneth is a 17-year-old high school student who loves comic books, Dota 2, movies, political science and history. He is currently living in Jakarta and working toward his IB diploma. You can reach him at @kenneth2098 on Twitter.

---------------
Interested to write for Youth channel at thejakartapost.com? We are looking for information and opinions from students with appropriate writing skills. The content must be original on the following topics: passion, leadership, school, lifestyle (beauty, fashion, food), entertainment, science & technology, health, social media, and sports. Send your piece to community@jakpost.com.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.