Competitive Dota 2 fans were left puzzled when retired player Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka was spotted registering for the upcoming Dota Pro Circuit season under his former team, OG. However, fans’ hopes of a comeback were soon dashed as JerAx denied any involvement, stating that he had no memory of such registration.
“I can’t recall doing this,” JerAx said. “Must have been while I was asleep.”
The fake JerAx also signed for a Team OG with the code “8435079,” while the real one goes by the code of “2586976.”
Unless there’s a group of players looking to put together a parody team somewhere around the world, this looks to be the work of an imposter who may have wanted to have some fun with the Dota 2 community.
JerAx was on a year-long break before he decided to join Evil Geniuses, a stint that didn’t go his way. The two-time TI winner then joined Team Liquid as a coach, before parting ways with the organization before the 2023 DPC season started.
Given that JerAx achieved the highest honor in the Dota 2 world twice, it would be quite unlikely for him to return for a second time. During his not-so-spectacular comeback, the Finnish position four had felt that the game had advanced quite faster than he had imagined, making it difficult for him to keep up.
The tiniest possibility of JerAx coming back again was enough to send shockwaves through the Dota 2 world, indicating how loved and respected JerAx is as a player and a personality.
