Seleri retires from competitive Dota 2

Seleri is known most for leading Gaimin Gladiators to three straight Major championships and back-to-back runner-up finishes in The International.

Three-time Dota 2 Major champion and MOUZ team captain Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp has announced his retirement from competitive play on Sunday (29 March), concluding a storied career that spanned over a decade. Seleri revealed his decision to hang up his mouse and keyboard shortly after MOUZ were eliminated ESL One Birmingham 2026 in 7th-8th place.

Why did Seleri decide to retire?

In a post on his personal X account, Seleri said that the demanding schedule for a full-time professional Dota 2 player is the reason behind his decision to retire.

“It has been an incredible experience, but the schedule these days of being a full time player is becoming too much for me. I enjoyed every moment playing on stage. I'm blessed I didn't have much stress in the most fun games, playing in front of a crowd,” said Seleri.

Seleri also expressed his gratitude for becoming known as ‘the vegan’ of Dota 2, among his other achievements. He has been a vegan since 2015 and even donated all of his winnings from The International (TI) 2022 to an animal sanctuary as part of his advocacy.

“I'm grateful I was able to be seen as the 'vegan', it means a lot to me to be able to promote veganism,” said Seleri.

Seleri retires as three-time Major champion, two-time TI runner-up

Seleri started his professional Dota 2 career in 2015, competing in Europe's Tier 2 scene with teams like GOOMBA Gaming, Sanguine Sharks, and Unchained Esports. He got his big break with Vikin.gg in 2021, finishing seventh in the inaugural season of the European Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) Upper Division and winning Season 2 of the region's Lower Division. 

Seleri then left Vikin.gg at the end of 2021 to form Team Tickles, which finished second in Tour 1 of Western Europe's Division I in the 2021-2022 DPC season despite having no organisational support. The Team Tickles roster were then acquired by Gaimin Gladiators in February 2022, which started the most successful stint of Seleri's career.

Seleri's first year with Gaimin Gladiators saw the team win Tour 2 of Western Europe's Division I, finish fourth in the ESL One Stockholm Major 2022, and place in the Top 12 of TI 2022. While Gaimin Gladiators' first season under Seleri's captainship was already fairly successful, the team would grow into one of the most dominant teams in the history of the game in 2023 with the acquisition of American mid laner Quinn “Quinn” Callahan.

In the 2023 DPC season, Seleri led Gaimin Gladiators to Top 3 finishes in all three Tours as well as three straight Major championships in the Lima Major 2023, ESL One Berlin Major 2023, and the Bali Major 2023–which were the final three Majors to be hosted before Valve scrapped the DPC and the Major Championship systems in September of that year. Gaimin Gladiators were unable to cap off their dominant season with the Aegis of Champions, however, as they were swept in the grand finals of TI 2023 by Team Spirit.

Gaimin Gladiators were unable to replicate their success from the previous year in 2024, as they only managed to win one tournament in Riyadh Masters 2024. Seleri and his team also fell short of claiming the Aegis of Champions for the second straight year, losing to longtime rivals Team Liquid in the grand finals of TI 2024.

Seleri then announced an extended break from competitive play in February 2025 before parting ways with Gaimin Gladiators in March. He returned to competition less than a month later to lead MOUZ's return to the Dota 2 scene. MOUZ struggled to produce consistent results against the cutthroat competition in Western Europe, with their best results being back-to-back Top 4 finishes in BLAST Slam IV in November and BLAST Slam V in December.

MOUZ have yet to announce Seleri's replacement. The team's roster following Seleri's retirement is as follows:

1. Remco “Crystallis” Arets
2. Nai Zheng “MidOne” Yeik
3. Miroslav “BOOM” Bičan
4. Daniyal “Yamich” Lazebnyy
5. TBA
6. Daniel “ImmortalFaith” Moza (coach)

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