DOTA 2 Community Mourns The Passing Of Beloved Player

FiercE was the sort of person the DOTA community needs more of: someone who wanted to help others learn how to have fun with the game.

Once upon a time FiercE was a bigtime DOTA 1 pro, but more recently he became known for both his educational DOTA 2 videos—which many players cite as essential resources for players first starting out—and highlight videos that got millions of views. Despite this, he was a curiously under-the-radar figure, someone whose work countless DOTA 2 fans have consumed, only to go, “Oh, he’s the guy who made that?” upon hearing his name. News of his passing broke late yesterday, via a post from longtime friend and NADoTA admin Aaron “Spit-wad” Stern:

“This is difficult so I’m just going to keep it short. Fierce’s sister called me this morning and said he has passed away. Cause of death is unknown right now. They are having a memorial service on Wednesday in the NJ area—contact me if you would like the details.”

“I’ve known Fierce for about ten years. He was always a great teammate and a great friend. A very funny, smart, and naturally talented guy. He attended a couple LANs in NY back in the day so maybe some of you have met him.”

Many DOTA 2 players—casual fans, commentators, and pros alike—rallied in the wake of FiercE’s untimely passing:

https://twitter.com/embed/status/600400458985799681

Professor Fierce passed away. I can't believe it. His videos got me into Dota 2 to begin with. Rest in peace man.https://t.co/E21ZXDb3Si

— Travis Bueno (@MautDota) May 18, 2015

https://twitter.com/embed/status/600390033703444480

Others are trying to make sure his videos are preserved for use by future generations.

Here are a couple of his most well-known videos, if you haven’t seen them:

It’s a crying shame that he’s gone, that’s for damn sure. Let us hope that future players, pros, and creators learn from both his videos and the example he set as a person.

You’re reading Steamed, Kotaku’s page dedicated to all things in and around Valve’s stupidly popular PC gaming service. Games, culture, community creations, criticism, guides, videos—everything. If you’ve found anything cool/awful on Steam, send us an email to let us know.

To contact the author of this post, write to [email protected] or find him on Twitter @vahn16