Dota 2 pro-players that were banned by Valve forever
Recently, we reported that the number of incidents with fake matches has dramatically grown. As a rule, Valve bans players from the competitive Dota 2 scene for the proven fact of participation in such ones.
This article will try to remember the most famous cases of a lifetime ban of players and its reasons.
Arrow Gaming — the first team to receive a lifetime ban from Valve
Members of the Malaysian team Arrow Gaming became the first players in Dota 2 history to receive a lifetime ban for match-fixing.
In 2014, the team played at The International. But it was suspected of participating in a fake match in the qualifiers for the Synergy League just three months later.
The suspicious betting activity prompted former Titan Gaming manager Tiffani "Oling" Lim to conduct an investigation. She proved the team's involvement in the incident and discovered an attempt to hide all its facts.
Lifetime ban was received by:
- Kelvin "MtR" Chong
- Choo Jian "MoZuN" Goh
- Chiok "XiangZai" Soon Siang
- Yi Liong "ddz" Kok
- Hsien Wan "Lance" Fua
Collusion of three South Asian teams resulting in a ban
In January 2016, right during qualifications for the Shanghai Major, Valve gave a lifetime ban to eleven South Asian Esportsmen for participating in fake matches.
From 2014 to 2015, Mineski, Aces Gaming, and MSI-Evolution Gaming repeatedly played fake matches with each other. For each of them, the players received $800- $1,000.
The incident became revealed after Thien Tai "Taipolime" Wuong's confession, where the player detailed the story. The investigation was handled personally by the management of Mineski. After proving guilt, all the information was made public.
Lifetime ban was received by:
- Dinh Viet Thanh "Misa" Nguyen
- Duc Trung “Kua" Nguyen
- Trung Hieu "Sph" Nguyen
- Richard "Paseo" Minowa
- Mark Anthony "Jacko" Soriano
- Joven "jvn" Pancho
- Patrick "JyC" Pascua
- Denver "yNd" Miranda
- Mark "Byb" Gavin
- Carlo "Chin" Rivera
- Jo "Jotan" Tan
Lifetime ban in the South American region
In the same 2016, Valve banned four players from Elite Wolves and one player from Infamous.
In the ProDotA Cup Americas 3 match for third place, Infamous sensationally defeated the Elite Wolves. Still, the public considered the result as an ordinary one and chalked it up to a coincidence. However, a month later, five players from that match received lifetime bans from Valve. The investigation was never published.
Lifetime ban was received by:
- Bryan Freddy "SmAsH" Machaca Siña
- Ricardo "mstco" Román
- Juan Carlos "vanN" Tito
- Jesús "Ztok" Carhuaricra
- Iwo "i w o" Bejar
Lifetime ban of The International champion
At the beginning of 2021, the champion of The International 2017, Newbee, received the lifetime ban. With it, another Chinese team, Avengerls, was also banned.
In May 2020, the Chinese DOTA2 Professional Association suspended Newbee from all domestic tournaments and investigated its participation in fake matches. It turned out that the match between Newbee and Avengerls in the qualifiers for StarLadder Minor Season 3 was negotiable. By the 20th minute of the second map, the Avengerls had a significant Net Worth advantage, but suddenly the team started making stupid mistakes and was defeated.
Interestingly, the Newbee organization was already involved in such scandals: first, Esportsmen of StarCraft 2 were suspected of fake matches, and then — of Fortnite.
Lifetime ban was received by:
- Xu "Moogy" Han
- Yin "Aq" Rui
- Wen "Wizard" Lipeng
- Yan "Waixi" Chao
- Zeng "Faith" Hongda
- Exx
- xyp9x
- YIM
- pkt