A recent controversy has risen out of a Dota 2 match between Team Avengerls and Team Newbee during the StarLadder ImbaTV Minor qualifiers in China. A seemingly unfathomable comeback has drawn the skepticism of the Dota community, especially the keen eye of veteran stream Zhang “xiao8” Ning, who is beyond certain that there was foul play based off of his experience as a player and coach.
In the qualifier, Avengerls was in clear control of the match after handily winning the first match and creating a seemingly insurmountable deficit midway through the second game. At the drop of a dime, Avengerls squandered their lead after making peculiar missteps that went beyond a temporary lapse of strategy. Xiao8 immediately zeroed in on Avengerls unwillingness to use Smoke of Deceits to preserve their huge lead and the questionable tactics by the team’s Morphling player.
Unwilling to excuse the shocking turnaround to bad play, xiao8 would replay the match and made the conclusion that it was likely that Avengerls threw the match, urging spectators to bring this up to the appropriate parties to start an investigation. Xiao8 was so certain that the cheat occurred, he publicly announced on his stream he would record himself eating feces should everything come out being on the level.
Another match-fixing scandal might be afoot, as Dota 2 esports veteran Zhang “xiao8” Ning spotted some suspicious activity duri…#eSports EsportsBettingNews, Avengerls, Cn, Dota2, Featured, Newbee, StarladderImbatvMinor, Zhang"Xiao8"Ning https://t.co/CBJMPHOmqC
— esportbet (@esportbetcom) February 18, 2020
While there should be no rush to disprove xiao8’s theory out of jest(but for those who are, you might be disturbed), the stakes are simply too high in a game of Dota 2 for match fixing to happen on such a visible scale. Dota 2 is, without question, the most rewarding esports title in the world at the moment with its players earning a fortune winning its massive tournaments. Any attack on the game’s competitive integrity should not be brushed off as an isolated incident, especially a big money game like Dota 2.
Though no news of an investigation has been announced, it is extremely likely that the situation is going to be looked into by the tournament organizers and might throw a monkey wrench in proceedings should an investigation occur. If it is found that Avengerls did throw the match, it would go down as one of the worst dives ever in esports history and, thankfully, prevents us from the horrible alternative that they just straight up lost and we have to watch someone eat a turd.
Source: Dot Esports
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