The South American qualifier for Dream League Season 22 is currently ongoing, but that did not stop Dota 2 developers Valve from sanctioning players who are participating in the qualifiers.
Support player Steven “StingeR” Vargas and Mad Kings are the two parties who felt the impact of Valve’s banhammer while they were actively participating on Tuesday. StingeR was banned on Tuesday during a qualifier, and it effectively forced Mad Kings to forfeit the series.
Despite the nature of the ban, Dota 2 fans seem satisfied with it, as they have been building a case against StingeR in the last two days. On Monday, a Dota community member shared evidence that insinuated that Parker was boosting Stinger’s account.
The push came to shove midway through the lower bracket of the DreamLeague qualifier 24 hours later during game two of the series. One of the key events that validated the boosting accusations was when David “Parker” Nicho Flores openly revealed his identity from the mid-lane during the match.
The core player went on to tease the others to “ban him,” and it happened faster than he thought, as StingeR disconnected from the series before the 10-minute mark in the second match and was unable to reconnect.
However, this cracking down is coming despite the fact that Valve had a talk with professional players at TI 2023 about smurfing and some other aspects of the game, and by Christmas, professional players who continued to smurf lost access to their additional accounts.
One of the high-profile victims is Dota 2 streamer Mason, who received a permanent ban along with many others. Meanwhile, the recent hammer in the middle of a qualification match is a crystal clear message from the developers to all Smurfs and account-sharing players.
Following Mad Kings’ elimination from the DreamLeague S22 qualifiers due to StingeR’s ban, Thunder Awaken has moved forward in the lower bracket.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
