Controversy surrounds The International 8 qualifier tournaments
The number of mishaps and controversies surrounding The International 8 qualifier tournaments continues to grow.
First, there was a game-breaking bug that forced organizers to ban the use of an ability. Then, there was an incorrect disqualification in the Chinese qualifier due to an errant ruling related to the glitch. In between, the game coordinator went down and the second North American open qualifiers had to be restarted.
Cheating allegations in the South American regional qualifier
This time, cheating allegations have emerged in the South American regional qualifier for TI8. Users on the Dota 2 subreddit posted evidence of macro usage, accusing Thunder Predator’s Juan “Atun” Ochoa of employing a third-party application.
The evidence includes a combat log from the third game of Thunder Predator’s series against SG e-sports, which shows Atun using the Poof ability on three separate Meepoes simultaneously.
Normally, this would be impossible as the ability must be cast separately for each Meepo clone. The player has to hit the Tab key, followed by the W key, and then the left mouse button on the target for each Meepo clone that is to be teleported.
There is also video evidence of the abnormal ability timings, showing the Meepo clones appearing next to the target without any delay. When compared to gameplay footage of Johan “n0tail” Sundstein on Meepo, the lack of delay becomes even more obvious.
Using macros and scripts that assist gameplay beyond what is provided by Valve via the Dota 2 client is a violation of the game’s terms of service, as stated by a Dota 2 developer forum moderator in a post from 2012. Such actions are considered “illegal software” and can result in a VAC ban.
Implications for the tournament
Despite the cheating allegations, Thunder Predator won the series and advanced to the grand finals of the tournament.
As of now, there have been no reports of Atun’s Steam account receiving a VAC ban, and neither Atun nor Valve have made any statements regarding the accusations. If Valve finds the evidence to be solid, SG e-sports may be awarded the default win.