Mason returns to the main matchmaking pool after serving a Smurf jail sentence.
Mason, one of Dota 2’s most controversial streamers, is finally back to the main matchmaking pool after spending almost half a year in smurf jail.
Mason’s Long Journey Back to the Main Pool
Mason was on his typical broadcast schedule on May 30 and entered a matchmaking session, where he saw the other players in the Immortal Draft screen and understood his punishment had finally been served. The pro-turned-streamer endured a tough grind of 1,400+ matches after his old account was permanently banned.
Controversy surrounding Mason
The former Evil Geniuses player has become one of the most divisive individuals among the generally dull crop of Dota 2 streamers. Previously, he made news for all the wrong reasons, including being banned by Twitch several times before Valve issued him a Coal-shaped permaban for utilizing a boosting service in December of last year.
Mason’s Struggle With the Smurf Pool
This resulted in Mason creating a new account—but, as one might guess, he was flagged as a smurf and placed in the infamous smurf pool. For the uninitiated, this is part of the matchmaking mechanism that pairs smurfs with other smurfs so as not to impede actual new players and to discourage pro players from running numerous accounts, as was the case prior to the 2023 Frostivus ban wave.
Community Reactions on Mason’s Return
The Dota 2 community is generally pleased with the overall development. “I have to hand it to him. He kept his head down and served his punishment, which was severe. That’s a deserved main pool,” one player said in a May 31 Reddit thread.
“What a remarkable journey and fascinating look at the absolute dregs of Dota society!”, one Mason stream enjoyer pointed out the new perspectives we got exposed to as a community through his smurf pool streams for the last six months. “[We] got to observe buyers, win traders, and boosters yell at each other in Russian as they battled it out round after round for ultimate degeneracy.”