Olivia R. September 8, 2020
Team Liquid Counter-Strike: Global Offensive veteran Jake "Stewie2K" Yip has been quite vocal about match fixing taking place in the Mountain Dew League.
The Mountain Dew League was once known as the top competition for tier-two CSGO teams looking to get their names on the map. But recently, the MDL has been in the spotlight for something very different than its promising talent.
On September 3, the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) stated that it was conducting an investigation into various MDL teams after receiving "suspicious bet alerts" over the past 18 months. This led the group to believe there may be match-fixing activity in the MDL tournament series.
The ESIC provided an update on the ongoing investigation, explaining the process on their end when something like this occurs.
"ESIC is now in the concluding stages of its investigation and will issue a formal statement relating to the investigation within four weeks of the date of this update (subject to complications that may arise in the finalization of our investigation)," they concluded in a press release.
Stewie2K calls out CSGO teams for match fixing
The news that the ESIC was investigating multiple teams for match fixing in the MDL had Stewie2K vocally frustrated with the tier-two scene. On Twitter, Stewie2K said that "shady" teams should "get their ass" out of competitive CSGO.
In the Twitter rant, Stewie2K reminded CSGO fans that iBUYPOWER had been "pushed away" from competitive Counter-Strike when they were caught up in a major match-fixing scandal. Interestingly enough, Stewie2K recently leaked that a former iBUYPOWER player who was banned for match fixing, Sam "DaZeD" Marine, may possibly be joining T1 to play Valorant.
iBUYPOWER was a major match-fixing scandal resulting from iBP purposely losing a heavily favored matchup in a 2014 tournament. Valve later passed judgment on the matter, indefinitely banning four iBUYPOWER players. ESL unbanned the players in 2017, a move largely supported by the CSGO community. But Valve did not follow suit.
Stewie2K noted that players may feel "sneaky" because they aren't under the spotlight of the game's top tier, thinking the lack of attention may allow them to face little or no scrutiny for match fixing.
"People still match-fixing and thinking they’re sneaky since they aren’t tier 1," Stewie2K said.
Stewie2K then continued his rant in a follow-up tweet, which seemed to be a possible jab at DaZeD. The CSGO pro said that the iBUYPOWER scandal has continued to "taint the scene," leading him to believe that none of the players involved deserved a second chance in any game.
Despite Stewie2K's harsh words, there has yet to be any proof of match fixing in the MDL. The ESIC stated that it will have the results of their investigation within the next four weeks.