Dota 2 team Knights has been banned for matchfixing, with potential throws at the highest level of the Dota Pro Circuit.
Matchfixing is an unfortunately common occurrence at the lower ends of multiple esports, but throwing games for cash at a $500,000 tournament is almost unthinkable. However, the great minds at Knights, a Chinese DPC team that earned a trip to the Lima Major, did exactly that.
After an investigation from Valve, the team was found to be matchfixing and has now been banned from competitive play until at least 2024. In addition, Valve has also chosen to ban 42 other pro players in what may be the largest ban wave in competitive Dota 2 history.
The ban was announced through the official Dota 2 Weibo account on March 9, 2023. The announcement listed 47 total bannings, with all five Knights players now out of the picture. At the time of being banned, Knights fielded the following five players:
- Yang “Ms” Yongjie
- Xu “Lin” Ziyang
- Somsak “Nevermine” Chanthavisouk
- Lin “Son Goku” Shiyang
- Xiao “XCJ” Chaojian
One of the Lima Major matches that Knights fixed was against Entity, a strong European contender that ultimately earned fifth. Both games were stomps for Entity, with both games combined lasting under an hour. Former OG analyst Vladislav “Kozak” Lazurenko was the first to levy accusations, and it turns out that he was likely correct. The five players will be banned from competing in Dota 2 until sometime in 2024, though they will likely never play in any serious capacity ever again.
Luckily for Knights, there are enough other Dota 2 pros being banned at the same time to form their own competitive league if they so desire.
Knights part of 47 Chinese Dota 2 players now banned
In addition to the former players for Knights, Valve banned 42 more Chinese Dota 2 pros in a massive DPC ban wave.
The list of banned players was posted to Weibo, and it included multiple players that avid western Dota 2 esports fans would recognize. Here are just some of the notable names from the list:
- Yang “Helios” Yuepeng
- Vincent “AlaCrity” Hiew
- Su “Flyby” Lei
- Chong “FelixCiaoBa” Wei Lun
- Tang “Salad” Xiaolei
- Lee “X1aOyU” Qian Yu
- Tan “TrazaM” Kai Soon
Valve did not publicly reveal the individual reasons for each ban, but it is likely that the 47 banned players are being penalized for either matchfixing or cheating. Several allegations surrounding a “Byakugan” map hack have emerged in the past few months, and some of the accused players were banned in this wave.
