Win.gg
Dota 2
Ex-Natus Vincere player reportedly bet against his team in DPC Ex-Natus Vincere player reportedly bet against his team in DPC
The lower divisions of the Dota Pro Circuit leagues have been rife with issues related to competitive integrity, and that isn’t stopping now.
According to a report by Cybersports.Metarating.ru, former Natus Vincere player Idan “MagicaL” Vardanian has been removed from XactJlepbI. This follows the discovery of MagicaL betting against his own team during the ESL One CIS Dota Pro Circuit League. If this is true, it sparks serious questions regarding the competitive integrity surrounding XactJlepbI’s matches in the league.
XactJlepbI’s roster was loaded with a number of notable veterans from CIS teams, and was made up of the following players:
- Alexander “lightless” Potapenko
- Idan “MagicaL” Vardanian
- Gleb “Funn1k” Lipatnikov
- Rinat “KingR” Abdullin
- Aleksandr “Nofear” Churochkin
MagicaL spent two years with Na`Vi from 2018 to 2020. He was a key part of the 2019 roster that made a surprise run to The International 2019. He left in 2020 and played with Cyber Legacy before joining XactJlepbI for the Dota Pro Circuit qualifiers.
XactJlepbI finished the ESL One CIS DPC League’s lower division with a 2-5 record, narrowly avoiding relegation. No member of the team has publicly addressed the report as of yet. If the report is true, XactJlepbI may look to add a new mid laner or may disband entirely with its players looking to qualify back to the lower division with a new roster.
Match-fixing in 2021 Dota Pro Circuit so far:
Dota Pro Circuit leagues don’t fix match fixing in Dota 2
Though the new Dota Pro Circuit format offers more opportunities for teams that were previously stuck in the tier-two or tier-three scene, the issues regarding competitive integrity still linger in a big way. Alongside a variety of other issues with teams and players being removed from leagues, there have been repeated issues with match fixing.
Before league play started, a team was disqualified for account sharing, with speculation that the sharing involved players previously banned by Valve. More recently, Meta4Pro withdrew from the league over suspicions that one or more members of the team had thrown games.
Even outside the known instances of match-fixing, numerous players have gone public about being approached regarding throwing games, including XactJlepbI’s own Funn1k.
Given the sheer number of competitive integrity issues that have arisen in the Dota Pro Circuit and Valve’s general indifference towards preempting these problems, the next season of the Dota Pro Circuit may have similar problems.
Steven Rondina
About Steven Rondina
Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.
View full profile
Read Also
Dota 2
Yandex to repeat?: BLAST SLAM VIII preview, predictions, and more
Michael Hassall
If you can believe it, we’re already on the eighth edition of BLAST SLAM, as BLAST SLAM VIII kicks off tomorrow (Sep. 29) pitting 16 of the world’s best Dota 2 teams against each other in what promises to be the first big challenge of this young season. Let’s face it: At PGL Wallachia, we were missing a lot of the heavy hitters. No TI15 champs, no PARIVISION, not BetBoom, ...
Dota 2
Unstoppable Yandex crush NAVI in one-sided PGL Wallachia finals
Michael Hassall
Team Yandex has swept the grand finals of the PGL Wallachia Season 9 Dota 2 tournament, defeating Natus Vincere (NAVI) in a 3-0 drubbing this past weekend (Sep. 27). As predicted, the revitalized Yandex, hot off the signing of former Team Falcons star Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf, crushed their youthful opponents in a three-game sweep in the best-of-five finals. Here’s how it happened: After upsetting the star-studded LGD Gaming roster (albeit ...
Dota 2
Team Yandex to win it all? PGL Wallachia Season 9 Finals preview and predictions
Michael Hassall
The first big event after TI15, PGL Wallachia Season 9, wraps up this Sunday, Sep. 27, and it’s set to be a hell of a show. After a solid week of action, with some surprise eliminations along the way, we’re down to just three teams from the original 16. Team Yandex, LGD Gaming, and Natus Vincere (NAVI) remain, having battled through some big upsets to get there. Yandex are hot ...
Dota 2
MidOne to Play for Team Liquid at BLAST Slam 8, Replacing Nisha: Permanent or Stand-in?
Owen Harsono
Like most other Dota 2 teams, Team Liquid have also undergone roster changes after The International 2026, replacing Ace for Wisper. However, a swap in offlaners wasn’t the end, as veteran mid-laner MidOne has been registered under the team ahead of BLAST Slam 8, taking Nisha’s spot. Is MidOne only acting as a stand-in, or is this going to be a permanent move? Here’s what we know. On September 25, ...
Dota 2
PGL Wallachia Season 9 Playoffs preview and predictions
Michael Hassall
PGL Wallachia Season 9 is the first major tournament since the 2025/2026 Dota 2 season came to its conclusion at TI15, and with the roster shuffle still, well, shuffling, and top teams skipping the event while they get things finalized, it’s been an unusual tournament so far. With some surprising names in the playoffs (especially if you’ve been following the scene for the rest of the year) and the absence ...
Dota 2
ESIC hand down ruling in EWC Dota match-fixing case: Lifetime ban for coach as DarkMago gets a nickel
Michael Hassall
South American Dota 2 player Gonzalo "DarkMago" Herrera will be banned for five years from competitive Dota 2, with his coach Juan "Vintage" Angulo banned permanently, following the results of an The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) investigation. ESIC handed down the findings and rulings from its investigation into match-fixing allegations leveled at members of South American Dota 2 team PlayTime during the Esports World Cup on Sep. 10, in a ...
News
Polystrike Turns a Dota 2 Mod Into a Standalone Tactical Shooter
Hannan Mundia
After the community-made mod found success within the community, developer and publisher Robin Entertainment has decided to turn Polystrike into a proper standalone game. Community-made mods of games finding success within the respective game’s community is nothing new. However, only a handful of those mods are able to go on and become a standalone game. One of the more recent examples is The Forgotten City, which started as a mod ...
