Here’s why Arteezy just fed mid in a pro match

William Davis Published 14/03/2023

It’s rare to see Artour “Arteezy” Babaev feed in a pro match, but that’s exactly what happened in one of this season’s most important matches.

The road to Dota 2 esports stardom is long and twisted, and one of the first necessary lessons is learning how not to feed. Intentionally dying in a pro game is a rare occurrence, and it usually only happens at the lowest levels of play. However, one North America Dota Pro Circuit match broke the mold, with superstar Shopify Rebellion carry Arteezy rolling over and dying to the enemy mid in last night’s matches.

Why did Arteezy choose to actively feed? And more importantly, why did the casters congratulate him for it?

The incident took place during a match between North American frontrunners Shopify Rebellion and TSM. Viewers who just tuned in to the hotly-anticipated duel halfway through game one were treated to the strangest display of professional Dota 2 in years. To the uneducated eye, star carry Arteezy simply walked to the mid lane and allowed himself to die to Jonathan “Bryle” Guia’s Tinker. The casters didn’t even seem to question the decision, calling it great sportsmanship.

Despite this strange instance, Shopify Rebellion still managed to win the game off an incredible combo. Using Snapfire’s Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade Gobble Up, support Andreas “Cr1t-” Nielsen stunned four enemy heroes from downtown. The projectile, Abed Yusop’s Shadow Fiend, followed up with a massive Requiem of Souls. Despite this insane ending to game one, TSM would ultimately win the series 2-1.

Why Arteezy fed his Aegis in the North America DPC

Arteezy fed as an act of sportsmanship, as technical issues accidentally reset the timer on a soon-to-expire Aegis of the Immortal.

During the match between Shopify and TSM, players encountered technical issues that forced them to restart Dota 2. However, Valve had pushed an update to the game that put the restarting players on a new version. This left them unable to connect again, resulting in a long technical pause. 

Eventually, all ten players were back in the lobby, but certain important factors had changed. In Arteezy’s case, his Aegis of the Immortal went from 17 seconds remaining back to the full five minutes. This was pointed out before the unpause, and the players reached a deal where Arteezy would intentionally feed to get rid of it. Babaev wisely made the condition that he would feed to anyone except Enzo “Timado” Gianoli’s Slark. After unpausing, he walked mid and died for the sake of a fair match, one that Shopify would ultimately lose.

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