The bug used by Azure Ray at the Bali Major explained

Azure Ray has suddenly become one of the most controversial teams in Dota 2 after being accused of exploring a bug on one of the game’s biggest stages.

The Bali Major has been mostly free of controversy up to the end of the group stage, but accusations of cheating have now rocked the $500,000 event. Shortly following a match between Chinese team Azure Ray and North American squad nouns, the former stood accused of abusing a bug to get an unfair advantage in the elimination series.

The allegations of the bug were first acknowledged by tournament host Epulze. The company issued a statement claiming that Azure Ray had been found guilty but deleted the social media post shortly after. Later, the company released another statement claiming that the investigation was inconclusive.

While Azure Ray was not named in the second statement, it was cited in the original ruling. It’s a strange circumstance, but the final decision shows that Azure Ray will continue to compete as normal at the Bali Major.

Watcher bug allegedly abused by Azure Ray at Bali Major 

So what exactly was the bug that Azure Ray abused? According to nouns coach Filipe Astini, it involves the watchers, a new mechanic added in 7.33.

The bug itself was also publicized by Astini. When a watcher in fog of war is neutral, players who click on it will see a white circle form around its base. However, if an enemy captures it, they will see a red circle. Players don’t have to get vision of the watcher for this change to occur.

For pro teams that often group as five to start the game, this small bit of info can affect how they choose to tackle the rune spawns.

Here is an example of a competitive advantage of using this bug.

By abusing it they know @BetBoomTeam has the watcher, thus they walk on the very corner of the vision and do the wrap-around on BB heroes, getting first blood from this angle.

This would not work without the bug pic.twitter.com/G8x1fC3aIq

— Filipe Astini (@filipeastini) July 3, 2023

Astini claims to have noticed Azure Ray using this bug during their previous matches at the Bali Major, even bringing Epulze’s attention to it. However, he was told that the technique was not against the rules. While it may seem insignificant, Astini proved that Azure Ray was using the bug to their advantage in previous matches. The clip above shows the squad wrapping around on BetBoom from a strange angle to get first blood.

Expect a clearer ruling on the issue from Epulze before the Bali Major playoffs start on July 5, 2023.