In case you don’t remember, the ESL One Raleigh qualifiers took place a few days ago. Although we saw a lot of amazing games, most people will remember this tournament for NAVI Junior’s disqualification. People expected Natuns Vincere to address the problem right away, but it took the organization several days to do that, so let’s see what happened.
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The Incident
On January 22, 2025, ESL announced that it would disqualify NAVI Junior from the Western European qualifiers. The organizer’s decision was based on bug abuse related to Dota 2’s Smoke. Although most people did not know about it, it seems like some players were aware that it existed and used it to their advantage.
After NAVI Junior was accused of using it, ESL conducted a thorough investigation. Now that the investigation has concluded, the organization has revealed that NAVI Junior and other teams have abused it on several occasions.
The bug itself happened with the Smoke of Deceit item. Players who had vision on the enemy team that carried a Smoke with them and then decided to drag this item would receive an error message. This indicated that the team had used their Smoke. This bug may not seem that significant, but the reality is that it can make a huge difference, especially in the later stages of the game.
AVULUS Called NAVI out
Although it seems like the Dota 2 team has used the bug for some time, AVULUS called them out first. Shortly after that, ESL took action and disqualified Na’Vi’s team.
What’s interesting is that NAVI Junior wasn’t the only team that took part in the abuse. ESL’s investigation has shown that others also took advantage of the situation but they received different kinds of punishments.
NAVI’s Response
As expected, Natus Vincere did not take ESL’s decisions lightly. After the ongoing investigation, it became clear that 9Pandas, Aurora Gaming and NAVI all abused the bug. All 3 of them were disqualified form the tournament, but some fans believe that Team Spirit and Tundra Esports also took advantage of the situation.
Interestingly, ESL’s investigation did not reveal that these two teams broke the rules. Unsurprisingly, this decision sparked controversy, and NAVI quickly responded. In a fairly long tweet, the organization said, “As it turns out, the big is actually allowed but only in limited cases – and if you’re Tundra or Spirit”. NAVI also stated that “their team was found more guilty than other 30 teams that also sed the bug”.
The company’s statement also states that ESL’s admins never issued any warnings prior to the qualifiers. In comparison, NAVI pointed out that PGL informed the teams about some bugs and how they could result in disqualification. The statement concludes with Na’Vi’s disappointment with ESL’s decision.
What Happened After the Incident?
Despite NAVI’s response, ESL has already decided to disqualify the team. The Ukrainians do not seem to have the chance to appeal ESL’s decision, which is why ESL decided to give Na’Vi’s slot to AVULUS.
Blix.gg will provide you with more details about ESL One Raleigh 2025 once the tournament approaches. The important thing to remember is that the action will begin on April 7, and the tournament will have 12 teams. Similar to all big Dota 2 tournaments, this one will also come with a $1,000,000 reward.
Closing Thoughts
We really hope that there won’t be such incidents in the future because fans do not want to see their favorite teams being disqualified. Ideally, the tournament organizers should state what’s allowed and what’s not so that teams can follow the rules more easily.
