These are the teams ESL is punishing for Dota 2 smoke bug use

After disqualifying NaVi Junior from a recent tournament, ESL announced that all the participants would be investigated to ensure no other instances of Dota 2 smoke bug misuse were found, and now more teams have been given punishments as a result.

Smoke of Deceit is one of the most useful items in Dota 2, allowing players and their allies to turn invisible and gain increased movement speed. This makes the Smoke of Deceit an important tool in one’s arsenal as it can allow players to surprise opponents for an advantageous fight. There is however a bug that players can use to check whether the opposing team is using the Smoke of Deceit.

The bug has existed for some time but only recently led to ESL banning NaVi Junior from ESL Raleigh One after the team qualified for the event. Viewers reported other teams also using the bug to get an unfair advantage, and ESL announced a new investigation. The tournament organizer has now announced its findings and its punishment for the offenders.

ESL finds that 13 teams misused Dota 2 smoke bug

Tournament organizer ESL announced that multiple teams abused the Dota 2 smoke bug during qualifying play, with 9Pandas, NaVi Junior, and Aurora Gaming consistently using the glitch.

In its post, ESL stated that the Dota 2 smoke bug was first banned at ESL One Bangkok. The bug has since been banned in other events. ESL claimed teams weren’t reminded of this at the ESL One Raleigh qualifiers, but the glitch’s use wasn’t specifically approved of either. Its previous banning was considered sufficient warning for tournament officials.

The post said action was taken immediately against NaVi Junior but that people checking the other teams faced technical issues. Due to this, other teams’ usage of the exploit was missed, but viewers reported other teams using the bug and ESL chose to follow up on these reports.

During the ensuing investigation, the tournament organizer found select instances of teams accidentally using the glitch. Since those teams didn’t intend to use the smoke bug, they wouldn’t be penalized. The post mentioned that the punishments varied based on how many times the teams used the glitch and whether or not it seemed to be purposeful.

NaVi Junior, Aurora Gaming, and 9Pandas were disqualified as a result. This means NaVi has its invite rescinded since the team qualified unfairly. 9Pandas and Aurora Gaming can’t participate as substitute teams at ESL One Raleigh if another team from the region is unable to attend.

Teams that didn’t exploit the smoke bug as extensively have been fined, while more minor usage of the bugs led to warnings. ESL ended its statement by requesting teams to come forward if someone is using a bug instead of a bug to try and “level the playing field.”