2 teams permanently banned by Valve for match fixing in DPC

The new Dota Pro Circuit has a lot more infrastructure and opportunity, but unfortunately the Dota 2 pro scene is still showing itself to be vulnerable to match fixing.

North American DPC lower division teams Wind and Rain and Pecado Squad Gaming have been removed from the league and given permanent bans from all Valve-sponsored tournaments. This follows a series of accusations made against the teams by former teammates as well as Dota 2 fans.

Wind and Rain’s Dota 2 roster included the following players:

1. Daniil “satesate” Krivenko
2. Chad "Szabo666" Szabo
3. Jose Andree "Sword" Nicosia
4. Ilyas "Steel-_-Borco" Kaukenov
5. Vladimir "yol" Basov

Pecado Squad Gaming’s roster included the following players:

1. qqqqqqqq
2. P1
3. Duffy
4. Wdr
5. Sensibility

It is not entirely clear whether the bans will apply to the entire rosters of both teams, or if Beyond the Summit is focused on specific members who took part in match fixing. Both squads used substitutes at various points throughout the season, so it’s possible that other individuals may also be facing similar punishments.

The biggest named involved in the scandal is yol, who is a veteran of the CIS scene. He was involved with a number of notable organizations and was a part of the 2014 Virtus.pro roster that helped the esports organization first gain serious traction in Dota 2.

Wind and Rain faced accusations of match fixing

Before Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao sparked discussion regarding how individual players have “ownership” of teams when it comes to the Dota Pro Circuit, this topic was being discussed in regards to Wind and Rain. A former player accused Szabo666 of kicking all other members of the team, leveraging the DPC spot for sponsorship from Wind and Rain, and then bringing in European and CIS players picked by the organization.

The accusations against Szabo666 also specifically mentioned that satesate was a “known match fixer.” satesate was a member of the Recast Gaming lineup that was famously kicked by the organization over suspicions of matchfixing in ESL Meisterschaft Spring 2021. ESL announced that the matter was being investigated by the Esports Integrity Commission in April. Wind and Rain denied all allegations made against it.

Last week, a Reddit user noted unusual betting line movement on a game between Wind and Rain and Felt. The line moved from being 1.2 vs. 3.3 in favor of Wind and Rain to 4.3 vs. 1.2 in favor of Felt. Wind and Rain lost the series 2-1. Betting lines shifting dramatically can be a sign of match fixing.