Valve permanently bans Virtus.Pro’s Koma along with nine other players

The developer of the popular esports game Dota 2, Valve, has permanently banned ten players from taking part in its competitions. 

The news came from PGL’s official Twitter account, where the publisher shared a list of the players who have been disqualified for cheating and breaking the rules during the Open Qualifiers for the Dota Pro Circuit 2023: Tour 1. In Valve tournaments, account sharing and impersonating members of other teams are strictly forbidden practices. 

 

The banned players were found to have engaged in both activities during the Open Qualifiers. Using another player’s account to participate in a game or competition is referred to as account sharing, whilst pretending to be a member of another team is known as impersonating. The players who were banned were discretely playing for other teams to assist them to advance in the Open Qualifiers, while other banned players in the list were lending out their accounts.

Virtus.pro is back in the spotlight after a controversial year

The tweet lists the names of ten CIS players, including 20-year-old Russian player Virtus.pro’s Kamil “Koma`” Biktimirov, who recently joined the organization for the upcoming DPC season. A year full of controversy has returned to the forefront for Virtus.pro just when the organization was hoping for a fresh start. Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko, the carry player for Virtus.Pro, caused controversy earlier this year when he drew pro-war symbols during a DPC match. As a result, the team was excluded from a regional qualification.

 

However, in the new case, it seems apparent that Koma’s account-sharing event occurred in the Dota 2 Champions League tournament before he joined Virtus.pro. Other prominent individuals on the list are former HYDRA player Viktor “SuperNova” Galichkin, Ancient Tribe’s Danil “illusion” Grzhevka, and North American team Felt’s Aslan “Paradise” Vadilov. If the players chose to continue playing competitive Dota 2, they would only be able to compete in minor tournaments that have no affiliation with Valve or PGL. 

Since the two competitions constitute nearly 95 percent of the Dota 2 competitive scene, it is also likely that some of the banned players might opt for retirement. Although the impact of these sanctions on the teams is not yet known, it is expected that they will suffer significant inconveniences as they are forced to rebuild their team again.

All Banned players:

• Vladislav “Imba4” Khoroltsev (Luna Gaming)
• Sergey “[T]SA” Timchenko (Luna Gaming)
• Kirill “deihra” Kharitonov (Luna Gaming)
• Aslan “Paradise” Vadilov (felt)
• Emil’ “Keintseru” Daminov (S9)
• Danil “illusion” Grzhevka (Ancient Tribe)
• Kamil “Koma`” Biktimirov (Vitus.pro) 
• Viktor “SuperNova” Galichkin ( former HYDRA player)
• Bauyrzhan “Lilskrip” Bisembaev (Thiuth Gaming)
• Yaroslav “Limitless” Parshin (ex-Alliance, HellRaisers, and B8)

Header: Virtus.Pro