Valve’s recent crackdown on smurfing in Dota 2 has sent shockwaves through the esports community. Professional players have been hit hard, with many losing access to their alternative accounts. In response, ESL has made significant changes to its rules, potentially impacting players’ participation in tournaments.
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Under the new rules, ESL now has the authority to reject players who have been banned by Valve. However, if the VAC ban is unrelated to competitive play, it may be waived. This waiver is contingent on the player using a new account with a clean record, free from any suspicion of account sharing in the past.
While these new rules align ESL with Valve’s efforts to combat smurfing, the tournament organizer is expected to maintain close communication with the developer before imposing any further bans. In the past, account bans could have devastating consequences for players’ careers, especially when Valve was the primary organizer of competitive events.
Although the new rulings allow for some margin of error, the nature of the bans will play a crucial role. Smurfing and account sharing have long been criticized in the Dota 2 professional scene, but players have often defended their actions, citing long queue times as a reason.
Even renowned player Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi has fallen victim to the smurf banning spree, losing access to his highly ranked account. It seems that Valve is determined to have all players compete on a single account, without any exceptions.
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