Something strange with Efusion Dota 2 League
While the whole professional Dota 2 world is waiting for The International 10, the scam tournament organizers decided to make money by cheating again. This time, an unknown organizer launched a Tier 3 tournament, Efusion Dota 2 League, that was never completed.
Announcement and adding of the tournament to the site
In mid-July 2021, at a time of severe stagnation in professional Dota 2, a small tournament with a prize pool of $10,000 was announced. Among its participants were several well-known tags from Southeast Asia, including Army Geniuses, who had participated in both DPC seasons. Schedule aggregators and bookmakers added the tournament to their site without question.
The tournament also appeared on our website. However, lack of information about the organizer, a bad logo, and issues with some rosters have raised our suspicions. Nevertheless, the manager of Army Geniuses confirmed their participation in private correspondence, and the tournament was published.
Suspicions
Publishing doesn't mean credibility. We remembered the tournament and kept watching. Along with that, we began our investigation, which uncovered some interesting facts.
A player Dzaster from an unknown Filipino team, Angel Alliance, was seen in the CIS team No Creativity at the infamous Hot Price League back in January 2020, where he played as LocalMackstar.
For those who have forgotten: Hot Price League Season 3 and Season 4 were scam tournaments and were remembered for kicking European teams, frauds group stage draws, and cheating on the prize pool. Both seasons weren't completed.
Beginning to look at the No Creativity participants, we found one more coincidence. The account with the nickname savage was a member of the Cyber Tractor team, which was banned on WePlay! Pushka League for participating in fixed matches back in April 2020.
Disclosure of the organizers
All of the above facts were only circumstantial. According to them, the organizer couldn't be called a scammer. However, already on August 12, everything made sense. The tournament was suspended 6 days before its completion, but no official announcement was made.
Once again, we contacted the manager of Army Geniuses to clarify all the details and got an answer:
The team was informed that the tournament was suspended for 4-5 days due to a positive covid test at the organizer's office.
However, 10 days later, nothing has changed. Moreover, the person who talked with the teams has changed his nickname and info on Discord while the teams are still in limbo. It has become obvious that the tournament won't continue.
Why are tournaments like this created?
We have already written about the recent Tier-1 East Power Cup scam tournament, which was exposed in a day. Organizers of tournaments like Efusion Dota 2 League are smarter. They announce a Tier-3 tournament and invite a few real famous teams, giving the teams an incentive in the form of a good prize pool.
In addition to the real teams, they also invite fake teams to the tournament. The results of their matches are the subject of manipulation. Jokes about the scenario in such matches are no longer jokes.
For example, in Vita Bona S1, the Jsite team consisted of fake players with "Dzaster" in the nickname of some of them.
The culmination of such a tournament is a complete cancellation a few days before the end so that the teams wouldn't get prizes. In the meantime, the organizer himself manages to make money on betting and selling data.
Here are a few tournaments that have worked according to the same scheme lately:
- Vita Bona S1
- Hot Price League Season 3
- Efusion Dota 2 League
- Summer Dock League Season 1
- Summer Dock League Season 2
- Dragon Nest Championship
- Gold Bull Horns Championship
Our official stance on such tournaments
We condemn the organizers, but we cannot control them because we are not a regulator but only a resource that covers professional Dota 2. The responsibility for participating in such tournaments lies with the organizations and teams.
Our site will continue to feature events that involve well-known organizations. Check all the facts about such tournaments before placing your bets.