The 2023 Dota Pro Circuit started off on the wrong foot, as multiple pros were banned permanently from competing due to account sharing or match fixing. Most of the bans in question originated from the Eastern European region, and HYDRA also joined the fray as the team was accused of match-fixing by Neon League.
HYDRA currently competes in the second division of the EEU DPC, and the team was participating in a third party tournament, Neon League, for practice until the division two action began.
While it was business as usual at Neon League, the admins detected an anomaly during a HYDRA match. According to the statement provided to escorenews.com, unusual betting sizes drew the attention of the tournament admins.
The bet totals that usually capped around $40-50 suddenly spiked to $6,700 as HYDRA proceeded to lose the first match in a “suspicious manner.” HYDRA’s carry player, Kıyalbek “dream`” Tayirov, was in the center of the allegations since he put on an uncharacteristically poor performance.
As the admins dived into HYDRA’s internal communication records, they stumbled upon multiple cases of dream` forcing teamfights despite being at a disadvantage. In one of such fights, the carry player was 160 golds away from his buyback. Considering it would only take seconds to farm that buyback, HYDRA’s actions were deemed questionable.
Following the investigations, HYDRA denied all allegations, but the team expressed their willingness to cooperate. Tournament admins involved with the case sent all the evidence to Valve, bookmakers, and other Tournament Organizers within the scene.
If HYDRA is found guilty of match fixing, players involved with the case can receive lifetime bans from competing in Valve events, meaning they would be out of the EEU division two before it even began.
