Knights, a Chinese Dota 2 team competing in top division in the region this season, has been accused of using map hacks, and pending an investigation, could be banned from the scene.
A Chinese caster was the first to notice suspicious behavior. He said it looked like they knew where enemy wards were and accused them of using a hack that causes heroes to flash white under enemy vision, making de-warding a breeze. The caster believes they used it against PSG.LGD, Team Aster, and Invictus Gaming, and pointed towards the fact they de-warded 12.57 wards per game—three to four more than any other team.
According to a Weibo Post, Perfect World, Valve’s partner and lead tournament organizer in China gathered evidence and submitted it to Valve. If found guilty, Knights and all their players will likely be banned.
Tundra Esports captain and TI11 winner Wu “Sneyking” Jingjun watched the video detailing the allegations and concluded the evidence against Knights looked “pretty damning.”
Snekyking hadn’t seen the replays of their games entirely, but based on what he saw, said it looked like they were de-warding and positioning themselves in a way only teams who have a Slark—a hero capable of detecting wards based on the presence or absence of its ultimate—would do.
Knights is a new team that formed in the offseason. Their roster includes Luo “eGo” Bin, Vincent “AlaCrity” Hiew, Su “FlyBy” Lei, Chong “FelixCiaoBa” Wei, and Xiao “XCJ” Chaojian. They’re currently sitting third in the Chinese Winter Regional League with two wins and one loss, but that could change depending on what Valve decides after its review.
