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Newbee Gets Banned by Valve

This is quite shocking. If you’ve been following Dota 2 for years, you probably know that Newbee used to... Radu M. | 3. January 2021

This is quite shocking. If you’ve been following Dota 2 for years, you probably know that Newbee used to be a huge team until a few years ago. The organization won The International 2014 and finished 2nd at The International 2017. This is one of the Chinese competitors that wrote a significant part of the game’s history. To see them permanently banned is devastating, even though I’m sure that Valve had good reasons to do it. The company behind Dota 2, CS:GO, and other great games rarely acts in such a decisive manner.

What Got Newbee Banned

Newbee’s ban comes as a result of their involvement in the match-fixing scandal from last year. This scandal was caused by a strange match that took place in the qualifiers for the last Dota Pro Circuit Minor.

When the accusations appeared, Valve decided to wait. And they did that for almost a year. Then, after the Chinese Dota 2 Professional Association sent them the evidence it had gathered against Newbee, their conclusion was that Newbee’s players (Moogy, AQ, Wizard, Waixi, and Faith) were guilty. Needless to say, everyone got banned. Including the organization itself. This means we’ll probably never hear again from Newbee. Not in Dota 2 at least. And with such a stain on their brand, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the organization disappear completely in 2021.

Faith and Moogy

These two players are a significant loss for the professional scene. Faith won The International 2012 and was a part of Newbee’s team in 2017, when the organization finished 2nd at this prestigious event. Moogy was also part of that team. I can vividly remember the Grand Final against Liquid, in which they got completely crushed by KuroKy’s team.

Knowing their history, it’s difficult to understand why two top-level players would participate in match-fixing. They clearly didn’t need the money and the event was a mere qualifier. Why act in such an irresponsible way where there is everything to lose and almost nothing to gain? But, as I said before, I have full confidence in Valve’s decision.

 

Photo credit: Valve