A Chinese Dota Pro Circuit team, Knights, have come under fire once again. Despite being accused of using hacks and match-fixing during the regular season, the team qualified for the Lima Major, where Knights’ winless performance at the tournament further fueled suspicions that their success in online matches may have been due to cheating.
Adding to their troubles, Knights now face allegations of match-fixing at the Lima Major, as multiple community figures raised concerns about unusual betting patterns surrounding their matches.
Ukrainian Dota 2 caster Oleksii “BafiK” Bafadarov drew the community’s attention to large amounts of money that were being bet on Knights and EHOME matches. OG’s former analyst and betting expert, Vladislav “Kozak” Lazurenko, also shared a post regarding the “shady” betting activities that took place in Knights’ series against Entity.
Most of the questionable behavior occurred in games in which Knights had an early lead. As Knights were ahead, huge sums of money were placed against them, indicating that said betters believed Knights would lose despite their advantage at the time.
Considering Knights have been under heavy fire from the community, most fans were surprised to see them allowed into the Lima Major. Considering Valve banned more than 40,000 cheaters before Lima, many assumed that Knights were in the clear since they would get banned then and there if anything came up.
While Knights haven’t showcased any suspicious behavior that can be categorized as cheating during the Major, their name was once again dragged into the mud with match-fixing allocations. Analysts, casters, and community figures are now requesting an investigation from tournament organizers or Valve to maintain the integrity of competitive Dota 2.
