Ukrainian commentator Oleksii "BafiK" Bafadarov criticized the Dota 2 community for losing its "unity" after the situation with ESL and NAVI Junior. Oleksii shared his thoughts on his social media page in X.

In his post, BafiK expressed disappointment with how much the Dota 2 community has changed over the years. He noted that the community has now lost its unity and activity, which used to be its main trait.

It's really fun to watch how the Dota community has changed over the years.

If I look back 10 years, in every situation like with ESL, we had personalities who reacted, players who got involved. We had a real community. Now, all English-speaking casters, professional players, and former players are just a silent mass. Whatever happens, it's like you don't exist.

Are you still interested in Dota?

Glory to those who remain engaged.

BafiK on his X

This post gathered a lot of opinions in the comments, with many famous and not so famous English-speaking casters, even the owner of Nouns, joining the discussion. One of the first to comment was Lyrical, an American caster whom BafiK had met multiple times at The International.

I just saw this, and personally, I think it's more related to people leaving Twitter than anything else. I watch my child 8 hours a day, then stream for 5-6 hours, then go to sleep, and I’m not here. But when someone asked me about it in chat, I answered.

Lyrical on X

Next, Austin “Caps” Walsh, a professional Dota 2 commentator, joined the comments. He criticized BafiK for his attempts to justify NAVI Junior but agreed that others should also be punished.

I'll take the bait.

You're upset about the AVULUS remake.
It's the administration's fault, not AVULUS, so AVULUS shouldn't be punished by making them remake or something.

NAVI.JR cheated. They created their own problems and should be disqualified.

Others cheated too. They should also be disqualified.

Caps on his X

Another significant person in the Dota 2 community, Ben Steenhuisen, owner of the datdota portal, commented on the situation. He has repeatedly tried to fight for transparency in Dota 2 but weak support forced him to leave the matter.

I spent years fighting for more honesty in event hosting, stricter and higher quality investigations, greater transparency (in everything from invitations to rules)

Received very little support (and a lot of insults and threats) and gradually lost the desire to continue.

Ben Steenhuisen on X

The owner of the Nouns organization, Sasquatch, also didn't leave the situation without comment. He stated that partly due to such situations, his club left the discipline.

Partly Nouns left Dota because, compared to other games, it was difficult to interact with community members and players.

Sasquatch on X

This post, as well as the situation with NAVI Junior and other teams, stirred the Dota 2 community, engaging everyone in reflecting on what happened. As a result, ESL admitted their fault and began to look into the smoke bug situation in more detail. You can check out how this whole story started in our special material at this link.