ESL, the tournament operator, issued a statement regarding the disqualification of NAVI Junior and the use of a smoke bug by other participants in the qualifiers. The message was posted on the company's official X page.

Yesterday, the organizers of ESL One Raleigh 2025 published a statement about NAVI Junior's disqualification due to abusing a smoke bug during the qualifiers. The incident immediately caused a stir in the Dota 2 community because people began to analyze game recordings of other teams, discovering that renowned teams like Tundra Esports, Team Spirit, and 9Pandas executed similar actions. Nevertheless, no sanctions were applied to these teams, sparking a wave of criticism regarding ESL's double standards.

Today, ESL made the following statement:

Update from Raleigh: We are aware of other incidents related to the use of the smoke bug during the qualifiers.

We are currently conducting a thorough investigation to identify any other instances. Please note that due to the scope of the work required, the final decision may take some time.

ESL on their X

The smoke bug has existed in the game for over a year. During this time, it is unclear how many teams and how often it has been used in official matches, questioning the equality of conditions for participants.

ESL's actions have sparked controversy due to selective punishments. The disqualification of NAVI Junior may be justified if the abuse of the mechanic was systematic. However, why was only one team punished while not all those who also used this bug?

We tried to delve into the correctness of ESL's decisions and suggested several fair ways to solve the problem. You can read more about this in our special article.