After being accused of abusing a bug during their recent series against nouns at the Bali Major, Lu “Somnus” Yao and his Dota 2 team, Azure Ray, have found themselves at the centre of controversy. After Valve decided that any team who misused the Watcher bug would face punishment, administrative investigations recently showed that Azure Ray was found guilty of doing so.
The bug was brought to Valve’s attention on July 2. Despite being used in the earlier stages of the Bali Major, Valve decided that taking advantage of the exploit any further would result in consequences. Bleed Esports, 9Pandas, PSG.LGD, Quest Esports, nouns, Azure Ray, Gaimin Gladiators, and BetBoom Team were all notified of the situation.
These eight teams were expected to refrain from using the Watcher exploit, but Azure Ray must have missed the memo after using the bug versus nouns. As a result, Azure Ray’s game two win versus nouns was scrapped off, and the series ended in a tie.
The Watcher bug allows teams to check whether they’re captured by simply pinging on them. This method works even when the Watchers are hidden by the fog. While it may sound trivial, the bug serves as an additional information source that gives away the potential positioning of enemy players.
After receiving the penalty, Azure Ray found themselves in a tiebreaker situation versus Bleed Esports. The winner of this tiebreaker series will advance to the playoff stage through the lower bracket, while the loser will take an early exit from the Bali Major.