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Yatoro on Valve's smurfs ban: "I think it's great Valve banned them"
In a recent interview at the ongoing BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024, Team Spirit’s safelaner, Illya "Yatoro" Mulyarchuk, shared his thoughts on Valve’s recent ban on smurfs.
Credits: ESLOne
The player had strong opinions on the matter since the smurfpocalypse started. Due to his outcry, Amer "Miracle-" Al-Barkawi’s Rank 13 smurf account got banned. However, the player later recalibrated the same rank on his main account.
Miracle- is not the only high-profile player affected by the recent smurfpocalypse. Alimzhan "watson" Islambekov’s top 2 immortal rank account also got banned along with OG’s safelaner Artem "Yuragi" Golubiev’s smurf account.
Valve started the ban wave back in last year’s December around Christmas. Back then, Valve’s hilarious method of banning a Dota 2 streamer, Mason "mason" Venne, got the attention of the whole esports community.
After almost two months, nearly all the smurf accounts have been banned from Dota 2. However, the game is still facing a major problem with scripters and hackers, which has reached an all-time high.
Yatoro on Smurfs
Credits: Valve
On BetBoom Dacha Dubai 2024 media, Yatoro took some time to answer some questions. For his third interview question, the player was asked whether he thinks the recent smurfs ban was the right decision. Without skipping a beat, Yatoro responded:
“I think it’s great that they banned them.”
The player went on to say that the idea of smurfing annoys him. The player then continued to explain what he meant by his statement. He thinks many smurfs did not care about the game’s outcome.
“ First, many players who play on smurfs don’t care about the game’s outcome. They just play for fun or something else.”
The player continued to say some smurfs do care about the outcome of the game. However, he had difficulty identifying the player as they were using a smurf account.
“Secondly, for those who do care, you don’t know who you’re picking, meaning you have to write down player nicknames or Steam IDs in a notebook to understand who it is.”
He continued to say that because of smurfs, drafting at the immortal rank becomes confusing. Yatoro uses former TI Champion Martin "Saksa" Sazdov to clarify his statement.
“When you’re selecting players, you don’t know who you’re drafting. Saksa could be on a smurf, and you wouldn’t know it’s Saksa. And you wouldn’t pick him. Although, obviously, you would if you knew.”
A Surprising Statement
Credits: Twitter/ @GaiminGladiator
There has been a long-held belief among fans that Yatoro and Quinn "Quinn" Callahan, the midlaner for Gaimin Gladiators, are opposed to smurfing. However, in a recent interview, the two-time TI champion revealed that he has a neutral stance on the topic.
Credits: Twitter.@Team_Spirit
Furthermore, he stated that he disliked that Valve banned smurfs. He just wished that smurfs would be banned for a limited time instead of getting a permanent ban.
“ I didn’t really like that they banned smurfs. I wish they hadn’t banned them for so long. A maximum of five years would be better, but they banned until 2038.”
However, Yatoro went on to say that he agreed with Valve’s decision to smurfs. He also thinks it will bring a positive change to Dota 2.
Currently, Team Spirit is participating in BetBoom Dachai Dubai 2024. The team has two draws under their belt.
Featured Image Source: Valve
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