Representatives for eSpoiled have shared their stance on the circumstances surrounding their loss on the second map against Nemiga Gaming during the closed qualifiers for The International 2025 in Dota 2. The team published their statement on social media.
The statement from eSpoiled touched upon several points:
They began by claiming they “made Dota history,” referring to losing a game despite the opponent`s Ancient falling shortly after.
Addressing accusations of match-fixing (322), they stated that their team, like Nemiga, was exhausted from playing many official games (23 in 48 hours). During the critical fight for their own Ancient on the morning of the 25th map played within that timeframe, both teams failed to notice the opponent`s Ancient falling – they claimed this is normal and happens in such situations.
They also called out anyone who believes harassing a manager for emotionally defending her team is acceptable, using a somewhat peculiar analogy: “you breathe and blink automatically, but your tongue is always uncomfortable.”
The statement concluded with a general positive message, encouraging support for eSpoiled.
During the second map, eSpoiled typed “GG,” but Nemiga`s Ancient was destroyed by creeps just moments later. Following a review, the judges awarded the victory for the map to Nikita “young G” Bochko`s team, Nemiga.
An editor from Cybersport.ru analyzed the game`s replay and noted that eSpoiled`s offlaner apparently saw creeps attacking the enemy T4 towers. While in the tavern after dying, the player reportedly checked the opponent`s base multiple times and even pinged it for teammates.
eSpoiled`s manager, Tatyana “Poppy_Bo” Zhuravleva, had previously spoken out about the incident, defending her players.
ESpoiled and Nemiga faced each other in the first round of the lower bracket of the Eastern Europe closed qualifier for The International 2025. The series finished with a 2-0 score in favor of Nemiga, resulting in Vyacheslav “asdekor_r” Ignatyev`s team being eliminated from the competition.