[UPDATES] Dotaleaks: Match-fixing Scandal Rocks Two Filipino Teams
UPDATES at the bottom of the article! – Editor
Are Screenshots Considered Hard Evidence?
By now the Philippine Dota 2 scene has exploded over allegations of match fixing in a StarLadder 10 match between MSI-EvoGT and Mineski. Although the game ultimately had no bearing to the tournament overall, screenshot evidences surfaced on the Dota2Lounge sub-reddit at Reddit.com implicating two persons, namely: Michael Vincent Vallejos and Jonathan Radores.
Vallejos is the owner of a Facebook betting page called “MyDota2Community” while Radores is a former professional Dota player from the Philippines with previous ties to the Mineski team. Radores was once linked to a betting scandal that involved Julius “Julz” de Leon, also formerly of Mineski. After being accused of scamming keys after a tournament match, Julz later revealed that Radores was behind the scamming attempt as the latter used his account for illegal purposes.
What is #322?
In June of 2014, Alexey “Solo” Berezin, the former captain of RoX.KiS was embroiled in a betting scandal himself. As captain of one of the best Russian Dota 2 squads at the time, Solo reportedly bet against his own team in a match of no consequence against zRage.
Although RoX.KiS was the heavy favorite to win the match, they lost with a score of 22-50 kills in favor of zRage. Solo walked off with a payday that amounted to $322. The phrase “322” became part of community parlance whenever a player or team would lose so badly as to seemingly “throw” or intentionally lose a match.
Solo later confessed to his offense, leading to his removal from RoX.KiS and an initial lifetime ban from StarLadder events. The ban was since reduced and Solo is now playing for Team Empire. His reputation, however, has yet to recover.
In the above screenshots provided by “ConcernedPHCitizen” over Reddit, Vallejos and Radores allegedly discussed how Patty from MSI will pick wrongly against Mineski, giving MSKI.Jacko his signature Tinker. In doing so, MSI allegedly threw their chances of winning the game against Mineski.
The payoff? According to the findings of GosuGamers after checking their own betting services, two GGNet accounts with only one key bet in their entire history placed wagers on the match in question. Both accounts were created on the day of the match, with each account winning well over 70 keys.
Another two other accounts reportedly withdrew a similar amount of keys, with a total of only two key bets in their betting history. All four of the accounts in question are from the Philippines. Given the average dollar rate of key prices on Steam Market, 70*3.2$ makes for 224$ or P9000-P10000. With four accounts, the total amounts to an estimated P35k-P40k.
Another match, this time between Immunity and Mineski, is also suspected of illegal behavior, as similarly fresh accounts were created and used to bet a minimum amount of keys with its winnings withdrawn almost immediately.
In a statement given by MSI over their official Facebook page, the management of their gaming division called on to the public not to jump into conclusions. Later, MSI promised that a full investigation of the matches in question will be launched by their company to allay any rumors of wrong-doing on the part of their players.
While nothing is conclusive at the moment, both Mineski and MSI management have gone on record to assert that investigations will be conducted over the matches in question. Here at Esports Inquirer, we did our own investigation into the nature of the screenshots used as evidence by the Dota 2 community.
Are Screenshots Considered Hard Evidence?
Our very own Esports Inquirer webmaster Joseph Rendon created examples of how screenshots can be altered and tampered with, shedding some insight on some of the more questionable pieces of evidences submitted on the subject of #322PH.
In the example above, Joseph took a chat message between himself and Tryke Gutierrez, Executive Director for PESO, and edited out some words as to appear completely normal.
Through using the inspect element function on web browsers such as Google Chrome and a little knowledge of image manipulation software, Joseph was able to edit out the words “CUTE” and change it into “GWAPO” in under a minute. With this demonstration, Rendon proves that while screenshots may appear damning, they are not above suspicion as they are relatively easy to manipulate.
While the public awaits the results of investigations by both sides, one thing is clear: These acts of match-fixing, whether proven or otherwise, affects the legitimacy of Esports so greatly as to inspire fear and loathing in the community. More importantly, because this issue involves two of the most recognized teams from the Philippines, it casts a negative light on the Philippine Esports scene in general. No one wins.
As responsible gamers, we owe it to our community; our friends, co-gamers, fans and supporters deserve the truth. And in the pursuit of truth, we should not jump into conclusions, no matter how convincing a piece of evidence may be. They just might be less airtight than you would think.
UPDATE 1: Interview with Unicka Rivera
In an interview conducted by Esports Inquirer staffers Beegee “Peenut” Bill Sombilon and Earl “Rave 28” Guevarra, we secured statements from Unicka Rivera, an administrator for a local Dota 2 Facebook Page called Pinoy Dota 2 Store. She admits in the interview that she is unable to reliably verify the information on the screenshots and that she awaits video documentation that will prove that the pictures were not edited.
When asked about her reactions to the screenshots when they first appeared, she said:
“The screenshots? I was shocked ofc, when I saw Michael’s name there I didn’t think and just uploaded that image on my profile with the caption “Omo is this for real?” I was asking people, I didn’t know I was the only one who got the screenshot, and I was the first one to post it.”
Rivera said that it was possible that the anonymous entity that sent her the accounts may have sent it to her because of the very fact that she and Michael Vincent Vallejos, the alleged mastermind of the scandal, have been rivals in the local trading community. She also mentioned that the account who has supplied her the accounts has been deactivated at the time of the interview.
Finally, she stated that she did not have any idea where will the video will be uploaded. Further, she continued by saying that she had no exact idea whether the “throw” was real or not; however she thinks that the bet findings on Gosugamers may shed a light on the current scandal.
Her name appeared in the latest “322” issue when an anonymous account going by the name of “Matindi Ako” furnished her alleged screenshots of what seemed to be involvement of several Mineski players in the scandal. She said on her Facebook page that she does not know the players who are involved in the issue.
Rivera was one of the first people to release a large batch of screenshots regarding the issue.
UPDATE 2: More screenshots implicating other players
In a surprise release over Reddit, more screenshots of conversations were leaked between Radores and IAP.Execration player Ryan “Bimbo” Jay Qui over the possibility of creating a super team in an effort to earn money.
In the picture above, Radores allegedly spoke with Bimbo over the possibility of creating a new super team. Radores, supposedly a father-to-be, is in need of cash.
Radores alluded that the resulting super team would be possible thanks to Mineski losing players over the match-fixing scandal.
In another chat log, Radores and Vallejos discussed that many teams in the South East Asian Region are also under Vallejos’ control. Translated, Vallejos allegedly declared that, “he holds all of them (referring to the teams listed above),” which Radores replied to by saying that it will generate them easy money.
UPDATE 3: Mineski & MSI Evo-GT management place involved players on preventive suspension
As confirmed by the latest update from Mineski.net, Yap “Kenchi” Chee Loong of Mineski and MSI EvoGT management have decided to place the implicated players into preventive suspension until further investigation has taken place. The players placed into suspension will not be taking place in any offline and online tournaments until further notice.
Here are the players who have been placed on indefinite suspension:
Mineski
- Mark Anthony “Jacko” Soriano
- Joven “jvn” Pancho
- Richard “Paseo” Minowa
MSIEvo-GT
- Jo “Jotan” Tan
- Carlo “Chin” Rivera
- Mark “Byb” Gavin
- Denver “yNd” Miranda
- Patrick “JyC” Pascua
Mineski are still awaiting the statements from Michael Vallejos and Jonathan Radores.
The Mineski Dota 2 team will continue on with preparations for an upcoming Dota 2 Championship tournament in Thailand with the 2 remaining players on their roster (JessieVash, Owa, & PlayHard) and 2 stand-ins who have yet to be announced.
UPDATE 4: The video is out!
As what Rivera told us in our interview, the video that holds proof that the screenshots about the conversation of this issue is not edited nor fake has been released. You can check the video link here: https://videobam.com/EIYIW
In the video, the hacker is navigating the Facebook profile of Jonathan Radores’ chatlogs and cross referencing them with the screenshots sent out on Reddit.
Pictures from Reddit, Mineski and MSI-Evo-GT Facebook pages.
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