Thailand-Based Team Signature.Trust Accused of Cheating in the Manila Majors Southeast Asian Qualifiers
In a video posted on YouTube, Signature.Trust’s apparent use of underhanded tactics to gain an edge against The Mongolz in yesterday’s match was caught on camera, thanks to their own manager.
Reddit user u/Wkwky posted a thread on the popular Dota 2 subreddit r/Dota2 with a video pulled from Signature.Trust’s own Facebook page. In the video, the Signature.Trust manager recorded an almost 8 minute long video of the team’s first game against The Mongolz.
At around 2:10 in however, the video shows a member of the team watching a Twitch stream of the same match and spotting out positions on the map. The video also shows members of the teams responding to call outs by the spotter.
The video has since been pulled down from the Facebook page. FACEIT (the organizers for the qualifier matches in SEA) league rules clearly state in Article 8 that the act of “Ghosting” or watching a stream of a competitive match to gain an advantage is strictly prohibited.
The act of ghosting is a frowned upon offense and often considered cheating in online competitive matches. While competitions work on a ~5 minute delay, ghosting can reveal key warded positions in a game like Dota 2, allowing teams who practice ghosting to gain an unfair advantage.
Signature.Trust has made a name for itself as a solid contender in the Southeast Asian Dota 2 scene. Since 2011, the team has placed highly in SEA events, including an appearance at The International 2011. The new allegations of Ghosting however have placed an asterisk on the team’s otherwise clean record.
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