This the season of giving, as Valve delivers a ban wave of more than 60,000 accounts. According to Valve, the targeted 65,594 bans hit on players on the naughty list. So, if you done anything bad throughout the past year (such as smurfing), well you might want to check on your Dota 2 account immediately.
Dota 2 ban wave in Frostivus 2024 (Image credit: Wykrhm Reddy)
Frostivus 2024 Ban Wave
As per our favorite (relatively new) Dota 2 tradition, Valve has shiped out a massive ban wave during the annual Frostivus event. While no one gets a lump of coal like last year, this year Smurfs have been handed out a full ban for their trubble.
According to the release post, the ban wave targeted the usual culprits. Notably, High-MMR griefers or ‘smurf’ accounts, that are created by a higher-MMR player to stomp on the weaker players in their lower-MMR bracket. This, of course, ruins the experience for newcomers, who were just trying out the game, only to face these more experienced players. Additionally, even players in the average MMR bracket of 4-5K MMR will struggle to rise above the current bracket because they are facing these ‘smurfs’.
The ban targeted up to 65,594 smurf accounts, but Valve also banned accounts that were either high-MMR griefers, bug exploiters, and trading wins. High-MMR griefers could be the general Immortal-rank players or even pro players, who decide to throw games just for the spite of it.
Then, there are the bug exploiters, who have historically abused server-crashing bugs, such as the Lone Druid Bear bug or the recent Mirana Euls bug. We have seen many types of server-crashing bug this year, which stem from Valve’s latest Dota 2 updates. However, that doesn’t mean it’s okay to abuse these bugs for your own benefit, such as causing a losing game to not be counted.
Lastly, nobody likes boosters or their customers. Win trading has become a lucrative business in ranked games, such as Dota 2. Players pay money for the services of another player to boost their account’s MMR by being ‘smurfs’ or even buy a completely new account that has a high MMR. When these weaker players play in a higher-MMR match that they aren’t qualified to be in, it ruins the game for his team.
What’s in Frostivus 2024?
For those on the good list, well, we get hats for Frostivus 2024! Check out all the details in our Frostivus 2024 article.
Additionally, the Winter 2024 Heroes’ Hoard contains some of the best quality sets ever made and even a Windranger Arcana set as an ultra-rare.