Dota 2 team disqualified for using programmable mouse

A Peruvian team for Dota 2 has been disqualified from the major, prestigious esports tournament The International by Valve because a member of the team used an unauthorized programmable mouse during a match.

It concerns the Peruvian Dota 2 team Thunder Predator. One of the team’s five players, Atun, was found to be using an unauthorized mouse during a qualifier on June 19. The mouse is a Razer model with Synapse 3 software, Motherboard reports. The organisation FACEIT reports on Twitter that in their eyes the programmable mouse is equivalent to using a software script. This mouse has programmable buttons and that gave the player an unauthorized advantage in controlling and teleporting clones of the hero Meepo.

Each clone of this hero has to be controlled individually and that is not easy. It was noticed that he was able to move all the clones very quickly and precisely across the playing field. Three different clones were found to teleport at exactly the same time, something that is virtually impossible manually, as they all have to be selected individually, activating the teleport function and pointing out the target location. In principle, doing something like this simultaneously can only be done with the help of macros, for example.

Thunder Predator has denied that any software macros were used, saying that no hacks or certain software features were used at all. According to the organization, the Razer Synapse mouse used was set up according to a personal configuration and that enabled the performance. The organization reports that every professional player sets their mouse in such a personalized way.

The disqualification means that the team will no longer be able to compete for the significant top prize awarded to the winner of the tournament. Currently, the total prize pool is $15.5 million. Last year, the winner of the tournament, Team Liquid, was awarded $10.8 million.