BetBoom Team punished after caught abusing an in-game bug during ESL One Birmingham

ESL One Birmingham kicks off the group stage today, featuring six two-game series in each group. In the second round of Group A, BetBoom Team was caught using an in-game bug. The team's Shadow Demon, played by Save-, upgraded his level three ultimate skill at only level 12, and successfully won a team fight against G2.iG.

Following reports of the bug, ESL Dota 2 announced an official response and update. After game one ended, BetBoom Team was penalized with a Level two Draft Penalty in the next game. "Due to abuse of a bug BetBoom Team will be receiving a Level 2 Draft Penalty for their next game against G2 x IG.," ESL posted.

Lets first take a look at Shadow Demon's abilities. The Demonic Cleanse is an ability that can only be claimed by getting the Aghanim's Shard. After getting this ability, both Demonic Cleanse and its ultimate skill, Demonic Purge, can be leveled up at the same time. That means, the hero can get a level three Demonic Cleanse and Demonic Purge at level 18.

But after Valve released some bug fixes around two days ago, you can now level up the Demonic Cleanse as a normal skill. Since both skills are linked abilities, Shadow Demon can acquire the level three ultimate skill right after it gets the Aghanim's Shard. In this game, Save- obtained his Shard at level 10, and used the next two skill points to upgrade both skills. Despite using the Shadow Demon bug, BetBoom Team eventually lost the game to G2.iG.

This is not, in fact, the first time BetBoom recevied a penalty in a major tournament. Back in 2023, BetBoom Team got a default loss because their former player Pure~ was found watching Twitch during matches. After that, Pure~ was disqualified from the event and they failed the first round in the lower bracket.

Stay tuned to esports.gg and we will share more information about Dota 2 ESL One Birmingham!