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VGJ.Storm penalized by Valve at The International 8 for using second coach during drafting

Both the esports organization and Valve allege the decision involved misinformation by a tournament official.

VGJ.Storm at the Dota Super Major in May 2018.
Perfect World via Twitter

Valve has announced that VGJ.Storm used two coaches during their drafting phases, breaking tournament rules, and will be issued a minor penalty for their first series of the main event.

In a series of tweets via the official Dota 2 account, Valve explained that VGJ.Storm violated the rule after a PGL-affiliated employee incorrectly informed them that they would be able to have those two admins, as long as they left after the drafting phase. The official ruling is that it was “likely a misunderstanding rather than malicious.”

Taking from past years, and in the Dota 2 client’s lobby system, the “level 2” penalty appears to be 70 seconds off the drafting reserve time. This is in addition to the no-coach penalty.

Jack Chen, manager of the Storm division of the VGJ organization, explained in his own tweets that they couldn’t find the official rules written anywhere, and so they asked the admins to confirm. The rule was not clarified, and there was no intervention, until this morning.

The VGJ.Storm account shared these as well.

Earlier this competitive season, after the conclusion of The International 7 in August 2017, Valve announced that one coach would be permitted to accompany the team during the drafting phase. This rule persisted during the first year of the Dota Pro Circuit.

We have reached out to the VGJ organization for further comment, and The Flying Courier will update this piece as more information comes.