- Several Dota 2 personalities, including players, casters and managers have put forward their opinions and statements on the recent Dota 2 coaching controversy.
- The general consensus amongst most of the personalities has been the rejection of the idea of allowing a coach to guide his team in-game.
- ESL and DreamHack eventually posted an update to the coaching guidelines while apologizing for any inconvenience, which likely put an end to the whole saga.
Several Dota 2 personalities, including players, casters and managers have put forward their opinions and statements on the recent Dota 2 coaching controversy. The general consensus amongst most of the personalities has been the rejection of the idea of allowing a coach to guide his team in-game. While talking about the undue advantages it brings, many of them like Astini and Sammyboy have also expressed their surprise over such a rule being implemented only in the EU and the CIS region. Ceb and Kellymilkies, Alliance's CSO, were also at odds with one another, with the latter openly condemning Ceb for specifically targeting Alliance in his statement.
ESL and DreamHack eventually posted an update to the coaching guidelines while apologizing for any inconvenience, which likely put an end to the whole saga.
RELATED: The Alliance Coaching Controversy Explained
Dota 2 personalities, ESL and DreamHack respond to the coaching controversy
The coaching controversy had been set in motion after Alliance’s new coach, ppd, was spotted giving calls while Alliance was playing a DPC game. While most community members initially considered it to be a punishable offence, it was soon revealed that coaches in-game had indeed been allowed by ESL and DreamHack before the start of the second DPC season. N0tail had then, in a series of tweets, slammed Alliance for using the rule to their advantage while putting forward his opinion on whether he liked the rule or not.
Following then, several Dota 2 personalities have set forth their views on Twitter.
1437, Sammyboy, Aui_2000 and Astini’s disapproval of the rule
Caster and player for NA Lower Division team D2 Hustlers, Sivatheeban "1437" Sivanathapillai, expressed his surprise over the rule of the coach’s availability in-game. He called it ‘game changing’ as he went on to mention the help on myriad aspects of the game that the 6th man can offer.
Dota 2 player and analyst, Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling, has been among the loudest voices expressing his opinion on the coaching controversy.
The rule, he said, was poorly implemented and also that it had no positives to add and only created an “artificial barrier” since not every team can afford a coach.
Popular Dota 2 commentator, Austin "Capitalist" Walsh, aimed to lighten the mood with his hilarious tweet.
Dota 2 host and commentator, Andrew "Zyori" Campbell, suggested that there should be “unified rulesets” to preserve the integrity of the regional leagues.
Kellymilkies condemns Ceb’s Twitlonger and calls them “shameful”
With the issue gaining more and more attention, OG’s offlaner, Sébastien "Ceb" Debs, put out a post on Twitlonger, where he explained his outlook on the coaching controversy. In Ceb’s opinion, the rule is “the saddest thing that happened to DotA in years.” He also questioning the clarity and scale of the communication of the rule. Though Ceb maintained that Alliance did nothing wrong as they were simply following the rules, he did mention that he had “very little respect” for the way Alliance handled things.
Following this, Alliance’s Chief Strategy Officer, Kelly “kellymilkies” Ong called the people at OG “shameful” and lambasted Ceb for his opinions on his Twitlonger. Kellymilkies was furious with Ceb’s take on the issue and criticized him for dragging Alliance into the issue when she felt they had done nothing wrong.
Ceb was surprised at Kellymilkies’ response to his tweet as he had expected her to text him in private if she had such hard feelings about the matter. Ceb also clarified that he had no hatred for Alliance members and asked Kellymilkies to read his statement once she was in a “calmer mood.”
Kellymilkies stated that she had already texted N0tail, but to no avail. She also pointed out that perhaps, if Ceb and his org followed his own advice and texted her in private instead of making public statements, they could have avoided this whole public spat.
AdmiralBulldog and N0tail’s Twitter connection
Henrik "AdmiralBulldog" Ahnberg, a famous streamer and Co-Owner of Alliance, ironically tweeted in response to N0tail’s haters, while also coining the term ‘N0mail.’
ESL and DreamHack’s bid to repair the damage
As the coaching saga was unfolding, ESL and DreamHack, the tournament organizers behind the EU and the CIS DPCs, revised the coaching rules. After consulting with Valve, ESL and DreamHack had concluded that coaches can no longer communicate with any of the players during a game. They will also be required to move away from the team as soon as the drafting phase gets over.
