Koma’ Admits Fault and Apologizes; Virtus.Pro To Find New Carry

While the 2022/2023 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) season has not officially started yet, it appears that Virtus.pro might be the first team to do a roster change in the upcoming season as it looks to search for a new carry player following the recent ban of its carry, Kamil "Koma`" Biktimirov from Valve events.

A few days ago, Valve, through tournament organizer PGL, permanently banned ten players from participating in future Dota 2 tournaments due to cheating and rule violations during the Open Qualifiers for the first tour of the 2022/2023 DPC season, with VP’s carry being one of the players on the blacklist.

Koma’ admits to wrongdoing, VP to find new carry for 2023

Following the announcement of the bans by tournament organizers PGL, Kamil "Koma`" Biktimirov (also known as "agressive child") released a public statement regarding his current situation on his VK (V Kontakte) account as he apologized for the account sharing incident that led to his ban.

“Today I learned the biggest lesson of my life. I made the mistake of listening to other people, believing them and playing an official match from another account, hoping to get the prize money from the tournament. I fully admit my guilt and apologize to the entire community and especially the VP fans. I realize how much I've let my club down but there's nothing I can do.”

He also added on by saying that he accepts any punishment that is given to him by Valve, however also urges Valve to reconsider the type of punishment.

“I really wanted to be a Virtus.pro player so I hid my transgression during tryouts hoping no one would find out. I'm 20 years old and Dota is my life, it's all over now and no one is to blame except me and my decisions. I agree that I have to be punished for my mistake, but I will ask Valve for a reduction in the ban. I want to believe the best, but I will accept whatever Valve chooses. Once again, I apologize to everyone and urge young players to think with their heads and not ruin their future. I hope to see you again.”

[Translation via DeepL]

VP’s CEO, Nikolai Petrossian also commented on the issue on Twitter. He started off by saying that he was shocked to see their player being involved with the incident. However, he also hoped that the incident will be a lesson for those attempting these actions in the future.

He then defended the team’s manager Aleksandr “StrangeR” Solomonov from criticism following the fallout from Koma`s ban before saying that he will continue putting his full trust into supporting the manager in building a “new roster”.

As of now it is unclear what VP’s CEO meant by building a new roster. While it is certain that Virtus.pro will be looking for a new carry before the season starts on 9th January 2023, it is unclear if VP are able to compete in the upcoming DPC season as Valve’s rule stated that “any team that plays 5 or more Regional League matches with a substitute will be disqualified and any remaining games will be forfeited.”