Concerns re: NA DPC league integrity and Arkosh Gaming

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To whom this may concern:

My name is Hugo “Froogoss” Araj, and I am a high ranked Canadian DotA 2 player. I am competing in the DotA 2 NA DPC league. I would like to draw attention to a glaring problem with Team Arkosh, who have qualified for the NA DPC League.

There have been many rumours about who the members of Team Arkosh are, but nothing official. This creates an unfair advantage for Team Arkosh, as it is obviously difficult to strategize against a team with unconfirmed members.

As a competitor in the DPC, I had to register on the DPC website with my full name visible to the public and Valve. Of course, I have to use the same Steam account that I always play on, while players on Team Arkosh are blatantly using alternate accounts. Information about every ticketed game I have played is public for anyone to see whether or not I allow third parties to access my match data. For example, other players can easily find out that Rubick is my most played hero, and it is constantly banned in my ticketed games.

I can prepare a draft against every team or player: look for patterns in their drafts, look for their best performing heroes, and even watch replays to study a player's game style like any respectable competitor would. ("Ceb is holding a bunch of papers" is now iconic.)

On paper, Team Arkosh is five unknown players on fresh Steam accounts with no data and no history. There is a notable lack of transparency. Enforcing player bans becomes nearly impossible. Without making accusations, this opens the possibility that they could switch players or otherwise participate dishonestly in addition to their unfair advantage in research and strategizing.

I’ve played DotA 2 for nearly fifteen years, and I’m very pleased to have earned a place in the NA DPC league this year. The integrity of this competition is important to me. Team Arkosh is certainly entertaining, but the concept of unknown players has no place in an official competition.


I believe that it is the shared responsibility of Valve and tournament organizers Beyond the Summit to ensure that the competition is fair for all participants. I would appreciate it if the issue was examined and addressed, ensuring the integrity of the NA DPC league.

Best regards,

Hugo "Froogoss" Araj

Edit: I've been informed that Valve is able to track players IPs. Let's make sure they check everyone in all times and don't you dare change location or god forbid use PROMO CODE: BSJ NordVPN sponsor.

I do not believe Slacks and company are ill intentioned but I don't wanna see a slippery slope out of this with Arkosh being the precedent for this type of practice being legal.

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