Politics is as old as human civilization, and conflicts between countries have been a fact of life for just as long. However, when such unfortunate events take place, they tend to affect everything from relationships to sporting events.

Recently, the Dota 2 community has learned that esports are not immune to the pressures of reality Competitive games are an escape from our troubles and should be regarded as soley for competition, relaxation, socializing, and, strengthening bonds amongst the community. However, you can only avoid being encumbered by life for so long, as the governments of Russia and Ukraine have shown us.

The Competitive Context

Right now, there’s an ongoing Dota 2 event that serves as a qualifier for another, one more than three times bigger in terms of prizes and exposure. The former of these events is called the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor located in Kiev, Ukraine.

A total of $300,000, 500 qualification points for The International 2019 (Dota 2’s World Championship), as well as a ticket for the DreamLeague Season 11 Major are all on the line. DreamLeague has a prize pool of one million dollars and offers 15,000 qualification points for The International. So, as you can imagine, nobody wants to lose these chances to qualify.

The Incident

Unfortunately, two of the eight teams that have qualified for StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor have Russian players in their composition.

The first of them only has one Russian player, but they’re the current TI champions. OG has brought in iLTW as a replacement for their former carry, Pajkatt, who had replaced ana after The International 2018 but didn’t last very long. It’s very possible that his playstyle didn’t mesh with the rest of the team, but it’s also possible there was a less benign reason he was dropped after less than 3 months. What’s important is that his place was taken by a well-known Russian carry and without this replacement, OG would have no chance of winning the tournament.

The second team, Old but Gold, is fully Russian. Needless to say, if they can’t get into Ukraine, how will they ever have a chance to win the title at the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor?

Initially, all these players were prevented from entering Ukraine due to the ongoing political drama between Ukraine and Russia. StarLadder and ImbaTV, the organizers of the event, did not warn the teams about the situation, likely because they hadn’t been aware of it themselves.  Despite tensions between Ukraine and Russia have begun more than 4 years ago; this is the first roadblock Ukrainian esports tournaments have run into.

However, this time was different. And the most likely reason for that is the escalation we’ve witnessed over the last year or so. Sanctions have been imposed by both sides, a war of words has erupted, and pent up hatred has made both parties unwilling to give the other a free lunch.

Of course, all of this has nothing to do with the little people, who almost certainly want nothing to do with the political fallout. Esports and gaming, in general, are at their best when removed from outside stressors. The intrusion of our political reality is unwelcome to say the least.  As gamers we rarely seek out conflict or look to be flamed by opponents and teammates alike, we just find a match and start playing. It’s our outlet for self-destructive impulses, and it’s why I keep telling people: if there would be more gamers in the world, we’d all be living on a saner planet.

The eagerness with which people look to hurt each other is incredible. The propensity of those in charge of spreading chaos makes it ironic when you remember those same people view video games as dangerous, violence-inducing simulators.

Conflict Resolution and Consequences

Returning to the unfortunate situation at the StarLadder ImbaTV Dota 2 Minor, the Russian players had to wait for almost two and a half days before the arrangements were made for them to be allowed to enter Ukraine.

You could say that the two affected teams dodged a bullet, but the damage was done in the consequences following this event. Going forward, there is a good chance Valve will be 10 times more reluctant to offer one of its limited number of Dota Pro Circuit tournaments to countries that could potentially put them at risk. Which is a sad thing for Ukraine and CIS esports in general.

Keep in mind that this country has a formidable legacy when it comes to electronic sports. S1mple, the best CS:GO player in the world as of 2018, is Ukrainian. Natus Vincere, the winner of the first International in Dota 2, is Ukrainian. For Kiev, which has become one of the esports capitals of the world, to lose all that prestige due to political posturing would be tragic.