Dota 2 caster has unfortunate slip-up with team name at DreamLeague S13

The inevitable has happened — Dota 2 caster Austin ‘Capitalist’ Walsh had a massive slip-up with Team Nigma’s name at the DreamLeague Season 13 Major, instead saying the n-word live on broadcast.

When Kuro ‘KuroKy’ Salehi Takhasomi announced that the former Team Liquid roster would be playing under their own Team Nigma banner, there was cause for concern about the team’s name.

Its startling resemblance to the n-word led to a variety of memes being spawned, and high stakes for the casters to not slip-up.

While there’s been a few close calls, at the DreamLeague Season 13 Major, a big one was unfortunately slipped by Capitalist as he was looking over the bracket.

“Evil Geniuses looking a little weak in the groups, and so was Vici Gaming, but both of them managed to triumph in this upper bracket,” he said. “Moving forward, with EG taking down Team [Nigma], it’s like a huge win.”

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The caster immediately corrected himself after the slip-up, but it did bring out a nervous cough from his co-caster on the desk out of shot. It also wasn’t done with any malice, but that didn’t stop the community from embracing the memes.

Twitch chat exploded into a flurry of TriHard and KEKW emotes as the obvious mistake didn’t get past the community’s ears.

It also hit the front page of /r/livestreamfail on Reddit, with many pundits saying it was only a matter of time. “The inevitable finally happened,” mentioned user ‘Omniwar,’ while others have joked it’s all just a conspiracy from Kuroky to try and get casters tongue-tied.

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“With Kuro’s team name, this slip up was bound to happen at some point,” said ‘RoyalStraightFlush’. “I’m inclined to believe this is some sick trolly game by Kuroky.”

Team Nigma lost earlier in the day to Evil Geniuses in a tight 2-1 set, being knocked down to the lower bracket of the major to face off against Peruvian team Beastcoast. If they make it through the South American squad, they’ll face off against the winner of Invictus Gaming and Aster.

It’s unlikely Capitalist will be reprimanded for the unintended misspeak, but he will definitely be watching himself to make sure it doesn’t happen again.