Top Dota 2 pro booted from team in the middle of a major event
YouTube: ESLTop Dota 2 veteran Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivannoc has been suspended by Tundra Esports despite being in the middle of DreamLeague Season 22.
MinD_ContRoL has a storied history in Dota, from his long tenure in Team Liquid, with an Aegis on his belt, to a long stint with Nigma Galaxy that saw promising results.
And post TI 2023, MinD_ContRoL made a move to Tundra at the start of 2024 as part of the org’s rebuild. However, barely two months into his entry, MinD_ContRoL has been indefinitely suspended in the middle of a major tournament.
First announced by MinD_ContRoL himself, he announced on February 26 that he was looking for a team right in the middle of DreamLeague Season 22. “LFT, just got kicked before the match,” he simply tweeted.
MinD_ContRoL kicked from Tundra Esports in the middle of DreamLeague Season 22
Several hours after MinD_ContRoL’s tweet, Tundra issued a statement on his removal from the team. “We can confirm the indefinite suspension of Iven “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanoc pending an internal disciplinary investigation,” the statement read.
“We were notified by the player that he would no longer participate and represent Tundra unless unreasonable demands were met.” The statement rebutes MinD_ContRoL’s claims of being kicked from the team, rather it was him demanding to no longer play for them.
In his place, Tundra enlisted Vladislav “laise” Lais to stand in for their second-day matches against Shopify Rebellion and Aurora, both of which ended in a 1-1 draw.
MinD_ContRoL would go on to appear on Gorgc’s stream to talk about the debacle. He revealed that it was the re-arrival of David “MoonMeander” Tan as coach, Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko taking his role as captain, and the arrival of Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg as the general manager that caused the falling out.
“First what happened is Pure took my Captain spot, basically he stole it from me, which was okay for me as long as we’re winning. But that’s not a good thing right? Because you can’t just win all the time,” MinD_ContRoL said.
“That thing in itself is okay. Then the next thing that came up is MoonMeander. He was suggested by our CEO… I said I don’t like this idea at all, I don’t want to have this coach, I don’t like it. Then he found a way to convince me without me being able to say no in a way,” MinD_ContRoL revealed. “It was basically a way to enforce me working with MoonMeander.”
The breaking point came with the appointment of zai on February 23, whom MinD_ContRoL once again voiced his displeasure of working with. And all of these allegedly resulted in him having less power in the team.
“So basically I have no voice or power in the team as a leader at all. It’s being taken over by Moon, zai, and Pure, so I hate that and I can’t let them abuse me anymore.”
MinD_ContRoL gave an ultimatum to Tundra’s CEO, asking him to choose between him or the three, and he supposedly chose the new guard.