EHOME reveals story behind match-fixing, exits Dota 2 with scandal
2023-03-10 09:19:00EHOME, the TI1 grand-finalist organization with a lot of heritage in Dota 2, has exited the scene after the massive ban wave on its players issued by Valve. They also revealed that the club wasn't running teams for the last two DPC seasons. According to the story summary released on Reddit, EHOME sold its brand to Unity Gaming, which competed under the tag in 2022-2023.
Close to 2020, EHOME began struggling to operate and signed a deal with LGD and another company. This part is interesting, as Valve allows two teams with the same ownership or financial ties in DPC but not at TI. In 2021, EHOME was one step away from qualifying for The International, which would cause a conflict of interest at the event.
After 2022, EHOME's partnership came to an end. The organization decided to quit Dota and factually did so. LGD sold their slot to Unity Gaming, but there was an issue with Team ID. Perfect World didn't allow Unity to compete under a new one. This would lead to EHOME-related cosmetics automatically switching to the new brand. This is why the club allowed Unity Gaming to use their name for seasons 2022-2023 but had no control over the new team.
The former EHOME owners think that the ban was justified. The organization apologized to fans for ruining its legacy in "the worst way possible."
EHOME was banned for "foul play" in a huge ban wave on March 9, along with 40 other Chinese players. The team was suspected of suspicious activity related to match-fixing at the latest Lima Major. After the sanctions, the Chinese scene was left with only two teams in the Second Division. EHOME's history has one TI grand final appearance, two TI 5-6th placements, one tier-1 trophy at MarsTV League 2015, and several lesser wins.
