Do friends and family get a discount?

The competitive Dota 2 world was shaken by a series of permanent bans earlier this month, one of which was handed out to the former carry player of Virtus Pro, Kamil “Koma” Biktimirov. After landing the most significant contract of his pro career, Koma lost it all and even posted an apology hoping for a reduced sentence.

Since Koma’s explanation about his account sharing, multiple Dota 2 pros have released statements backing the banished player. OG’s Artem “Yuragi” Golubiev and Team Spirit’s Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk recently released statements in Koma’s defense, dividing the community in the process.

In a Telegram post, Yatoro said he believed all of the banned players deserve the punishment except for Koma, a person he could call a friend. Knowing the level of effort Koma put into the game, Yatoro thought that he would never engage in such actions that would get him banned.

Despite Koma playing with two accounts and asking for others to play for him at times, Yatoro said he had no idea about the fraudulent activities of other Luna Gaming members, like throwing games. Yatoro ended his statement by saying that the permanent ban was simply too much for a 20-year-old and that a 12-month suspension would be a better call.

Yuragi, on the other hand, shared his thoughts on Twitter, highlighting Koma’s dedication and love for Dota.

Hello, World. Wanted to express my opinion on Valve's recent players ban of Koma. I'm friends with Kamil for several years now and I know him as a player who has a lot of dedication and love for the game of DotA. I also know that he is not a terrible or cruel or deceptive person.

OG’s position one thought that Koma would never get involved with such actions due to his sheer dedication to the game. Like Yatoro, Yuragi also thought Koma didn’t deserve a lifetime ban from Dota 2.

While these two players expressed their thoughts for their Dota friend and fellow ex-competitor, they also received some backlash from fans. Most disliked the statements because Yuragi and Yatoro sounded like they were asking for Koma to be treated separately just because he was their friend.

Though there have been cases where players who went on to achieve great things were slapped on the wrist after purportedly being involved in a match-fixing scandal, fans think that players who violate the rules despite knowing them should be severely punished no matter the circumstances.

It’s unlikely Valve will reconsider its decision and Koma was recently replaced by Alexander “krylat” Krylatov on VP.