The results of the ESL investigation into the abuse of the Smoke of Deceit bug have been revealed

The tournament organizer ESL has released a statement disclosing the results of the investigation into the abuse of the Smoke of Deceit bug during the closed qualifiers for ESL One Raleigh 2025. 9Pandas, NAVI Junior, and Aurora Gaming were found to be teams that systematically exploited this bug. As a result, they have been disqualified from the tournament. The information was published on the organization's official website.

During the investigation, it was revealed that three teams were disqualified, seven received fines, and three others were issued warnings. NAVI Junior, as previously stated, will not participate in the championship, while 9Pandas and Aurora Gaming will not be allowed to compete unless another team from their region is unable to attend.

The teams that received fines include Passion UA, One Move, Virtus.pro, Winter Bear, Tundra Esports, Team Spirit and Team Secret. Meanwhile, Wildcard, Shopify Rebellion, and Natus Vincere only received warnings. Nigma Galaxy, Talon Esports, Gaimin Gladiators, and M80 avoided penalties due to insufficient evidence of wrongdoing.

As a reminder, tournament organizer ESL launched an investigation into the bug abuse incidents and announced a thorough review. At the time, players from Team Spirit and Tundra Esports were among those under suspicion.

Earlier, CyberScore.live reported that Maelstorm commented on the Smoke of Deceit bug in the professional Dota 2 scene.