Nikko gets badmouthed by OG’s coach, Taiga banned for life: Dota 2 ends April with a BetBoom

The last week of Dota 2 had it all: there was no shortage of drama, wholesome stories, and very interesting announcements.

As we head into May, let’s take a look back at how the Dota 2 esports scene wrapped up the month. And I’ll be honest, it’s given me a lot of hope for what’s to come.

Weeks ago, the OG Dota 2 team made a shocking announcement, benching offlaner Nikko “Nikko” Bilocura and unveiling Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek – a very surprising addition to the lineup.

The team’s coach, 343, recently went on a podcast to spill the beans, and let’s just say he didn’t hold anything back. 

The Malaysian coach was invited onto a podcast on the DotaDoc channel, where he revealed what really happened behind the scenes and why the team ultimately decided to let Nikko go. According to him, the former offlaner was benched due to out-of-game factors. Here’s a summary of 343’s main points:

As someone who has followed Nikko’s journey for quite a while, I can say that he’s very individually skilled and is probably the most mechanically gifted player on the team. 

But if 343’s claims are true, this behavior will do a team more harm than good. Part of being a professional Dota player is having both skill and work ethic; the latter, along with trust, is what keeps a team together.

I mean, 343 has every reason to be furious – I can’t argue with that – but grilling him with no filter on a public podcast is most definitely going to hurt the Filipino’s reputation and career in the long run.

I hope he can bounce back, as he’s a really talented player. 

I know what team I’ll be cheering on for the rest of the season.

The South American Rejects, an unsponsored squad, recently made a deep run at PGL Wallachia Season 8, finishing in the top six. With no form or organizational backing, these guys had to dig into their own wallets to fly to Europe, cover basic necessities, and compete at the event. 

It’s safe to say this ragtag group of Peruvian players exceeded expectations. They took down top teams like Team Yandex and Xtreme Gaming in their Wallachia conquest. Unfortunately, Team Liquid had to ruin the fun, knocking them out of the tournament.

But hey, they were compensated $60,000 for their efforts.

Instead of basking in that bag, the South American Rejects are investing all of it – not in stocks or crypto – but in themselves. They’re using the winnings to stay longer in Europe and bootcamp, where they can scrim against the best teams in the world and sharpen their gameplay.

This is such a cool story and shows just how much they believe in themselves. At Wallachia, they showed great promise. The Rejects would find themselves in the lead in games against top squads like Team Liquid, but often struggled to close out games.

The potential is clearly there, and with a little bit of polishing, I feel like these guys are good for another deep run. They’ve certainly earned my respect, and I hope an org picks them up real soon. 

Speaking of PGL Wallachia, BetBoom Team ended up winning the whole event, and in very convincing fashion. They clearly looked like the best team at the event. 

The squad went 3-0 in groups and didn’t drop a single game in the playoffs, making a flawless run to the grand final. They then swept Eastern European rivals Aurora in the grand final, settling the score at the perfect time. BetBoom Team’s big win means they take home $300,000 and their first tournament win of the year.

The Wallachia trophy also marks the newest addition, Ilya “Kiritych” Ulyanov’s first S Tier victory. The 23-year-old had some very big shoes to fill after replacing Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko following The International 14. But, he’s been playing very stable Dota and doing his job well.

Still, credit must go to Danil “gpk” Skutin and Vitalie “Save-” Melnic. These guys are clearly BetBoom Team’s best players, with the former voted as the event’s MVP. 

In 2024, former OG and Team Liquid support player Tommy “Taiga” Le was exposed for match-fixing. That’s right – despite being a Major winner and being employed under some of the biggest orgs in the scene, this fella was betting on his own matches, even in S Tier tournaments.

He wasn’t necessarily throwing games, but was playing around with outcomes like First Bloods – things he would influence without blatantly making his team lose. 

Since then, his Dota 2 career has been pretty much over. Taiga went from being a highly respected, wholesome player to one of the most disliked figures in the scene. Not entirely sure what he’s up to these days, but I saw him opening a betting group on Telegram, inviting his followers to join – who knows what’s happening in there. 

In any case, the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has finally slammed the ban hammer on Taiga. He was handed a lifetime ban from all ESIC member events.

Took you long enough, ESIC. 

Following TORONTOTOKYO’s seemingly random signing to OG, we have someone else treading in his footsteps. TI winner and European player Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov has also marked Southeast Asia as his next destination. The former Team Liquid player has joined Indonesian squad REKONIX, this time as the team’s coach.

MinD_ContRoL has made ventures to SEA before, finding a brief stint in Team SMG for The International 2023, which didn’t go too well. However, he’s suiting up for a completely different role, transitioning from playing to coaching for the first time.

He finds himself in a squad full of Indonesian players. REKONIX is a team on the rise – they’ve snagged multiple Southeast Asian qualifier slots to make appearances at the biggest events.

However, REKONIX typically struggles against the top dogs and often ends up as cannon fodder. 

MinD_ContRoL looks to make a difference and revive Indonesian Dota 2, as we’ll see his squad compete at DreamLeague Season 29 for their first Tier 1 tournament. And honestly, if REKONIX makes it to the playoffs, he clearly knows something we don’t.