South American Dota 2 just got dealt one of its worst blows in God knows how long. At the Dota 2 tournament at the Esports World Cup, one of the biggest tournaments of the year, PlayTime’s mid-laner Gonzalo “DarkMago” Herrera and coach Juan “Vintage” Angulo were provisionally suspended by ESIC over suspected breaches of its Anti-Corruption Code.
We would later learn that the “integrity issues” they were suspected of led to hints of possible match-fixing. As a result, the pair were removed from the Esports World Cup hours before the team’s scheduled match against Vici Gaming.
With both barred from competing in the tournament, PlayTime was unable to field substitutes in time. As a result, the South Americans were handed a default loss in the elimination game, meaning they were sent packing from the $2 million event without even playing the series.
Normally, this would just be another unfortunate case in Dota’s relatively ugly history with match-fixing, but given how the South American scene has been developing over the 2026 season, this case does sting a lot more for the region.
South America was finally on the come-up
For many years, people have clowned on the South American Dota scene, seeing it as the game’s forgotten child. Historically, the region looked like group stage fodder – they’d earn one slot to the biggest events and get eliminated without seeing the light of the playoffs stage.
However, the narrative has changed quite a lot in recent years, especially during the 2025-2026 season. South America now has LGD Gaming (formerly Heroic) and a secondary force: PlayTime, who have looked like a real Tier 1 contender.
For the first time in a while, South America was no longer sending one team to the big stage; it was sending real contenders – plural. We would consistently see one South American make the playoffs of a big event. If it weren’t LGD Gaming, it would be PlayTime finishing an S-tier tournament within the top eight.
Many other fans and I expected Valve to finally give South America two slots for The International this year. But no – Valve only handed the region one slot, and LGD Gaming took it from PlayTime this time around.
Missing TI might have changed everything
TI is obviously the biggest event of the year. Even though the prize pool has seen a significant dip over the years, it’s still the one that actually matters most.
With PlayTime missing out on that slot to LGD Gaming, the Esports World Cup had pretty much become their last tournament of the season. Whatever happened in Paris was, in a very real sense, the last thing that would define their campaign until post-TI.
The thing is, there’s always going to be a massive roster shuffle surrounding TI. Teams that failed to qualify for it are pretty likely to make changes, and teams that didn’t win tend to also look to rebuild after the tournament.
So, this context might matter more than it seems. According to Team Spirit’s Dmitry “Korb3n” Belov, he had heard that DarkMago was on the chopping block and was likely getting kicked after the Esports World Cup.
The thing is, DarkMago might have known that. I guess my man wanted to go out with a bang and secure a little parting bonus on his way out the door.
I mean, DarkMago is one thing, but the team’s coach, Vintage, was also included in the packaged suspension. Vintage isn’t just the team’s coach – he’s also the PlayTime organization’s sporting director, which is just mad.
If he’s also involved, what’s actually happening behind the scenes?
Whatever the reason may be, these guys are crazy for trying to pull it off at the Esports World Cup. This is a $2 million event and has eyes from basically the entire scene on every single match. They’re either super desperate or genuinely confident that nobody would catch it, and neither of them is a smart decision.
South Americans are fuming as scene is sent two steps back
Of course, the reaction from the Dota 2 community has been about what you’d expect: everyone is frustrated.
Dota 2 caster Avery “SVG” Silverman didn’t hold back on his Not for Broadcast podcast: :Even in those scenarios, your risk-reward is sacrificing the entire rest of your career for a single payout that’s like, not even rumored to be that much.
“Just a moronic decision, man. It’s just so f***ing stupid. And these guys destroy the faith in the Dota ecosystem. It hurts the game, it hurts the tournament, it hurts Valve’s interest in doing more. F*** you, man.”
The rest of the PlayTime roster also commented on the situation. On his Instagram story, the team’s position five player Yelsthin “Elmisho” Hurtado even wished that anyone who’s involved in 322 (match-fixing) should get punished with jail time.
Inactive South American pro player Mariano “Papita” Caneda was extremely disappointed, especially since the suspected culprits ruined the first Esports World Cup event for the team’s 18-year-old carry Máximo “Wits” Orozco Alza.
Despite being a rookie, Wits has looked extremely promising. I feel for the kid – he’s been trying his a*s off and it turns out his mid-laner has been trolling the entire time.
The pairing is still under investigation, and neither of them is deemed guilty just yet. However, if the worst comes to pass, this could spell serious trouble for the South American Dota scene. Just as the region is taking a step forward, it’s hit with two steps back.
The Esports World Cup itself was even supposed to be a good opportunity for South America to put itself on the map. PlayTime wasn’t looking too shabby in groups either – and now that we know something fishy was going on behind the scenes, maybe they could have looked even better if everyone on the team had been playing it straight.
Many, myself included, have been pushing for South America to finally get the respect it deserves. It’s no longer a one-team region – there are two teams that can genuinely hang with the big boys. And all of that hard-earned credibility is at risk of going down the drain by two people who were trying to get a quick bag.
If Valve or tournament organizers were ever going to seriously consider giving South America more slots at their events (like TI), a match-fixing scandal involving one of the region’s flagship teams doesn’t really help.
Can PlayTime recover for next season?
Following the allegations and the team’s disqualification from the Esports World Cup, the PlayTime organization released DarkMago, Vintage, and offlaner Frank “Frank” Ayala. It’s pretty ugly that Frank’s removal was bunched in with the two, but he made it clear he wasn’t involved in any funny business.
Still, I’m just glad Wits and Elvis “Scofield” Peña remain untouched and are most likely in the clear. These are my two favorites on the team, and they’re exactly the kind of pieces you build a rebuild around.
The organization already confirmed a new roster is in the works, so we at least know that nobody’s abandoning the ship.
