Thunder Predator Disqualified From TI8 Qualifiers

Thunder Predator, one of the teams from South America currently participating in The International 8 regional qualifiers, has been disqualified after one of their players was alleged to be cheating via a mouse macro to aid his gameplay. Evidence posted on Reddit showed the player, Juan “Atun” Ochoa, using the macro script to rapidly cast an ability multiple times without having to queue up each instance separately.

In the case of Thunder Gaming in SA Qualifiers, this is the decision that was taken:
A) Disqualify Thunder Gaming for using unfair advantage
B) SG vs Pain in the Winner’s Finals
C) Loser plays Torus in the Loser’s Finals
D) Winner of that Plays winner of A in the Grand Finals

— Cristian Duca (@FACEIT_Omicron) June 22, 2018

Organizers of the qualifying tournament, FACEIT, have decided to remove Thunder Predator from the event in the face of the evidence, announcing the decision on Twitter earlier today. Since the decision, Thunder Predator has taken to social media to denounce FACEIT and the tournament rules as a whole, while at the same time admitting that Atun did in fact use a macro script to aid his gameplay. Whether or not the team realizes that this is in fact the rule that was broken is yet to be decided.

The decision to remove Thunder Predator from the tournament means that SG-esports will be given their spot in the winner’s final match against PaiN Gaming, a second chance for the team as it were. The loser of said match will fall to the losers bracket where they will face Torus Gaming for a spot in the Grand Final, while the winner will move on straight to the Final.

At this time neither Valve nor FACEIT have issued any sanctions on Atun or Thunder Predator beyond the removal from the tournament, however Valve’s notorious hard line against cheating must be worrisome for the organization now left to watch the upcoming events from home.

For more news on the gaming industry, check out our interview with Jordan Sherman from Gen.G, here.