A Dota 2 team won an International qualifier match without killing anyone

Dota 2 pacifism

With Dota 2’s Open Qualifiers currently happening in various regions, amateur and semi-pro teams are competing to win a spot at this year’s International. In one of the weirdest Dota matches I’ve ever seen, one team managed to win a qualifier match with a pacifist strategy.

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Named CryptoN, the team managed to beat opponents GOOMBA Gaming by actively avoiding team fights and just pushing lanes. Despite taking numerous casualties via their policy of non-engagement and self-sacrifice, CryptoN managed to defeat GOOMBA Gaming in just under 20 minutes.

The final kill count was two kills to CryptoN and 22 kills to GOOMBA Gaming. The two kills that CryptoN managed to score were not of their own doing, with one of them coming from an enemy Sniper being killed by the dying blast of an AI-controlled Necro Warrior. The other kill came during the final seconds of the match, with GOOMBA’s Kunkka being cut down by CryptoN’s army of creeps. No blood was technically on CryptoN’s hands, so I’m counting it as a pacifist victory.

With this win, CryptoN are in top 16 of the second European qualifier, with them set to face Elements Pro Gaming at 14:00 BST. Unlike their previous opponents, Elements Pro is an established Russian Dota team, so I doubt CryptoN’s pacifist approach will come up trumps this time. The match is only a best of one, though, so Elements Pro will have to adapt quickly to CryptoN’s unorthodox playstyle if they want to make it to the final eight.

Team captain JohnnyCryptoN will no doubt be streaming the match versus Elements Pro later today, so tune into his Twitch at 14:00 BST to see if this plucky team of pacifists will stick to the plan.

Thanks Compete.