The International 2019 is one of the biggest and most competitive Dota 2 tournaments in the world. The pressure of being part of this competition is high, and it appears that one player may have finally cracked. In a play that is typically seen in public matches, Gambit Esports players Andrey "Afoninje" Afonin rage quit in a match against Winstrike Team.
Day One of the CIS Regional Qualifier had Gambit ending with a 3-1 score. On Day Two, Gambit was the first game of the day versus Winstrike.
In the game, Afoninje had picked Morphling. The game had initially been going in favor of Gambit at the beginning. However, the scales started tilted towards Winstrike little by little. Still, it was clear that the game was far from over.
The whole Winstrike team was planning to take on the tier three tower in the bottom lane. At the same time, Afoninje was split pushing the top lane. That move forced four of Winstrike's members to teleport back to base to try and deal with the Morphling threat. Afoninje did what he could to escape, but with Jakiro, Tidehunter, Slark, and Storm Spirit on his tail, he eventually was brought down.
Despite the death, Afoninje still had buyback. In addition, it meant that Winstrike's plan to push to Gambit's base was delayed.
What happened next, however, came as a surprise to those watching. Afoninje typed "Good game, well played" in all chat and then immediately after that disconnected. This resulted in a win for Winstrike.
After that, Gambit lost the next two games and eventually was eliminated.
On our match vs Winstrike #TI9 pic.twitter.com/SVyHHxZo1h
— Gambit Esports (@GambitEsports) July 8, 2019
The organization moved swiftly after that to release an official statement saying that what Afoninje did was both "unsportsmanlike and unacceptable" and announced he is subjected to disciplinary actions. Gambit went on to say that it was issuing an apology not just to the fans, but the Dota 2 community at large.
Afoninje's Dota 2 career started back in 2014 with Special Reaction Team. His longest stint was with HellRaisers, joining the team back in 2014. In 2016, HellRaisers made the decision to freeze their roster, resulting in Afoninje moving to Polarity. Towards the end of 2018, he then made the decision to join Gambit Esports.
