Winning The International is supposed to put you in the history books, but Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak was put on Valve’s naughty list just weeks after lifting the Aegis. Team Falcons’ star mid-laner woke up to him receiving a ban on his Dota 2 account in the middle of a million-dollar tournament.

Malr1ne Gets a Surprise

Team Falcons were fresh off a victory at TI and a flawless group-stage performance at FISSURE Playground 2, with a few days off to relax before the playoffs. However, Malr1ne, one of the best Dota 2 players in the world, woke up to a surprise when he found out that his main Dota 2 account had been banned, preventing him from playing the game.

His teammate, Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf, posted a video on his Telegram channel mocking him, calling him a “cheater” and claiming that he “won TI using cheats.”

Before the ban settled in, the 21-year-old was ranked fifth on the European leaderboards. Now, his name has been completely removed from the official Dota 2 leaderboard page. According to Malr1ne’s Steam profile and the video uploaded by ATF, he received a game ban rather than a VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat) ban.

Did Malr1ne Cheat?

So, did Malr1ne actually use cheats to lift the Aegis and become a TI winner? Most probably not. It would be impossible to use cheats on the TI stage, where Valve cleans up computers and a referee stands behind players.

Though the reason for Malr1ne’s ban is yet to be known, there are several reasons Valve might issue a game ban. Possible reasons could be account sharing, smurfing, boosting, or using third-party programs.

Overwolf is a popular third-party software used by Dota 2 players, providing drafting suggestions, particularly in the Eastern European region where Malr1ne resides. Many players who used this application have received game bans, and Malr1ne may be one of them.

What Happens Next to Malr1ne?

The big question is what will happen to Malr1ne, especially when the team is set to play the FISSURE Playground playoffs in a few days. Though his teammates have been poking fun at him, Malr1ne should be completely fine.

Looking for new midlaner

— skiter (@Skiter) October 27, 2025

Other Tier 1 professionals have also gotten their accounts VAC and game-banned, but are still competing without issues. Nigma Galaxy’s Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan has a recorded game ban on his profile, though it is unclear whether it came from Dota 2. Team Liquid’s Michael “miCKe” Vu has a VAC ban on record, and he’s all good, too.

It is likely Malr1ne can hop on another account to play the rest of the tournament, or attempt to request an unban from Valve. The worst-case scenario is that he’ll lose his main account and must play on a different one.