TI11 champion Oliver “skiter” Lepko found himself in an odd predicament in week two of the DPC WEC 2023 Tour 1 Division 1.
In the final moments of Tundra Esports and Into The Breach’s regional league match, skiter needed to take a quick bathroom break. However, because of the strict rules of the Dota Pro Circuit, PGL admins wouldn’t let him leave his desk.
To avoid getting penalized, Tundra’s carry player claims he was forced to pee in a bottle instead.
Liquid Nisha singlehandedly snaps TI11 champion’s 5-month undefeated streakKuku believes this is the strongest Dota 2 team in SEA
Tundra Esports skiter was denied a bathroom break by tournament admins
Professional Dota 2 games can run long. There is the drafting phase that can last over 10 minutes if both teams use up their reserve time. If the game goes back and forth, players could be stuck at their desks for over an hour, and this is exactly what happened in game three of Tundra’s match against ITB.
At the 55-minute mark, Tundra paused the game because skiter suddenly needed to relieve himself. However, the carry player was told that going to the bathroom is illegal, according to PGL’s DPC 2023 Winter Tour rulebook.
“Players are not allowed to access the restroom during a game until the end of it. Doing so will result in a LVL 2 penalty, taking away bonus time during the draft in the next game. An exception is a health-threatening condition requiring emergency medical treatment,” stated on page 5 of the DPC rulebook.
To avoid losing bonus time during the draft in Tundra’s next game on January 21 against Team Secret, skiter decided to take one for the team.
Screenshot by ONE Esports/Nigel Zalamea
A few minutes after the game was paused, skiter gave an update on the situation.
“Alright guys, I peed in a bottle. Let’s go,” he said in all-chat. “It was on camera the whole time.”
As it turns out, the rulebook also states that each player must be visible via their webcam for integrity purposes.
Tundra would go on to win 2-1 against ITB, which sees them tied with Team Liquid for first place in the DPC WEU 2023 Tour 1 Division 1.
Credit: skiter
After the match, the relieved carry player took a photo of the bottle and shared it on Twitter.
“PGL admins forced me to pee in bottle,” he said.
