Memes galore after Mind_control kicked from Tundra mid tourney

Player transfers and departures are common in any esports title like Dota 2, but the situation around the departure of Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov from Tundra Esports during a tournament has sparked a public debate, and some great memes.

MinD_ContRoL tweets about his kick from Tundra Esports’ Dota 2 lineup

The story began on the eve of the second day of DreamLeague S22 when Ivanov took to Twitter to announce his removal from Tundra Esports. In a cryptic tweet, the player remarked that he was “LFT” after being “kicked before the match.” Unsurprisingly, the announcement quickly caught the esports world’s attention, leading to a flurry of responses from various corners of the community, including several major esports organizations.

In a subsequent explanation during a stream with popular Dota 2 personality Gorgc, Ivanov delved into the reasons behind his exit from Tundra. He cited disagreements over team leadership and dissatisfaction with recent team changes as the main catalysts.

MinD_ContRoL specifically took issue with being stripped of his captaincy by teammate Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko and criticized the addition of players David “MoonMeander” Tan and Ludwig “zai” Wåhlberg to the team. He was particularly vocal about zai’s role as a general manager, questioning the effectiveness and necessity of such a position in a Dota 2 team’s structure.

The situation escalated when Ivanov demanded the Tundra’s CEO choose between him and the new trio, a confrontation that led to his departure. Despite the emotional turmoil, Ivanov shared that he respects the CEO’s decision.

Tundra Esports’ Formal Response

In the wake of Ivanov’s public announcement, Tundra Esports quickly issued a statement confirming his indefinite suspension pending the results of an “internal disciplinary investigation”. The brief statement hinted at an ongoing review process within the organization. Furthermore, it described Ivanov’s demands leading up to the incident as “unreasonable.” However, the organization stopped short of providing a detailed account of the circumstances or the nature of the disciplinary issues.

Insert “Pizza Party” meme

Roster shuffles occur all the time in competitive Dota 2, and while this is yet another one, Tundra kicking MinD_ContRoL definitely takes the cake when it comes to the “Pizza Party” meme. For the uninitiated, the meme originated from the infamous pizza party, which a Southeast Asian player had, where his team informed him he’s kicked.

In MinD_ContRoL’s case, however, the whole situation stems more than just another kick, as it was a conflict of interest surrounding MinD_ContRoL’s promised role as captain and the Tundra Esports’ management to have redundant roles within their Dota 2 division. The community did not miss out on the opportunity to make fun of the situation that MinD_ContRoL and Tundra Esports found themselves in. Multiple Esports teams gave baffled reactions to the unexpected kick mid-tournament, then there’s Team Secret’s Twitter guy, who gave a shoutout to former Team Secret player, zai, quoting “solid first day at work”. As MinD_ContRoL shared, zai was brought into the team as a general manager.

solid first day at work @zai_2002

— Team Secret (@teamsecret) February 26, 2024

Meanwhile, Team Aurora made fun of MinD_ContRoL’s kick, as a result of the player ranking the team as E-tier on a tier list.

The reason for the kick: pic.twitter.com/dscBiPYkaD

— Aurora Dota2 (@AuroraDota2_GG) February 26, 2024

Dota 2 community criticizes Tundra Esports

Jokes aside, a significant majority of the Dota 2 community has expressed dissatisfaction with the way Tundra Esports has handled the situation. The community’s criticism largely revolves around what they perceived as a broken promise to Ivanov regarding his role within the team. This was allegedly compromised by the introduction of new players. As such, it almost seems like Mind_Control’s actions were justified. At least until Tundra Esports shares its side of the story in detail.

if what mindcontrol said is true this statement is vicious as hell lol

— hoxie (@hoxieloxie) February 26, 2024