How to avoid a smurf ban in Dota 2? Guide to choosing an account for dota.
On Reddit, thematic forums, and simply in comments, reports of game bans from the developer began to appear more and more often. Moreover, it is not cheaters who complain about these bans, but ordinary hard workers. Some mistakenly perceive this ban as a VAC ban, but it has nothing to do with the latter.
There were several types of bans in Dota:
- Ban for very low integrity.
- Ban by patrol verdict (has not been in effect for several years, after the arc warden fix).
- Ban by the smurf system (peaked in popularity among esports players and streamers).
Ban for detecting cheat functions (there were only two major waves in the entire history of Dota). And at the moment, it is completely impossible to block individual cheat functions. If you want to learn more about this, I recommend checking out other articles on my profile or trying it out for yourself with the melonity dota cheat.
It is quite easy to distinguish between these bans. If your Steam profile says “1 game ban,” then you fall under one of the first three points. If it says “1 VAC ban,” then you have fallen under the cheating wave. Look for the mention of VAC in your Steam profile, not inside Dota.
After analyzing all the accounts provided by players on Reddit, as well as some of our users, it is easy to conclude that Valve has now begun to crack down on the smurf system. No one has studied all the algorithms behind how it works with 100% certainty. You can be banned on a new account because of an old IP address, a winning streak, aggressive play with difficult heroes, or even a random mention of your previously used data (email, phone number) on a new account, even if you unlinked them a long time ago. You can be banned at any time for anything. Some players play without a spoof, swap accounts, and are not banned for years. This is where Valve’s clownish random system comes into play.
Only one thing can be stated with certainty: certain types of accounts are blocked by the smurf system. The account has been linked at least once, has played less than 1,000 matches, has had several smurf matches, or was registered in 2022–2024. All such accounts are inherently unreliable and have a high chance of being banned quickly, even if you don’t use cheats, as they have nothing to do with it.
If you want to play long-term, there are clear rules for selection. Such accounts have been tested for years and have not received a single ban from the smurf system, even if you win 50 matches in a row on Ark Warden. Decency remains unchanged, there are no smurf bans. These are just recommendations based on experience and statistics, which you can ignore or do as you see fit.
Personal recommendations for choosing an account on the market:
- Played at least 1000+ matches in the main pool.
- Decency rating of at least 9000 points.
- Account created before 2020.
These recommendations are enough to prevent you from getting smurf bans. As a bonus, such profiles are abandoned and the rating confidence percentage will be 0, which means you can easily raise a 1000 MMR account to titan in a week.
However, if you want to make sure that a broken account with a high chance of being restored by its original owner, you need to follow a few more rules for selection. They will cost a little more, but the chance of playing forever is almost maximum. In 4 years, not a single such account has been restored:
- Played 0 hours in the last two weeks.
- The last transaction was more than 1–2 years ago.
Conclusion:
- First, check the type of block on your Steam profile, and only then start panicking.
- Follow some rules for choosing a new account and enjoy yourself in the main pool.
