“It’s sad to see such potential go to waste”—the community on PGL’s ban of TaiLung
The Dota 2 community has weighed in on the suspension of LGD Gaming midlaner Santiago Gustavo “TaiLung” Olivio Agüero from The International 2026 and all PGL tournaments.
Quotes are reproduced with the original spelling and punctuation from the sources
Commentator Vladimir “Maelstorm” Kuzminov lamented the lack of serious action against others involved in “322”:
This is crazy… I don’t know what to say. The guy is 17, with his whole life ahead of him, and to get himself into this mess. Well, a lesson for everyone.
I’m so pissed off right now my ass is about to explode. When are they finally going to deal with this whole gang for real and ban them all? <...>
If Wits really did rat out Darkmago, then he’s just a real hero. In fact, any sane person would have no choice but to do what he did when faced with an offer like that.
Raulino “OldR” Alves, a coach for professional teams, commented on the decision by LGD Gaming and PGL:
We’ve truly lost the greatest talent in this game. This culture needs to be stopped. There’s nothing more to say. The decision made by LGD and PGL was the right one and a bold one.
Community caster Roman “RAMZES” Kushnarev suggested that the situation won’t end with just one ban:
*** [Damn], I wish they’d just ban me *** [for nothing] from leaving the house on the weekends, from buying booze, or, *** [damn], from going to clubs, like they did to TaiLung. *** [Damn, what a] crazy situation. I don’t think we’ll get away with just one ban—there’s bound to be more of this. *** [Damn], who’s even going to play on the tour if they ban all the 22-year-olds, *** [bastards] those *** [fucking] ones? Will TpaBoMaH be in mid for us in the pro tournaments? Just *** [go wild] on Riyadh or on Inta. Or who?
TAILUNG MVP STREAMERSBATTLE 15
Natus Vincere manager Zhanna “Ryzhaya” Batkovna commented on PGL’s work:
Oh my
god, I just woke up to notifications that Tailung 322 is on a total tilt. If this is true (I’ve only seen brief comments so far), then he’ll be the most striking example of how talent, youth, and a bright future in esports can be ruined for a quick buck. Time and again, young guys with great potential get dragged into this mess, and it never dawns on them that this isn’t the right path—and that what’s hidden will always come to light. It’s not for nothing that they say, “Guard your honor while you’re young,” so you don’t end up stuck at the top of the ladder playing streamer battles later on.
In the midst of this whole awful mess, credit must be given to PGL, who time and again ban these guys, don’t drag this out, and don’t sweep it under the rug—they’re handling it better than ESIC.
Streamer Janne “Gorgc” Stefanowski called TaiLung the most promising of those banned for “322”:
TaiLung has been suspended from TI and, possibly, from the entire pro Dota scene?! The most promising talent we’ve ever lost because of that “322” crap. This is probably the biggest “what if…” scenario in Dota.
Analyst Maurice “KheZu” Gutmann shared that he was rooting for the player:
What the hell? He was literally a promising new prodigy. This is so sad; I was rooting for him and his team in various situations. Dota really is flooded with match-fixing and cheating.
Virtus.pro support Tal “Fly” Aizik briefly commented on the situation:
It’s sad to see such potential go to waste. <...>
Earlier, Team Liquid coach William “Blitz” Lee revealed that the team had considered adding TaiLung to the roster: “When Nisha was planning to take a break or leave our team, we had the idea of bringing in TaiLung and building the roster around him.”
