The judges awarded the victory to Nemiga despite the fall of their Ancient, as the eSpoiled team had officially surrendered earlier

A bizarre incident occurred during the Eastern European qualifiers for The International 2025, when a player from eSpoiled prematurely typed “GG” in chat – unaware that the enemy throne was already falling – effectively costing his team the victory.

The moment took place on the second map of their match against Nemiga. At the 52-minute mark, Nemiga wiped all five eSpoiled players and began destroying the base. Just as this was happening, Ilya “ssnovv1” Kondarshov typed “GG” in chat, triggering the standard 10-second countdown to end the game. However, within those 10 seconds, Nemiga’s throne was destroyed, and the Dota 2 client registered a victory for eSpoiled.

Despite this, tournament referees overturned the result, citing official rules: writing “GG” counts as an instant surrender, regardless of what happens afterward. As a result, the win was awarded to Nemiga.

The incident sparked discussion in the Dota 2 community, highlighting how technicalities and timing can dramatically affect the outcome of high-stakes matches.