Commonwealth Championships players slam “unfulfilling” esports competition

Ryan Lemay
CEC-Birmingham-20221

A Dota player representing Wales spoke out about the Commonwealth Championships’ shortcomings.

Birmingham, England, hosts the first ever Commonwealth Esports Championships from August 6-7. The tournament features tournaments for eFootball, Dota 2, and Rocket League. All three titles have tournaments open to everyone and a category for women.

A few major esports leagues have recently come under fire for their competition conditions. The CoD community bashed the Call of Duty Challengers Finals 2022 event organizers for an “embarrassing” LAN setup.

Overwatch Contenders teams refused to play after a competitive ruling ended a match prematurely due to a miscommunication from Blizzard.

Both cases exemplified significant issues in esports. The Commonwealth Championships is the latest example of an event not meeting players’ expectations.

cover art for the dota 2 arlington major 2022

Dota 2 player criticizes Commonwealth Championships

Dota player, Dai, stepped out of retirement and represented Wales in the Commonwealth Championships. Unfortunately, the tournament did not deliver as Dai’s team only played two best-of-one matches.

Only five of the eight Dota 2 teams showed up, making it a short-lived event.

Dai tweeted, “We just wanted to play more Dota. We are left a little unfulfilled from a Dota perspective.”

https://twitter.com/Dai_Wales/status/1555487462788579328?s=20&t=DezbYLg-eh2b6TPnJngYpQ

Adding insult to injury, both matches transpired before the opening ceremony. Dai was proud to represent his country, but the retired player “loves competing” and wishes he could have had more of a chance.

“The boys worked hard and deserved more than what we got.”

Dai shouted out the Esports Wales staff for inviting him and wished the remaining teams luck for the rest of the event.