"Greatest banhammer application": Community reacts as Valve bans Twitch streamer MasonDota2 with a Christmas gift

Mason "masondota2" Venne is an American Twitch streamer who is known for playing the popular MOBA game DOTA. In a recent stream, Mason was reading his chat when they asked him to open the usual Christmas chests that DOTA hands out to players. The streamer opened the chest only to learn that he was banned from queuing in-game.

Fans were shocked by Valve's method of banning in the form of a Christmas chest gift. The item that Mason received from the Frostivus gift chest was a 'Highly Toxic Lump of Coal,' which said:

"Your Dota account has been permanently banned for Smurfing or other violations of the Steam Terms of Service."

One Redditor commented on the viral clip:

"From a style point of view, greatest banhammer application I've ever seen."

Comment byu/Vocal1st from discussion inDotA2

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Masondota2 banned from Dota 2 after using behavior score-boosting services

Mason started his career in competitive Dota in 2013. Over the years, he has predominantly streamed Dota gameplay, occasionally delving into other titles such as Elden Ring. However, he is currently banned from Dota and has switched to streaming League of Legends. Based on the video, the chest shows a permanent ban, and when queuing in a game, it displays a Valve suspension that expires on January 1, 2038.

Masondota2's chat did ask him questions related to his ban, to which he responded by revealing his usage of a behavior-boosting service:

"I ended up using a service to boost my behavior score and after one day I didn't feel...First I'll be honest I don't feel like that it was really working and secondly I didn't really feel like, I didn't feel like I should like do it honestly."

The streamer also mentioned that he used the Dota service for 10 games but didn't see any difference in his behavior score despite the boost:

"I was like 'You know what? I'll just like play it out and it's fine.' And I did do it for like ten games or something and my behavior score...The funniest part is my behavior score didn't even move."

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As per Valve and Steam's updated TOS, the automated system will prohibit the use of Smurf accounts or anything that can artificially boost the MMR of an account.

Masondota2 has 242k followers on Twitch and streams regularly.