If you have not been following the latest in Dota 2 esports, there is a new controversy that has developed between David “Parker” Nicho Flores and his former team HEROIC. Here is the full story on Parker’s exit, the allegations, and his side of events.
The Parker-HEROIC Drama at ESL One Bangkok 2024
Dota 2 fans have not witnessed such drama since the ATF event, and this new scandal is much worse than that one. For those who joined the stream late, HEROIC, a South American team, recently benched Parker, their main carry player, after a qualifier match for ESL One Bangkok 2024. In the official statement, HEROIC accused Parker of unprofessional behavior
and prior incidents
as the basis for benching him—despite the lack of specifics.
Due to Parker’s unavailability, HEROIC will be bringing in Yuma “Yuma” Langlet for the BLAST Slam I event.
Why Was Parker Benched and Released?
As per HEROIC, Parker was on the edge of his tolerance level during their recent best-of-five series against beastcoast. In the final round, HEROIC was in a very important fight near Roshan’s pit, using several buybacks to gain control of the fight. However, Parker did not follow them; he was seen farming in the mid lane and was completely out of the team fight. Without his support, HEROIC lost the lineup, the match, and their chance to compete in ESL One Bangkok.
This was the last nail in the coffin for HEROIC, who thought that Parker was being unprofessional and a liability to the team’s objectives.
Parker’s Side of the Story
When Parker was confronted with serious allegations, he went on the record and complained about different aspects of HEROIC’s team. He attributed the problem to wrong drafting techniques, internal conflicts, and undesirable conduct by his colleagues.
Parker’s main criticisms included:
- Drafting Issues: He accused HEROIC’s coach, Igor “kaffs” Estevão, of making wrong decisions in the draft and being too commanding.
- In-Team Conflict: He challenged Matheus “KJ” Santos Jungles Diniz for being an unrelenting toxic and insulting person.
- Underperformance: Parker said that Cedric “Davai Lama” Deckmyn was not very good as an offlaner and that was the reason for their problems.
Some people saw Parker’s post as him shifting the blame for the internal problems in HEROIC and the team’s poor performance at DreamLeague S24.
Was It Really Parker’s Fault?
The clip of Parker farming mid instead of joining the Roshan fight received a lot of criticism, but it was not a bad move from a strategic point of view. HEROIC was down several buybacks, and challenging Roshan without the necessary support was a very risky proposition. Perhaps it would have been wiser to skip the Roshan contest and focus on taking high ground, especially with Parker’s Medusa and Muerta that can deal damage in the late stages of the game.
However, HEROIC’s excessive enthusiasm to acquire Roshan failed due to lack of understanding of buyback restrictions. This mistake caused their downfall, and up to date, fans blame the loss on Parker’s exclusion from the fight.
The Fallout and Future Prospects
The public venting of issues within HEROIC’s roster has somewhat damaged the South American team’s image, although they were successful at PGL Wallachia S2. HEROIC has since come out to state that they are willing to negotiate a transfer for Parker, but his fate with another organization is still unknown.
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