Dota 2 pro 23savage says police made him play a match to prove identity

Dota 2 professional player Nuengnara "23savage" Teeramahanon says he was forced to play a full match in front of police officers to prove his identity after a raid on his team's boot camp.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the Xipto eSports hard carry said police raided the team's facility in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week, placed the players in handcuffs and confiscated their belongings.

According to 23savage, officers interrogated the players about why they were in the city and whether they were really professional gamers.

"One of the officers was familiar with Dota, and was willing to scroll the player’s Instagram for proof of his pro career," 23savage wrote.

A recent photo of himself with Malaysian influencer Ms. Puiyi was deemed "somewhat acceptable evidence," he said, leading officers to remove his handcuffs and test his skills.

The player then started a Dota match in front of the officers, scoring 32 kills as the hard carry hero Kunkka.

23savage alleges this performance was "enough proof to convince the officers to let the team go, and also that they stole two jars of Nutella on their way out."

Commenters on the post quickly doubted 23savage's claims, presuming the post to be a joke, but 23savage has been actively defending his story in the replies.

Reddit users continue to doubt the hard carry player, while others jokingly claim 23savage's story "is saving Valve’s MOBA."

The incident does not appear to have impacted Xipto eSports' performance, as the team recently won the EPL SEA tournament without losing a single series, achieving an impressive 10-match win streak.

Xipto, which also features players inYourdreaM, Fbz, Q and Oli, is now competing for a spot in the DreamLeague Season 30 tournament.

Dota 2 itself has been seeing some notable player gains in 2026, having recently hit its peak player count since 2022.