Renowned Western Europe Dota 2 professional, Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov, has finally addressed the tension that arose during the group stage of ESL DreamLeague Season 22 last month. Putting rumors to rest, MC clarified that there are no hard feelings between him and Tundra Esports’ team members.
During the tournament, MC openly expressed his discontent with management decisions at Tundra Esports, particularly the transfer of captaincy to Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko. He also criticized the choices of David “MoonMeander” Tan as the team’s coach and Ludwig “zai” Wahlberg as the new team manager.
The 29-year-old player even announced his search for a new team after feeling sidelined by Tundra. However, Tundra argued that Ivanov was not kicked but rather dropped as an inactive player, claiming the player made some unreasonable demands during the tournament. This ignited a debate among fans, with many siding with Ivanov.
Apart from the fans, MC’s tiff with Tundra got some attention from his fellow players too, with many throwing sarcastic jabs at his team. However, MC dropped a bombshell last night by posting an apology on X. He owned up to his emotions and said sorry to Pure, MoonMeander, Zai, and the whole Tundra crew for not getting their side of the story right.
“Hey guys, So after clearing out my head now, I wanna apologize to Pure, Moon, Zai and Tundra for making it sound like they did something bad to me. I was emotional and said my feelings in the wrong way when I talked to Gorg,” wrote MC. “It was bad timing to do an ultimatum. I don’t have issues with anyone in Tundra or the players, there were some misunderstandings and that’s why all of this happened. It’s all chill, I wish best of luck to Tundra and see you soon!”
Nevertheless, MC did not specify whether Tundra will welcome him back into the fold. Given the negative attention drawn by his earlier statements, it seems unlikely that he will return to the team. Shortly after MC’s public apology, Tundra announced Tobias “Tobi” Buchner as a stand-in for the upcoming DreamLeague S23 WEU Closed Qualifier, indicating no plans to reinstate Ivanov to the lineup.
