ATOX has been removed from the ESL Challenger League Season 49 Asia-Pacific competition after the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) imposed a provisional suspension on the team. As a result, all matches involving ATOX in the tournament have been nullified, erasing both past results and any scheduled games. Alongside this disqualification, the Mongolian roster has also been barred from participating in any events hosted by the ESL FACEIT Group until further notice.
The team was performing strongly in the ESL Challenger standings, holding fourth place with a 9-1 record before the suspension took effect. Their removal significantly impacts the league’s competitive landscape, reshuffling the rankings and altering the tournament’s trajectory.
This latest development follows a series of setbacks for ATOX. Just last week, BLAST removed the team from the upcoming BLAST Open Lisbon event, citing their ongoing provisional suspension from all ESIC-affiliated competitions. With ATOX no longer in contention, The Huns, another Mongolian squad that finished as the runner-up in the BLAST Rising Asia tournament, took their place. PGL soon followed suit, barring ATOX from its events as well. The team was also disqualified from the Asian qualifier for PGL Bucharest, which was set to be played during the MESA Asian Masters.
Despite these escalating restrictions, ESIC has yet to provide official details on an investigation into ATOX. However, speculation has been growing, particularly after Chinese commentator Yunqing “Searph” Hu posted on social media in February that a team ranked within the top 30 of the Valve Regional Standings (VRS) was under investigation for alleged match-fixing in a match during the ESL Pro League 2024 season. Though no official confirmation has linked ATOX to this claim, the timing and their recent rise to 23rd in the world rankings have fueled further discussion.
ATOX participated in ESL Pro League Season 20 in September 2024, where they finished in the 21st-28th range after securing just one victory in four matches. The team’s rapid ascent in the rankings was seen as a breakthrough moment for Mongolian Counter-Strike, but their sudden disqualification raises questions about what may have led to this disciplinary action.
With ESIC remaining silent on the nature of the provisional suspension, the future of ATOX remains uncertain. Until more information is released, the team is effectively sidelined from major competitive play, forcing them to watch from the sidelines as the regional and international events they had qualified for proceed without them.
