Valve literally gift-wrapped its permanent bans for Dota 2 players this Frostivus

polygon.com:

Some Dota 2 players are receiving a special gift from Valve as part of the game’s current Frostivus holiday event: a thoughtful, gift-wrapped, permanent ban from playing Dota 2.

As forewarned by Dota 2’s latest patch notes and the Frostivus 2023 event page, players are receiving a special seasonal reward called a Frostivus Gift in their armory during Valve’s holiday event. Some players will receive free cosmetic items, while others will receive bans from the game for smurfing or sharing accounts. (Smurfing refers to creating a new account to play against low-level players, or intentionally losing to derank into matches with lower-level players.)

The unwelcome version of that special Frostivus surprise is a Highly Toxic Lump of Coal that informs players they won’t be playing Dota 2 this holiday season, or any holiday season. Some players are receiving temporary bans as warnings to correct their in-game behavior.

The most high-profile incident of a permanent ban is former pro Dota 2 player and two-time The International competitor Mason “mason” Venne, who streamed the opening of his Frostivus Gift on Twitch on Thursday. The surprise inside? No more Dota 2 for Venne.

As seen in the clip above, Venne’s Highly Toxic Lump of Coal informs him that he’s been banned for “Smurfing, or other violations of the Steam Terms of Service.” Venne immediately tries to test that ban, which he clearly cannot believe, and is rebuffed by Steam matchmaking and Valve Anti-Cheat. He later took to the Dota 2 subreddit to defend himself and explain why he thinks he might’ve gotten banned, but also admits wrongdoing in the form of behavior score boosting. He says he’s reached out to Valve to file a support ticket, hoping for leniency.

Valve rolled