by in
The developer of Valorant, Riot Games, has suspended two Game Changers players for cheating and misleading officials.
Riot released a statement on February 8, stating that Alex “Dyslexic” Luong and Jennifer “nabiichu” Choe violated the Valorant Champions Tour Game Changers Rule Set by misleading tournament officials in regards to the gender of Dyslexic, when playing a match for EQ Cerise.
On October 8, 2022, EQ Cerise played CLG Red in an official VCT Game Changers match. EQ Cerise were allowed an emergency substitute for the match.
Dyslexic, who identifies as he/him, got in contact with nabiichu, a now former member of EQ Cerise, and offered to change his gender to non-binary in order to play against CLG Red, misleading the officials along the way.
Dyslexic has also been sanctioned for his use of a prohibited third-party program to cheat during competitive matches against CLG Red on October 8, 2022.
Dyslexic is banned from any association or affiliation with a team in a Riot-sanctioned competition for eight years, beginning from the date of the latest violation to October 8, 2030.
As for nabiichu, she is banned from any association or affiliation with a team in a Riot-sanctioned competition for five years, beginning from the date of the latest violation to October 8, 2027.
The relevant VCT Game Changers Rule Set that both nabiichu and Dyslexic are said to have broken are as follows;
Section 3.1: Team Members Gender
All players on a Team’s roster must be women or of marginalized genders.
Section 3.9: Eligibility Vouching
If a Player participating in a Game Changers event is determined, at the sole discretion of Tournament Officials, to have misled the Tournament Operator with regard to these Team Member Eligibility requirements, all Team members on the Player’s Team may be sanctioned.
Section 7.2.5: Cheating
Cheating is prohibited. Any modification of the VALORANT game client by a Team or Team Member is prohibited. The use of any kind of cheating device or cheat program shall be deemed cheating.
The eight- and five-year bans handed out to Dyslexic and nabiichu are the biggest to be seen in professional Valorant throughout its short history.
