Valorant’s anti-cheat system, Vanguard, has delivered a live ban to a player using third-party cheating software during a scrim against the female Dignitas roster.
What’s even more surprising is the fact that the banned player ‘ReFelcktions’ was ranked 7 in the North American leaderboards of the competitive shooter at the time of his ban.
The news was shared by professional Valorant player and streamer, Amanda “Rain” Smith, in a Tweet on January 26th.
Vanguard’s HWID ban means that the banned player will be unable to play Valorant through any means unless he buys a new computer.
This goes on to show that Valorant’s Vanguard is still actively working to keep the number of cheaters in check. The anti-cheat system by Riot has been under fire from the community recently for not being able to catch a good number of cheaters who have managed to rise through the leaderboards by unfair means.
SriLankan Rainbow Six Siege stack Live2Kill has come under the scanner of the South Asian community over a controversial decision to not pay out part of their RainbowSixSiege Qualifiers and Major prize money to one of their former players Bhavya ‘Coffee Addict’ Devgan.
Coffee Addict was part of the active roster for a brief period and played the entire Six Siege Major Open Qualifiers for L2K, with the team qualifying for the Closed Qualifiers. Once the Closed Qualifiers dawned, Coffee was replaced by fellow Indian player Uday Raj ‘Skipper’ Jain, a former ESL India R6 Series Champion. Skipper has since retired from competitive play.
Despite being benched, Coffee took up the role of helping the team build strategies, acting as the coach-cum-analyst-cum-sixth player in the absence of Kumar ‘!onz’ Tathagat, who has since taken up a similar role for Bangladeshi roster Deimos Force.
The team ended up third in the South Asia Closed Qualifiers and raked in a total of 3000 USD in prize money, half of which was received directly as a result of being one of the top two teams in Open Qualifiers. Coffee was soon kicked, with L2K citing an inability to gel in well with the team as the major reason behind their decision to cut him from the squad.
Coffee demanded just 1/5th of what L2K had earned through the Open Qualifier result, but was told that they had already distributed the prize money among the current players of the active roster and that he was not owed anything by L2K.
Sri Lankan player and former Union Gaming star Dulshan ‘Fatalz’ Lakvidu, who seems to be the vocal head at L2K, ended up in a verbal altercation with Coffee, undermining not only his ability but his contribution to the ‘brand’ that is L2K.
The Twitlonger issued by L2K stated that the issue with Coffee was resolved. However, Coffee responded with his own take, along with proofs, in his own Twitlonger, which made the picture pretty clear. Coffee was denied the right to his share of the prize money earned directly as a result of the Open Qualifiers, which amounted to 300 USD, while he should have been at least compensated somewhat, although Coffee has never asked for it, for his contribution to the team as a coach/analyst in !onz’s absence.
A similar incident was observed in the case of Vanquished Paradox Gaming, which has since been resolved. However, since L2K is not an organization but a group of players, ethically, only the 300 USD part can be denounced as an amount that was wrongly distributed among the players, instead of being handed to Coffee, the rightful recipient.
Honestly, the chats are proof enough of how badly Fatalz handled the situation when all he could have done is apologize to Coffee and promised him to hand over the rightful amount soon. In the South Asian Six Siege scene that has finally gotten some deserved attention courtesy of the South Asia Major and other circuit events like The Esports Club and more, such egos will prove to be harmful to the scene.
We are not aware of how L2K thought distributing the prize money among the current roster was fine and how Fatalz thought it fit to not only deprive Coffee of his rightful part of prize money but also humiliate him by iterating he did not even ‘live up to the name of L2K’.
Perhaps, for a team actively looking for an organization to support them, they should have thought of how this entire scenario will portray them in poor light and dampen their own chances of getting the attention of some organizations. In this thriving Six Siege scene, let this L2K incident be a living example that being money-hungry should never be the way to go about things.
NOVA Esports or NOVA XQF has proved it once again that they are the best PUBG Mobile team in the world by winning PMGC Season 0.
XQF beat the reigning world champions alongside other powerhouses and were crowned as the winners of PUBG Mobile Global Championship Season 0. This Chinese roster won a whopping amount of $700,000 as of the first prize and defeated teams like BTR, Na’Vi, and 4AM in the process.
Anyone who is well versed with the competitive PUBG Mobile ecosystem knows that NOVA XQF is always considered as a top contender in any tournament they participate in.
This team has an unbreakable record of being the most consistent team for winning the titles and even though the Chinese region was not seen in major PUBGM tournaments in 2020, the pinnacle of PUBG Mobile esports brought the best teams from each and every region under the same roof.
PUBG Mobile Global Championship was a gathering of monsters where the best teams represented their own region. Unlike the PUBG Mobile World League, PMGC also included Chinese teams and as a result, NOVA XQF and 4 AM were seen on the battlefield.
In the initial stages of this tournament, the League Standings varied a lot and veterans like Bigetron RA were leading for a long time.
Bigetron RA was among the fan-favorites but unfortunately, they failed to perform on the first day of the PMGC Grand Finals. This massive drawback gave them a major disadvantage in the remaining days and hence, they only managed to climb to the fifth position at the end of this tournament.
As BTR was out of the frame, the old rivalry between 4 AM and XQF stretched in this tournament as well. Both of these teams gave a very close fight but NOVA XQF stomped 4 AM on the last day and won the tournament with a massive 25 points lead. Natus Vincere also put up a great show and bragged the fourth position.
A special mention to Zeus Esports, a new roster who surprised the veterans and performed incredibly well for their debut at the international tournament.
This Mongolian team had a slightly shaky start on the first day but as the tournament progressed, they managed to pull off some wonders and won many matches with high number of kills. ‘Suk’ of 4 Angry Men was felicitated with the MVP award of PMGC S0 Grand Finals.
Overall, this tournament was a treat for PUBG Mobile esports enthusiasts and more such events are lined up this year. The pandemic stunted the growth of PUBGM Esports and many LAN events were canceled but hopefully, we might enjoy big events this year.
Activision has made a new addition to the battle-royale part of the Call of Duty: Mobile and as a result, we are going to see a new BR mode in the game.
This new mode in COD Mobile is named as ‘Blitz’ and seems to be inspired from the fast-paced gameplay of COD Warzone. This mode is very similar to the pre-existing ones except the fact that it is extremely rapid in mechanics.
COD Mobile often gets some interesting addition with each seasonal update. While things like minor tweaks, guns and revamped maps are expected, a new addition to battle-royale mode was something new.
The focus of Activision has majorly been on the mutliplayer part of this title and hence, it often felt like BR was neglected but in the last few updates, this shortcoming has been filled up.
Mutliplayer mode in COD Mobile offers an authentic COD experience on-the-go and this factor majorly contributed to the success of the game as Call of Duty enthusiasts quickly picked up the portable version and enjoyed the game at their leisure. The battle-royale mode was also quite interesting but lacked the diversity.
COD Mobile New Mode ‘Blitz’ Details:
Earlier, there was only a single map named Isolated in COD Mobile BR mode. Later, a new map named Alcatraz was added to the arsenal and now, a completely new mode named Blitz is coming. In this mode, players have to be as aggressive as they can and take risks to fight off their opponents and gather good loot along the way
The essence of playing Blitz is being gutsy in every move and not hiding behind the covers to look for an opportunity to strike. Activision intended to make a mode solely dedicated for massacre and bloodbath and as a result, Blitz came to existence with a very small area.
In this mode, a total of 40 players could enter a lobby where they would be dropped in a small location. The looting potential in these locations will be very high and hence, one can easily find some guns right after they drop down. There is also a big chance that you might run into the enemies while collecting more equipment so keep an eye on the terrain while looting.
The description for this new mode sounds very promising and hence, it will be interesting to see how the developers deliver on their part.
COD Mobile has always been a top-tier mobile game since its launch and hence, one could have higher expectations out of it. The upcoming season of COD Mobile is again rewired to be the official ‘Season One’ so such new additions could stay in-game for a long time.
According to multiple sources from across, Dota 2 giants, Team OG led by Johan “N0tail” Sundstein have been weighing up their options to enter the European Valorant Scene. A report by Arran “Halo” Spake has revealed that the 2 times TI champions might complete the acquisition to acquire the Squad of Monkey Business’s Valorant.
The Monkey Business’s schedule has the RedBull Home Ground tournament lined up where OG is expected to drop the news of acquiring the same. MB’s current roster comprises Ex-Overwatch professional players. Coached by Julian “Daemon” Ducros, the starting five features Dylan “aKm” Bignet, Dragan “Ellement” Milanović, Theo “Oniby” Tarlier Keven “Tviq” Lindström, Benjamin “Unkoe” Chevasson.
As mentioned above, Overwatch fans might be well-known with Dylan “aKm” Bignet and Benjamin “Unkoe” Chevasson who played under the Dallas Fuels banner while Kevin “Tviq” Lindström who played for Florida Mayhem at the Overwatch League season in 2018. Lately, OG has been on a comprehensive spree while they have been exploring their options in the Esports industry, with the assembly of their CSGO division now followed by a brand new acquisition in Valorant, soon to be revealed.
With the current report, OG’s Professional Valorant would field:
Yesterday we witnessed the launch of nCore’s Make-in-India alternative to PUBG Mobile: FAU-G a.k.a Fearless and United Guards. On its first day, the FAU-G game has already pulled in over a million downloads. However, the game isn’t as perfect as it sounds and has received severe backlash for not meeting expectations and game-breaking bugs.
While the agitated Indian soldier of the FAU-G squad, is making his way through the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, squaring off against Chinese soldiers, players experience a game-breaking bug that makes it impossible to proceed further in the game’s campaign.
Just before the completion of the second mission, the Indian soldier has to square off against one Chinese soldier. However, the enemy is spawned on top of a tent and as shown in the video it is almost impossible to reach the enemy forcing players to quit the mission.
Players have to restart the mission all over again and if you are lucky enough you won’t experience the bug once again and you can successfully proceed further in the game’s campaign mode.
FAU-G is nCore game’s produce that promises to fill the void left behind by the PUBG Mobile ban in India. FAU-G was launched under the mentorship of Akshay Kumar who has been uplifting India’s Defence forces in many ways and this time he has decided to do it through a video game named Fearless and United Guards which is a tribute to our Indian Soldiers who lock horns against enemies to keep us safe from threats.
nCore Game’s ambitious project to fill the void left behind by the PUBG Mobile Ban: FAU-G, has just surpassed 1 million downloads on the Google Play Store. The game was launched on 26th January to celebrate the auspicious national festival of Republic Day. The game was launched as a Make in India alternative to the long-gone PUBG Mobile that is showing no signs of return.
The game was launched under the mentorship of popular Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar who has been uplifting the Defence Forces of India in multiple ways and this time he has decided to do it through a video game named Fearless and United Guards which poses to revolve around India’s Border Forces who square off against foreign enemies to keep us safe.
As of now, FAU-G features only the campaign mode which has 4 missions. However numerous players are experiencing a game-breaking bug forcing them to quit the mission and start all over again. FAU-G also packs two other game modes that are under development namely the 5v5 deathmatch mode and the Free For All mode that seems to be the upcoming battle royale mode.
FAUG faces the heat from many, for not meeting expectations. The developers promised that it would be a good alternative to PUBG Mobile, however, looking at the physics quality of the game clocks nowhere near to PUBG mobile.
The protagonist of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s legal blockbuster Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen has finally run out of steam. The Finnish youngster has logged out of Valve’s shooter, but who really took the hit?
After an endless legal battle, Jamppi has taken his leave, quitting CSGO for its rival Valorant. In his announcement video clip, the player looked relieved, calm, and hopeful about his esports’ future. The contest may have been lengthy, but Jamppi gets to resume his journey. However, the climax of CSGO’s biggest legal story may have painted Valve as a villain.
A look into the clash shows that Jamppi wanted to serve the legendary FPS, but the developer was deaf to the pleas.
Why was Jamppi banned?
Jamppi’s VAC ban story is not crystal clear or plain; it leaves tons of space for speculations. It’s Valve’s word versus Jamppi who claims that he has never cheated in his life. However, a seemingly slight error has sabotaged his entire career in CSGO.
The Finnish player’s claims of selling his account years before it was VAC-banned lack weightage, as Valve renders punishment as a per-user basis. However, the AWPer didn’t falter in his strive to convince the ever so rigid Valve that he wasn’t complicit in any shady business.
Valve dropped the ban bomb when Jamppi was at the pinnacle of his career. Pegged as “one for the future” by HLTV in 2019, OG’s alleged interest in the player was everything an 18-year old CSGO professional could dream of. However, Valve popped the bubble in the form of an email, placing a colossal barrier between Jamppi and CSGO majors.
Valve’s response to Jamppi
Jamppi versus Valve
In a perfect world, the conflict could be ironed out by simpler means. In reality, Jamppi’s various attempts to get Valve to respond fell on deaf ears.
According to neL, Jamppi’s father said he wanted to sit down with Valve in Stockholm for arbitration. The request was met with sharp silence, something that CSGO community is quite familiar with. Prompting a response out of Valve is a herculean task, especially when it involves bans. Consequently, the matter reached the court of law.
The player’s plans to negotiate didn’t pan out well. However, the community had high hopes from the court. A lengthy battle later, Valve allegedly conceded that Jamppi hadn’t cheated, but account ownership issues led the court to rule in favor of the developer.
When all failed, ENCE showed up at Jamppi’s doorstep with a contract that could revive his hamstrung CSGO career. Hltv’s future star was keen to shoot his final shot and requested a temporary ban removal. The District Court’s refusal stamped Jamppi’s career as a lost cause, as the player became unable to compete in CSGO Majors for life.
A Case for Jamppi
In its process to maintain competitive integrity, Valve may have ended up on the wrong side of CSGO history. Steam Terms of service is self-explanatory, as it renders the players helpless since Valve can prohibit anyone from accessing the game at their discretion. Moreover, vague steam ToS doesn’t explicitly mention that a VAC ban may lead to ban in majors, making Jamppi’s issue more complicated.
Jamppi’s case was far from black or white; it called for a thorough examination.
With little knowledge about ToS and VAC-Bans, a 14-year old child knows little about the repercussions of such actions. While Valve has acknowledged that Jamppi directly involvement in the cheating scandal is dubious, the VAC-ban lacks logic.
A plethora of CSGO players have admitted to coming across cheats and trying them out of sheer curiosity. For example, ESL wire ban levied against Oleksandr “S1mple” Kostyliev in 2013 may not translate to a VAC-ban, but it backs up Jamppi’s case. If it had been VAC-ban instead of a mere wire ban, the esports ecosystem might not know S1mple as the CSGO superstar he is today. Much like S1mple, if Jamppi was even complicit, Valve’s full attention was merited on account of his young age.
Jamppi’s lawsuit against Valve entailed that the ban had cost him an opportunity with OG. While ENCE’s acquisition of Jamppi proved that wasn’t the case, Valve can’t possibly exonerate itself from Jamppi’s declining career. Albeit the contract, it all comes to CSGO Majors that Jamppi can not partake in.
CSGO specialists hold Valve accountable not just for prohibiting Jamppi from Majors, but for the way his case was handled.
Taking away what might have become a once-in-a-lifetime career path deserves more than a couple sentence response in an email. I would love to know how Valve would have handled this if it had been one of the developer’s own children instead.
Esports Journalist DeKay said.
Instead of offering a comprehensive response to Jamppi’s incessant pleas, the developer stuck to its reserved approach. While his case was a far cry from your archetypal hacking issue, Valve dragged Jamppi through the tedious rigmarole that bans vile cheaters. The question remains, is there really no difference between a serial cheater and underage player who messed up?
When inquired about VAC bans, most CSGO professionals who understand the game, it’s frailties, and integrity issues, came forward and said that an under-age player should be liberated from conventional ban rules.
Ethically and logically it’s a no brainer that a 14-year-old lacks better understanding. After years of back and forth, the one-sided battle has finally culminated. If Valve’s attitude asserted anything throughout the drivel, the developer is probably not confident in its own out-dated punishment.
If Valve doesn’t detail its ToS further, Vinicius “v$m” Moreira might be the next player to fall prey to the broken system. Fortunately, players abandoned by Valve have found a haven in Valorant; devoid of mysterious bans followed by quiet from the developers. As for Jamppi, his departure may not ruffle many feathers, as his chance to shine was snatched off for an old mistake. For now, Valorant has roped in another star who could have been a CSGO esports Front-liner.
Rachel ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter became the most popular streamer of 2020 surpassing Pokimane was one of the biggest storylines in the streaming community of the past year, but that didn’t come without enough trouble. A crazy stalker who was bothering Rae for months forced her into locking her account until Twitter took care of it.
Valkyrae for the past few months was subjected to a stalker, after finding no way out, she was forced to private her Twitter account as despite blocking it, the stalker would make another account to trouble her. She kept blocking the person in question until there were over a hundred accounts. It took all those stalker accounts for her to reach the boiling point upon which she locked her Twitter.
Things, as it seems, are too serious to be taken lightly, instead of blocking, Valkyrae should take legal action against the alleged stalker before things got too out of hand. Stalker is nothing surprising for popular personalities but if one is found, the matter should be taken to the police or some form of law enforcement agency.
“Twitter asked me for screenshots and stuff. I sent them screenshots of them posting my address, and they took care of it. They actually took care of it. And I haven’t heard of this person since. This person is gone. Either he died or the FBI got him.” said Rae
Rae is a superstar, and she hides in fear of a stalker would have demotivated everyone, thus Twitter taking serious action to remedy the issue will make women on the platform feel safer like it should be.
If you’re a CSGO fan from Brazil, chances are that you’re already familiar with Gaules. The prominent CSGO personality has been actively streaming on Twitch, amassing a follower count of over 2.4 million over the past few years.
Much to the delight of CSGO fans worldwide, Gaules has been randomly selected as the ‘PogChamp of the Day’ by the streaming platform and will be the official PogChamp of Twitch for the next 24 hours.
The news has been shared by the official Twitter handle of Twitch Brazil.
We've made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote following statements from the face of the emote encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol today.
Till now, Gaules is the biggest CSGO streamer to have been selected as the PogChamp of the day. The current throne that is occupied by Gaules will be refreshed tomorrow ast the same time.
We've made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote following statements from the face of the emote encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol today.
