North American Valorant squad Built By Gamers (BBG) was briefly disqualified from the Pittsburgh Knights Before Christmas event following renewed claims Tristan ‘Critical’ Trinacty was cheating. However, the decision has since been reversed, leaving players baffled.
BBG beat Time In 2-0 in their Round of 16 matchup in the Pittsburgh Knights Before Christmas event, but their result has been deemed null and void as the tournament organizers disqualified the squad over a suspicious clip from star player Critical shortly after.
The admins reportedly noted a suspicious clip from Critical during their second map on Ascent, showing the player allegedly locking on to one of Time In through a wall. Knights immediately started an investigation and made the call to disqualify BBG late on December 19.
“Team Built By Gamers are disqualified due to an on-going investigation. Ninja’s team will be moving forward to play against Gen.G for the Quarter-Finals,” Knights said on Twitter.
The decision was made by Knights President James O’Connor after reviewing the clips personally.
“After reviewing the clips I made the final call to DQ the team. With the tournament continuing tomorrow and us putting competitive integrity first, we suggested BBG decline to play and they agreed,” he said.
After reviewing the clips I made the final call to DQ the team. With the tournament continuing tomorrow and us putting competitive integrity first, we suggested BBG decline to play and they agreed. Riot is currently reviewing his 4th cheating accusation in the past few months.
— James O'Connor (@jamesoconnor) December 20, 2020
However, the organization quickly backflipped on their call, less than an hour after they made it. They used a report from Twitter user ‘AntiCheatPD’ saying they “have no reason to believe Critical is cheating.” AntiCheatPD is not affiliated with Riot.
“AntiCheatPD did not detect anything so we are reinstating the team whether they chose to play or not. Ninja’s team will not move forward. Thanks for the fast response during the holiday,” O’Connor added.
.@AntiCheatPD did not detect anything so we are reinstating the team whether they chose to play or not. Ninja's team will not move forward. Thanks for the fast response during the holiday. https://t.co/mq0ndxRN88
— James O'Connor (@jamesoconnor) December 20, 2020
The move has only confused the community. Originally, members of BBG disputed the Knights’ claims. Rob ‘rob-wiz’ Kennedy stated on Twitter that the team wasn’t given a chance to challenge.
“We were not okay with bowing out of this tournament over suspicion of a Twitch clip,” he said. “Critical has been cleared by Riot three times already, and there’s no way to hard prove he was cheating, and the evidence is just not enough.”
Out of Knights Valorant Tournament
Read: https://t.co/8iI1Z4gQGw
— BBG rob-wiz (@robwiztv) December 20, 2020
Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, the big name behind the orgless Time In, said they didn’t bring the clip to the admin’s attention. However, he has said that the ban was justified until AntiCheatPD came out with their own statement.
“Just going to use your logic real quick, you are saying that if there are suspicions of someone cheating (for the 4th time) in a tournament for money, don’t do anything until after, even though they knocked out several deserving teams unfairly,” he replied to one user on Twitter.
Just going to use your logic real quick, you are saying that if there are suspicions of someone cheating (for the 4th time) in a tournament for money, don't do anything until after, even though they knocked out several deserving teams unfairly? after the fact? lol
— Ninja (@Ninja) December 20, 2020
The backflip now, off the back of an unofficial comment, has raised questions about the Knights’ handling of the tournament.
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According to some reports, tournament admins disagreed with O’Connor’s stance and pleaded with him to not ban BBG. The Knights President reportedly caved to pressure because of Ninja’s name value.
“Ninja was about to go spouting off on twitter about it if something didn’t happen, because apparently he was mad about something in their game,” Twitter user ‘rcon_joe’ said, defending tournament admin ‘sfX_x1’.
“Jasper literally [screamed] on a discord call begging James to not make the call he ended up making. He actually walked into my room and told me how afraid he was of the backlash he was going to face over something he didn’t even want to do.”
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backlash he was going to face over something he didn't even want to do, when he's worked his ass during this event. the dude literally hasn't even stopped to shower today no cap. @Ninja was about to go spouting off on twitter about it if something didn't (2)
— BLM trogdor (@rcon_joe) December 20, 2020
As it stands, BBG will take on Gen.G in the quarter-finals of the Knights Before Christmas tournament on December 20.
Dexerto has reached out to Knights and BBG for comment. Neither responded before publishing.
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