phox and w3ak banned for cheating in VALORANT

The VALORANT esports scene shows no signs of slowing down, with tournament’s prize pools growing bigger and bigger as time goes by. For some people, this gives them the impression they can cheat their way into the competitive realm of the tactical shooter without getting caught. We got our first cheating incident with a current G2 Esports player, Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks, in which he was cleared shortly after an official investigation by Riot Games. This time around, Jack “w3ak” Hughett and a player known as “phox”, have been permanently banned from playing VALORANT.

phox went to Twitter on July 20th, 2020, to announce he is taking a break from the game. However, his statement was swiftly contradicted by Matt “Riot K3o” Paoletti, one of Riot Games’ VALORANT anti-cheat team, as Matt clarified “phox” was caught cheating and was banned by Riot Vanguard’s system.

A day after the incident on July 21st, 2020, “phox” told his side of the story and admitted to cheating. He confessed to cheating in several other games, and that it has always been a bad habit of his for years. The statement was a clarification as to why he cheated and showed his regret towards the actions he has done.

As for Jack “w3ak” Hughett, a friend of “phox,” tweeted out “none of our teammates knew we were cheating. I got a message from Phox this morning saying he got banned, so I checked if I was too. I have now logged in to being banned, thought I could play it off.” His Twitter account has since turned private, and hasn’t released any further comments on the matter.

Both members played together on Athletic Strong Muscular Ragers team, winning the Andbox Open #3 just earlier this month. Jack “w3ak” Hughett and “phox” were both trialing for Echo 8, and the latter was even part of the team’s run in the EsportsDoug x eUnited Charity Clash where they finished 3rd-4th. The tournament’s organizer, Nerd Street Gamers, denied the team their share of the prize pool because of the recent incident as well. They were supposed to be part of the organization’s roster for the coming up PAX Arena VALORANT Invitational, but after these events, it is obvious their VALORANT careers are over.

What do you think of VALORANT players trying to cheat their way into the esports scene? Will the Riot Vanguard be able to catch them all? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.