VALORANT Professional Claims Ban From Riot Is A 'Personal Attack'

Often renowned for their brutal enforcement against cheaters, Riot Games has issued yet another severe punishment, banning a female VALORANT professional for competing for three months - just as the VCT Game Changers series is set to unfold.

Sophia "Slaze" Ramirez has been banned by Riot Games for apparently purposely queuing with a prolific cheater, in order to boost her way through ranks. Riot's announcement stated that even when the cheater was banned, Slaze would continue to pair with the cheater on a fresh account. The statement says "In multiple instances, the cheater would be banned mid-game, log into a new account, and proceed to requeue with Slaze, even after she had received a notification of cheater detection,

"On September 20th, 2021, Slaze queued with an active cheater for 10 games, winning 8 of them. The cheater was banned for cheating during the 2nd game, sending all players in the game, including Slaze, a red full-screen notification of a cheater detected in their game. Slaze and the cheater logged into different accounts and played 8 more games."

Originally, Slaze's account was flagged after she qualified for the VALORANT Champions Tour Game Changers series, an all-female tournament aimed at promoting professional VALORANT for women.

However, the now-banned player has hit back at Riot Games, claiming that she has never been "boosted" by anyone, and that the ban has only been enforced as it is a "personal attack" by someone with a friend at Riot Games.

Taking to a Twitlonger, the professional said: "I have nothing to do with any of this s**t because it stems from someone not liking me and reporting me, and they have friends at Riot that can get me banned... Someone in the anti-cheat of Riot has targeted me and since they have the power, they're abusing it."

Slaze also insisted that the ban gave her a panic attack and that she couldn't stop crying, after finding out that she couldn't compete in the Game Changers series.

Just Breathe, Slaze's unsigned roster, was the only team not representing an organisation to make it to the top eight teams in North America, even beating Counter Logic Gaming Red in the qualifying stages. She has now been banned from competing in the final North American Series, which is well underway.