Team Fallacy’s VALORANT female line-up has been accused of cheating in the Astral Clash Last Chance Qualifiers. Following the allegations that surfaced last week, Astral Clash’s tournament administrators have now made a decision.
According to the official statement by Gen.G Esports — the organizers of the event — the team will be suspended pending an investigation by Riot.
Team Fallacy player MarsArxa is said to have shared her account during the tournament and let their friend play instead. While Riot games will investigate the player and her team, Native Gaming White will take Team Fallacy’s place in Astral Clash.
Astral Clash Competitive Ruling: Team Fallacy pic.twitter.com/MgstYDznot
— Gen.G Esports (@GenG) July 29, 2022
Google document with allegations
The allegations against Team Fallacy were collected in a Google document and in the process, Team Fallacy’s player MarsArxa was accused of letting her boyfriend, former TSM Academy player Nate “payen” Lopez, play on her account throughout the Astral Clash tournament instead of her. However, it is unclear who wrote the document. Payen was spotted in the queue with the team the day before and there were also other inconsistencies that seem quite suspicious.
In support of the allegations, the document showed among other evidence a clip of MarsArxa in a one-on-five situation in a match against Dignitas during the Last Chance Qualifier for Astral Clash 2022. The player killed all five opponents, but the team’s response was described in the document as “mediocre at best.” The player who made the clutch stayed silent and didn’t cheer — a rather odd reaction for such a highlight during a key game. Moreover, MarsArxa’s settings, as well as performance were said to be different than usual.
A few days after the allegations surfaced, Gen.G issued a competitive ruling against Team Fallacy, stating that Riot will investigate the allegations and determine if account sharing really took place. Neither Fallacy nor payen have provided an official statement, while MarsArxa has made her Twitter account private shortly after the document was published.
Impact on female esports scene
In response to the allegations, the female Valorant community has expressed concerns about how this might affect the female esports scene, which is underrepresented and often looked down upon, as this is not the first time such allegations have surfaced.
So frustrating & selfish, if true. When I was at my peak, the amount of times I did something incredible followed by claims it was my BF/Brother was astronomical. Infuriating because it will reinforce doubt from others when women have exceptional plays. Thx for setting women back
— Heather 'sapphiRe' Garozzo (@sapphiReGG) July 25, 2022
For example, earlier in September 2021, female professional Valorant player Sophia “Slaze” Ramirez was suspended from VCT Game Changers by Riot Games for account boosting. Soon after the official verdict, she was let go of her team Polaris.
While it is known that women endure an increased amount of harassment and toxicity in the gaming environment, which can be incredibly toxic by itself, incidents like this only deepen the problem and make it worse for exceptional female players who are being wrongly accused of cheating and harassed. Needless to say that cheating has no place in professional play.
Header: Gen.G