VALORANT fans are outraged after Riot Games forced Vivo Keyd to forfeit their map win against Acend at VALORANT Champions due to an illegal Cypher camera. Just hours after the announcement was made, the hashtag #justiceforkeyd began trending on Twitter.
After Vivo Keyd used an illegal Cypher camera on A site on Breeze in the third map of their series against Acend, Riot Games issued an official statement on the ruling. Vivo Keyd’s Jonathan “JhoW” Glória used the Cypher camera exploit on six rounds on defense during the match.
“The six (6) rounds where the camera exploit was used will be forfeited by Team Vivo Keyd and granted to Team Acend, resulting in an adjusted score of Acend 12, Vivo Keyd 9,” said Head of Competitive Operations at Riot Games Alex Francois in their official statement. “To account for the economic impact of the six (6) forfeited rounds on the subsequent rounds in the map, Acend will be additionally awarded one (1) round.”
#justiceforkeyd receives global support
The hashtag gained worldwide attention on Twitter after the Riot ruling. Within minutes the hashtag earned the No. 1 spot for tweets trending worldwide with over 20,000 tweets. That number continued to climb as fans across the globe rally together in favor of the Brazilian team. Not only is the hashtag trending worldwide, but it also took the No. 1 spot for trending in Brazil. The founder of Vivo Keyd tweeted out when the hashtag reached No. 1 worldwide.
Top 1 do mundo? pic.twitter.com/WvqfCGS5Pf
— EduKkim (@EduKkim) December 4, 2021
Other professional VALORANT players, including some currently attending Champions, spoke out on Twitter about the treatment of Vivo Keyd.
tbh the ruling seemed really harsh for @VivoKeyd
to me it kinda just seemed like instead of replaying. they just forfeited them to avoid the hassle/schedule changes.
idk, a really shitty situation all around.
— yay (@yay) December 4, 2021
“To be honest the ruling seemed really harsh for Vivo Keyd,” said Envy’s Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker on Twitter. “To me it kinda just seemed like instead of replaying, they just forfeited them to avoid the hassle/schedule changes. I don’t know, a really s****y situation all around.”
Previous substitute player for Version1, Jamal “jammyz” Bangash also tweeted out about the situation from his own perspective.
It is important to speak up as a player about this situation. Having a win taken away at the biggest tournament of the year is not minuscule. If the camera is deemed illegal prior, officials should have stopped the match and replayed x rounds upon seeing the cam 6 times. Mistakes
— jammyz (@jammyzx) December 4, 2021
“It is important to speak up as a player about this situation,” explained jammyz. “Having a win taken away at the biggest tournament of the year is not minuscule. If the camera is deemed illegal prior, officials should have stopped the match and replayed x rounds upon seeing the cam six times.”
Update: Riot has since released another update of the Envy game, cancelling Day 4’s Group A match and delaying their decision on Saturday.
“Upon further deliberation, matches in Group A will be delayed to provide additional time to review the ruling against Vivo Keyd. Today’s matches will feature Team Vikings vs Gambit and Team Liquid vs Sentinels. Broadcast will begin 1 hour later than initially scheduled,” the statement said on Twitter.
Upon further deliberation, matches in Group A will be delayed to provide additional time to review the ruling against Vivo Keyd. Today’s matches will feature Team Vikings vs Gambit and Team Liquid vs Sentinels. Broadcast will begin 1 hour later than initially scheduled.
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) December 4, 2021
Whether Envy will play Vivo Keyd or Acend, is still undecided at the time of this update.
Editors note: This article was updated at 11:20 a.m. EST Saturday to include a Riot Games statement regarding their decision to cancel the Group A match.
