EQ Cerise player admits to faking non-binary identity after VCT Game Changers ‘cheating’ disqualification
Riot GamesValorant’s Game Changers circuit has been a major step forwards for women’s esports in 2021.
After EQ Cerise’s disqualification from VCT Game Changers for a use of third-party software, it has been revealed that a member of the team lied about their gender in order to compete in Game Changers.
It’s been a weekend of controversy for Valorant Game Changers. On October 9, EQ Cerise were disqualified from the tournament’s Open Qualifiers after a team member was found to be using third-party programs during their match versus CLG Red.
Despite the allegations being denied by EQ’s IGL, the team was disqualified and their 2-1 victory over CLG Red was overturned.
On October 10, ‘dyslexic’ (the player accused of using third-party cheats) posted a Twitlonger addressing the disqualification. While they continued to deny that they were using third-party software, they did reveal that they identified as male, and had faked a non-binary identity in order to compete in Game Changers.
They claimed that a teammate, Jenni ‘nabiichu’, was aware of the deception and had even encouraged them to lie about their identity.
“I sincerely apologize to my teammates for lying about my non-binary status to play in Game Changers,” dyslexic said. He also claimed that “nobody else at EQ Cerise knew that I was faking my non-binary status to play in Game Changers besides Jenni (nabiichu).”
Continued denial of cheating
Despite the admission that he had lied about his gender identity to compete, (later corroborated in a Twitlonger by ‘nabiichu’) ‘dyslexic’ continued to deny that he had used third-party software to cheat.
However, multiple members of the Valorant community have pointed out that ‘dyslexic’ is listed as a customer on a well-known Discord server that sells third-party software for Valorant.
‘dyslexic’ acknowledged that he had used third-party software in the past, but that those cheats were not active during the series against CLG Red. He stated that he had been account banned in the past because of it, and that he had stopped using third-party software after that ban.
He claimed that third-party software had never been used on the account that he used to participate in Game Changers.
Riot Games issued a competitive ruling against Dsylexic and nabiichu on February 8, 2023, banning the two players from Riot-sanctioned competition. Dsylexic has been banned for eight years and nabiichu for five.
