Vivo Keyd’s upset over Acend at Valorant Champions overturned after bug exploit

Brazilian squad Vivo Keyd has been sanctioned after exploiting a known Cypher bug at Valorant Champions, forfeiting their upset win against Acend as a result. Riot handed down the punishment late on December 3, hours after the series wrapped up.

Update: December 5

Riot Games have ruled that the third map between Vivo Keyd and Acend will be replayed, starting with Acend having a 7-0 lead.

“After further review, we will be replaying the Acend vs VK match at the start of today’s broadcast,” they said after making their ruling.

Original story continues below.

Vivo Keyd ⁠— and Brazilian Valorant’s ⁠— elation after beating top European side Acend at Valorant Champions 2021 has come to a halt, after the Brazilian squad was embroiled in controversy following the abuse of a known Cypher bug on Breeze.

After pushing Acend to a Map 3 thanks to a surprise 13-9 victory on Icebox in Map 1, Jonathan ‘JhoW’ Gloria placed a camera in a banned position on Breeze’s A Site, giving his team more intel than usually possible.

While it was allowed during the match, with Vivo Keyd eventually winning the map 13-8 and claiming the series, Riot have since reversed the map’s result and delayed Group A play “to provide additional time to review the ruling against Vivo Keyd.”

“The location of the camera allows the Cypher player to see through the back of a small map texture that is intended to block the player’s view, Riot explained in their December 3 competitive ruling.

“From an opposing perspective on the opposite side of the map texture, the texture is solid and blocks the Cypher camera from view.”

The developers identified JhoW used the exploit in six rounds from Round 13 to 20, breaching Rule 7.2.6 which prohibits “intentionally using any in-game bug to seek an advantage”.

• Read More: Sentinels stars respond to backlash over Valorant Champions extended delay

Each of these rounds ⁠— win or loss ⁠— was forfeited by Vivo Keyd, flipping the scoreline to 12-9 in Acend’s favor.

Riot then gave Acend a compensation round win for the economy lost as a result of the exploit, ending Breeze 13-9 and pushing Acend to the Group A Winners’ Match against Envy.

“Due to viewing such a critical location of the map, the Cypher camera exploit provides information that is extremely valuable regardless of whether the camera actually sees players from the opposing team,” Riot said.

“If the player or team was unsure of whether or not the camera location was considered an exploit, the VALORANT Global Competition Policy explains that the team has the opportunity to contact the referee to determine if use of the Cypher camera was considered exploiting.”

• Read More: Cloud9’s leaf targets revenge against Fnatic at Valorant Champions

“Team Vivo Keyd did not contact Tournament Officials before use of the Cypher camera exploit.”

Teams have been penalized in similar fashion for abusing the same exploit. Vodafone Giants were handed a one-map loss after using the exploit in VCT Stage 3, and so were X10 Esports during SEA qualifiers for Masters Berlin.

Vivo Keyd will now face X10 Crit in the Valorant Champions 2021 Group A Elimination Match on December 6.