G2 Esports’ VALORANT team received a warning after coach Daniil “pipsoN” Mesheryakov accidentally had “unauthorized communication” with players.
At the beginning of January, G2 Esports was competing against Team Vitality during the EMEA VALORANT Champions Tour closed qualifier. During this time, pipsoN communicated with the team outside of designated pauses for “celebratory purposes.”
In a tweet, pipsoN apologized for his actions. He allegedly got “overexcited” at the time and “unmuted to react to a sick clutch.” This violated Riot’s regulations on communication, leading to the warning from Riot Games.
While unintentional, it still was against tournament rules. 7.2.11 states that “communication by a player shall be limited to the other players on the team.” But G2 Esports only received a warning because the communication did not give G2 a competitive advantage at the time.
In T1’s case, the North American team’s head coach was temporarily suspended. David “dd8” Denis had provided “encouraging and supportive statements” as well as “general reminders” to his players. Some of his comments were seen as informative, meaning it could give his team an unfair advantage.
At the time, dd8 said there was “no excuse” for his behavior.
G2 is clearly shaken up over the warning, especially after seeing dd8’s harsh punishment for similar behavior. But it still hasn’t stopped other teams from behaving the exact same way moments later. Movistar Riders received a three-point deduction due to “unauthorized communication during a match.”
The team’s coach had provided “written tactical instructions” to players while a match was in progress. This type of communication is prohibited.
G2 will compete in the VCT Stage One: EMEA Challengers tournament on February 11.
