A much-requested change into the CS:GO professional ruleset is coming, in one league at least, as Flashpoint (formerly known as B-Site) will be allowing players with VAC bans before 2018 to participate in their events.
After initially announcing that all VAC-banned players would not be eligible to play in their events, FACEIT has backflipped and allowed reformed cheaters and match-fixers to play in their upcoming Flashpoint League.
They become the third tournament organizer to revoke permanent suspensions on VAC bans, after ESL and DreamHack did so back in 2017.
Flashpoint announced the changes on February 5 after “reviewing [their] rules around VAC-banned players for the Open Qualifiers.”
Under section 5.1 of the Flashpoint rules detailing Anti-cheat, “any player with a VAC ban prior to February 5, 2018 is allowed to participate in the competition.”
It follows a similar line to ESL’s two-year rulings for VAC bans, although for Flashpoint, it’s a hard cutoff for now.
We've reviewed our rules around VAC banned players for the Open Qualifiers.
Players can see this rule change on the Open Qualifier page at https://t.co/sHvI5ZCEzU
— Flashpoint (@Flashpoint) February 5, 2020
The ruling will mean that some of the game’s most talented players will be given a second chance for cheating years, and for some, even decades ago.
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The ruling will allow players like North American veteran Josh ‘steel’ Nissan, who was caught up in the 2014 iBP matchfixing scandal, his former teammate Braxton ‘swag’ Pierce, and Finnish prodigy Elias ‘Jamppi’ Olkkonen to participate in the upcoming event.
Steel, now with Chaos Esports Club, revealed he has been given an invite to the North American Open Qualifiers for the Flashpoint League as a result. “See you in B-site, B for not_Banned,” he said.
Got an invite to the @FLASHPOINT closed qualifier. See you in B site. B for not_Banned! @ChaosEC
Just majors only now. And dEadLEAGUE. 5 yrs
— steel (@JoshNissan) February 5, 2020
Swag’s Swole Patrol will also have a chance of qualifying for the event, after filling out their roster with Sebastian ‘seb’ Bucki and Skyler ‘Relyks’ Weaver, both formerly of Team Singularity.
While VAC-banned players are still banned from participating in BLAST events and Valve-sponsored majors, the move is a step forward for some of the game’s youngest stars who made mistakes before they could go pro.
It’s unclear as to whether VAC-banned players will be able to participate in the league after qualifying, with the rule change currently only applying to that side of the event. Two teams will join the likes of Dignitas, MIBR, and Cloud9 in the 12-team league from these qualifiers, which start on February 6.
