Valorant Pro Slaze Denies Boosting Following VCT Game Changers Suspension

Sophie "Slaze" Ramirez was recently suspended from the VCT Game Changers competition, due to accusations of boosting.

Riot Games has suspended Slaze, who plays for Polaris, from competing in the VCT Game Changers Series. A post on the Valorant NA Champions Twitter confirmed the competitive ruling, and outlined their reasons for doing so. The post read: "Sophia “Slaze'' Ramirez was found to have repeatedly queued together into Competitive with cheaters. In multiple instances, the cheater would be banned mid-game, log into a new account, and proceed to requeue with Slaze, even after she had received a notification of cheater detection."

As a result of the decision, Slaze has been banned from any association or affiliation with a team in a Riot-sanctioned competition for three months.

Slaze took to Twitter to deny the accusations, saying "I’ve never played with someone that’s cheating, I've never seen anyone I’ve played with banned for cheating." The pro player went on to state, in a longer post, that she believes the decision stems from someone not liking her, and using connections at Riot Games to influence the decision.

"Someone in the anti cheat of Riot has targeted me and since they have the power, [they're] abusing it."

Valorant Pro Slaze Denies Boosting Following VCT Game Changers Suspension

In a more detailed post on the Valorant website, Riot Game's ruling has been backed up by statistics:

"In the past 28 days, Slaze received the Red Screen and requeued with cheaters on multiple occasions, with at least 4 new accounts employed by cheaters after the initial ban." the post explained that, during this 28 day period:

• 77% of the Competitive MMR gained on Slaze’s accounts came from games played while duo-queued with an actively cheating player. 
• 60% of Slaze’s Competitive matches were played while duo-queued with an actively cheating player.

According to Riot, any activity related to boosting or "bussing" is in direct violation of their Terms of Use. This results in a 90-day penalty for any account associated with the violation.

Some fans have noted that a three month ban is fairly light, suggesting that Riot's discipline could have been much harsher. Regardless, with Polaris set to compete in the Series Three Playoffs this weekend, the team will have to find a replacement at very short notice. While Slaze is urging Riot Games to look further into the matter and clear up inaccuracies, it's unlikely that she'll be competing in the upcoming event.