Ninja accuses rival team of cheating, angers Valorant community

Olivia Richman Published 21/12/2020

After beating Tyler “Ninja” Blevin’s Valorant team in the Knights Before Christmas Invitational, Built By Gamers (BBG) was accused of cheating by the popular streamer.

A clip of BBG’s Tristan “Critical” Trinacty possibly locking onto a Time In player was being shared around social media. As more people voiced concerns that Critical was cheating, BBG ended up being disqualified from the Knights Before Christmas Invitational, which was run by the Pittsburgh Knights.

Despite being beaten by BBG 2-0, Ninja’s team, Time In, ended up progressing to the quarterfinals due to the disqualification.

Even though the clip had Valorant fans whispering, it seems as though the community wasn’t completely sure that Critical had cheated in the tournament. Esports insider Rod “Slasher” Breslau even called the Pittsburgh Knights “hasty” by disqualifying BBG. Slasher stated that only Riot can decide if Critical is a cheater, not fans on Twitter.

Ninja faces backlash for supporting disqualification of BBG

Not everyone felt that BBG should have been given a chance. Ninja took to Twitter to support the Pittsburgh Knights’ decision to act on the cheating allegations even after Critical was cleared.

Fortnite pro Alex “AlexJJ” Campbell had stated that Critical shouldn’t have been disqualified until Riot weighed in on the clip. AlexJJ said that if Critical was found to be a cheater later in the tournament, the Pittsburgh Knights could apologize for allowing this type of player into their tournament.

Ninja disagreed.

1/2 Sad thing is if you put spectator mode on any player they are gonna end up looking at someone through a wall at some point ????‍♂️ cant really disqualify him for it. Should of just put your concerns to Riot and carried on. If he ended up being found as a cheater. You could of just
— Rogue AlexJJ (@AlexJJ) December 20, 2020

“Just going to use your logic real quick. You are saying that if there are suspicions of someone cheating (for the fourth time) in a tournament for money, don’t do anything until after, even though they knocked out several deserving teams unfairly? After the fact?” Ninja said.

The Valorant community swiftly disagreed with the popular streamer.

One other streamer noted that Critical had been cleared by Riot the other three times he’d been accused of cheating. Therefore, those situations shouldn’t be factored into the current decision. Another Valorant fan noted that disqualifying Critical without knowing if he was cheating would inspire teams to start accusing each other “left and right” in hopes of them getting disqualified as well.

FaZe Clan’s Charles “Hoppin” Clapper even believed that Ninja was the reason BBG was disqualified. He felt that the Pittsburgh Knights felt pressured to disqualify the team due to Ninja’s persistence. Others quickly jumped on this point, stating that Ninja’s large following ended up persuading the tournament organizer’s to fold.

Stressful day but I am off, thanks to everyone who defended me today and showed support and love to me and the team. Awesome to see the scene stand up for us and I couldn’t be happier gngn <3
— BBG Critical (@Critical_Val) December 20, 2020

Due to the backlash, a swift investigation into Critical’s clip was conducted. The Valorant pro was cleared of the accusations, allowing BBG back into the tournament. BBG tweeted that they grateful for the “quick resolution,” but the team had already decided to drop out of the tournament and prepare for other upcoming Valorant events.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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