Overwatch team disqualified from Breakable Barriers for cheating

Olivia Richman Published 24/12/2019

An Overwatch team was disqualified from the Overwatch League’s Path to Pro Breakable Barriers tournament over the weekend after one of their players was caught cheating.

The Open Division competition’s second weekend was held on December 21 and 22. The teams competing for the cash prize were mostly comprised of Overwtch contenders players and other well-known pros looking to have some fun. But one player from Minions on the Flank took the laid back vibe of the tournament a bit too far.

Minions on the Flank is comprised of mostly Contenders players, including Montreal Rebellion’s Benjamin “UltraViolet” David and Clockwork Vendetta’s Max “Moose” Kiebling. But they also had a lesser known player on the team going by the name “WoW,” who reportedly began climbing up rank at an impressive speed prior to the tournament. He continued to impress throughout the competition.

The final match of the night for Minions on the Flank was against Retired Washing Machine, a self-proclaimed meme team that included retired Overwatch League players Jacob “Jake” Lyon and Scott “Custa” Kennedy. Before the match began, second DPS “Valentine” informed them that WoW was recently accused of cheating.

After the match, which resulted in a loss for Retired Washing Machine, Valentine pointed out various clips of WoW appearing to predict his team’s developing strategies before they were visible in-game. He later shared a tweet that further pointed out these questionable moments, highlighting a few clips that show WoW apparently using wallhacks. This is a type of software that allows players to see outlines of their enemies through walls and other obstructions.

“Ran it through good (OWL) players, and they all agreed as far as these clips go. In talks with staff from Blizzard about it, hopefully he’ll get banned soon. All players on their team aside from WoW are GOOD people and GOOD players. Please no hate,” Valentine said.

Replies to the tweet showed further proof of cheating, and even the possibility that WoW was using an aimlock software as well.

On December 22, Valentine added an update to the thread informing followers that WoW’s team had been disqualified from Breakable Barriers. Broadcasters also announced this news during the tournament’s halftime of the first semifinal game.

“Thought I should update you guys. Blizzard manually investigated him and found 3rd-party software (cheats). He’s been banned and his team was DQ’d. This is official,” Valentine said.

Minions on the Flank’s team leader, “SaltShaker,” confirmed the bad news soon after. The former Contenders player apologized to Overwatch fans for inviting WoW to join their team. He also asked fans to not fault any of the team for WoW’s cheating.

“They did not know this player and ultimately I trusted a friend that was lying to me about his play,” SaltShaker said.

Blizzard did not specifically address the reason behind Minions on the Flank’s disqualification.

Even though Skyfoxes ended up winning the tournament, most of the attention was on Minions on the Flanks for the continuing drama. As a result of the disqualification, WoW has been taken off of the Overwatch leaderboard completely.

Blizzard has been very strict about their anti-cheating policy in Overwatch. Thanks to the Overwatch Police Department, the game developers have recently banned over 1,600 accounts for using aimbot software. Overwatch Police Department leader Mohamed “Gamerdoc” Al-Sharifi doesn’t show any signs of slowing down his efforts to combat cheating in his favorite game.

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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