VCT Champions 2026: Teabagging and Shooting Bodies Banned

Owen Harsono Published 18/09/2026

Riot Games has added controversial changes into the VCT Champions Shanghai 2026 rulebook. At the biggest Valorant tournament of the year, participants are now prohibited from in-game actions including shooting dead bodies, teabagging, and other forms of bad manners.

Community baffled by new VCT Champions rule

A week before VCT Champions 2026 begins, fans have realized that new rules have been added to the tournament’s rulebook:

“For the duration of the VCT Champions Shanghai Event, the following in-game actions are prohibited:

Shooting dead bodies / player pucks; and

Teabagging and/or other inappropriate in-game conduct.

Any breach of this policy will be subject to Disciplinary Action.”

Upon hearing about this, many fans were not happy, widely calling the new rule “lame” and “soft” on social media platform X. Though Valorant’s bad-manner culture isn’t as bad as Counter-Strike, many fans and players still found it fun to at least teabag and do a little taunting in a match.

But now, some players will have to hold the itch of shooting dead bodies in Shanghai, as they most certainly want to avoid any disciplinary action.

The drama that sparked this rule

We have a pretty good guess on the incident that likely caused Riot to roll out these changes, and it dates back to VCT Masters London 2026, which was the most recent international Valorant tournament.

In London, FUT Esports’ 18-year-old duelist player Efe “s0pp” Tur shot the dead bodies of the EDward Gaming players he had killed, and the Chinese fans were not pleased. Many passionate fans would go on social media to harass and bully him for the gesture, and things got really messy.

s0pp isn’t the only player who’s used to doing these antics either. VCT Champions winner Ethan “Ethan” Arnold and many others are also known for liking to taunt opponents throughout matches.

Now that the Valorant tournament is headed to China, there’s a good chance Riot wants to avoid a similar situation from happening and keep tensions low.

Image via Riot Games / Valorant

Is this in-game conduct rule permanent?

No, the new VCT Champions 2026 rule change is not going to be permanent. Global Head of Valorant Esports Leo Faria clarified on X:

“This is a one time change due to cultural sensitivities. We’re not going to oversanitize the sport and suck the fun out of it. Shooting bodies and teabagging is fine. Spice is good. That said, do it at your own peril.”

Leo Faria posts on X.

So, it seems like these rules only apply to events held in China, as there’s a difference in cultural tolerance for bad-mannered actions in-game.

Leo Faria continued, saying that players who break these rules in Shanghai will follow the traditional protocol which starts with an initial warning, then escalates to penalties, fines, etc.

VCT Champions 2026 will begin on 24 September and odds will be offered at all Valorant betting sites.

Featured image credit: Riot Games

Owen Harsono

About Owen Harsono

Owen lives for competition, spending most of his gaming hours on Dota 2, CS2, and Valorant. A regular on the SEA Dota 2 leaderboards, he combines his first-hand experience with a deep passion for esports journalism, following the professional scenes of all three esports betting titles religiously. When he’s not writing, he’s most probably betting on esports and watching the latest events.

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