The_Guru : "Some part of me thinks it's a conspiracy against me and my team"

In light of the incident involving Velocity Gaming (VLT), which parted ways with their roster shortly after they were accused of hacking on FACEIT, Dust2 India took the initiative to reach out to the relevant parties to delve deeper into the situation. The first individual to shed light on the matter was The_Guru, one of their most experienced players.

According to The_Guru, the team received bans on FACEIT due to the fact that they were playing from a local café in Kolkata, rather than a dedicated bootcamp setup. The belief is that the PCs used by the team were compromised by the general public who frequented the café to play games.

Some part of me thinks it's a conspiracy against me and my team. Because we got the Vlt spot. It makes no sense for a player coming from Malaysia with over 4,000 ELO to cheat in a different country and bring shame to his name. Mostly the PCs were tampered with third-party applications. It's our own cafe, and it is a very popular one. Lots of people come for gaming and boosting. We cannot stop them because it is their source of income. And it is poorly managed.

He also expressed his dissatisfaction with the organization for not providing them with a proper bootcamp facility

We are disappointed with the org because they abandoned us. They were never with us in the first place. It was just a trial for them. They didn't give us any bootcamp or anything. Had they given us separate PCs or a separate bootcamp, this would have never happened. On the other hand, we can't really blame Vlt too because it was us who agreed to the terms. They were clear from the start that they don't want to invest a lot in CS: GO, but who wants to leave a Masters slot? So we accepted on the brutal terms, but now we regret it. We should have ignored the contract and moved on.

The_Guru also highlighted how the roster had been subjected to significant community backlash, a situation that these young players neither deserve nor should have to contend with.

The community won't see our way. They have banished us. To be honest, I don't feel for myself as I am already old. But I feel for these young players - Logan, L0sttt, and Syahh. They are extremely good and they are handed 2 years ban. And Syahh has a permanent ban which makes no sense.

When questioned about whether the café owner had discovered anything suspicious during a subsequent inspection of the PCs, The_Guru mentioned that there were numerous files, but nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. As of now, the PCs have been temporarily shut down. In addition to the VLT roster, it's important to note that the fifth player to receive a ban was Nick, a player from Nepal who was slated to join the Velocity roster. Reportedly, Nick was banned just a day after he logged into the provided PC. The_Guru also highlighted that the only player to not get banned was MaCh0, who brought his own password-protected PC.

Another player from Velocity Gaming, Logan expressed shock and disbelief upon learning about the FACEIT ban, news he received from a call with L0sttt, who informed him about their collective ban on the platform for alleged cheating. He highlighted the absence of any inquiries or investigations into the circumstances surrounding their bans. He pointed out that no players or organizations had come forward to support their innocence, unlike previous instances involving cheating accusations. Regarding the motive for cheating, Logan stated that he couldn't find any logical reason for him or his teammates to cheat on FACEIT or any other esports event. He emphasized that FACEIT's anti-cheat measures are robust and questioned why they would risk cheating on such a platform.

We also reached out to Anwesh Das, who was the admin on-site during the incident. He holds a firm belief in the innocence of the Velocity Players. Das mentioned that the ex-Velocity Players even approached him with a request to record their POVs for sharing on their social media platforms. Throughout the match, he diligently spectated each player but found no suspicious activity. Das did express his concerns about the cafe's inadequate management. While he cannot be certain that someone else tampered with the PCs, he considers it a plausible scenario.

Das further confirmed that both TAV and Kevin used the same PC as MaCh0, and those were the only players to have not received a ban on their FACEIT accounts. Notably, he was not present during their FACEIT game but he emphasized that there would be no logical motive for hacking in FACEIT and not in Skyesports if such actions were indeed taken.

Dust2 India tried reaching out to Velocity Gaming' and the FACEIT admin, but couldn't obtain a statement at the time of publication. Looking ahead, the ex-Velocity players have made it clear that they will continue their efforts to appeal to FACEIT until they successfully secure the removal of their bans.