After T1, now G2 Valorant coach violates VCT guidelines as Riot issues competitive ruling

The Valorant Champions Tour has witnessed its latest instance of guideline violation in G2 Esports' EMEA Challengers fixture against Team Vitality on January 13, 2022.

During the matchup, Daniil "pipsoN" Meshcheryakov was caught interacting with his team, thereby violating Riot Games' policy regarding communication between players and non-players. G2 received an official warning as a result.

In VCT 2022 EMEA Closed Qualifiers 1, G2 Esports faced Team Vitality in the Quarter Finals of the tournament. The match ended 2-0, with Vitality emerging victorious. Despite the loss, G2 was accused of violating the tournament's guidelines.

This is one among the numerous instances at VCT 2022 where players or teams were compensated for breaching Riot's competitive guidelines. In the VCT NA Challengers, T1 encountered a similar fate as its coach was caught red-handed passing off instructions to his team mid-match.

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Riot issues G2 a warning for violating Valorant's tournament guidelines at VCT 2022

26-year-old Daniil "pipsoN" Meshcheryakov is one of the latest members of G2's squad. pipsoN arrived in December 2021 as part of a triple purchase involving players - hoody and Meddo - with the aim of elevating the quality of G2 Esports in Valorant.

In its efforts to qualify for the Stage 1 Challengers, G2 faced Team Vitality in a best-of-three fixture which ended in a 2-0 loss for the former. Despite the loss, G2 was close to a victory, with both matches having ended on a 2-round margin.

In one instance during the match, pipsoN resorted to the use of team comms to celebrate a remarkable performance by G2 alongside his teammates.

However, in all official Riot-organized Valorant events, communication between non-players and players is strictly banned during the game, and is a punishable offense.

Evidence of pipsoN's behavior was procured by Riot Games. However, it was deemed harmless due to the nature of communication between pipsoN and the team. Riot stated:

"The specific circumstances of this violation have been taken into account as mitigating factors in the penalty."

As a result of pipsoN's actions, Riot Games have issued G2 an official warning, condoning any form of rule-violation in the future. Pipson responded to Riot's competitive ruling with a public apology.

In his tweet, pipsoN stated his intentions and confirmed that his behavior was inadvertent and highly unlikely to be repeated.

pipsoN issues public apology on Twitter (Image via @pipsoNgg/Twitter)

Coaches are not allowed to indicate anything that might provide the team with a competitive advantage, and can only use technical breaks and tactical timeouts to communicate.