A few months ago around the end of Madrid, I made a hypothetical list of some of Valorant's greatest coaches up to this point. The list included names such as mini, ENGH, alecks, termi, and d00mbros (in no particular order). One name that was also mentioned was Chet, best known for his time with the legendary 2022 NV/OPTC core, specifically his partnership with IGL FNS. In the past, Chet has been praised for his timeouts and mid-game adjustments, and his anti-stratting in particular. However, much of this praise was during his time w/ FNS. Before, Chet's time at TSM and his first stint at NRG were both very lackluster, and while both teams were making steps of progress, it was ultimately nothing to write home about.

After NRG missing now two of the three major events of the year, with this recent split being some of NRG's worst display of gameplay with five world class players, how much credit do you give Chet as a coach right now, or rather, how much damage does this year bring to his reputation once it's all over? Did FNS really carry Chet in terms of brainpower, or is there still some credit to be given to him still?

After the (8:13) match in , the match was forfeited by Axolotl due to using a banned skin, resulting in a VX300 win.

Tweet:

Official statement ⚠️After carefully reviewing all available POVs of the match between Vx300 and Axolotl, it was revealed that an Axolotl player intentionally used an exploit for 6 separate rounds 👇🏻

We therefore announce the forfeit of the entire match and award the victory to Vx300.

We want to specify the term "intentional exploit". This refers to a banned skin that is not usable in-game if equipped on weapons. The use of this skin leads to sanctions outlined directly by Riot.

From the wording, it looks like the "intentional" part was equipping/using the skin, not actually using it for xray (which was ).

Screenshot of AXL xad using the Primordium Phantom:

The next day, during , the match was paused and eventually forfeited by VX300 due to the same use of a banned skin:

Due to the use of a prohibited skin by a VX300 player, the victory was awarded to DSYRE

Announcement on stream:

Screenshot of VX3 DrastZ using the Primordium Vandal, assuming this is the issue

I assume that Rule 10.14 from the is being applied:

10.14 Restrictions may be added at any time before or during a Match, if there are known or suspected bugs with any Agents, skins or maps, or for any other reason as determined at the discretion of Challengers Officials.

Of course, this is only the Italian tier 2 Valorant scene, and setting aside the fact that VX300 won a match due to FF only to lose the next one for the same reason - it's weird that results are being overturned and matches are being forfeited mid-game for a rule banning skins for an exploit that's been patched out. I can imagine that the players thought the skins were okay because riot patched them.

EDIT: via in the comments

Italy is still on Patch 8.07 where the bug was not able to be patched.

Personally, I think NRG could benefit from a sentinel main who can IGL, since it makes sense (thanks to Mr. Platoon!) to put Vic as a perma entry and Demon1 on smokes or secondary duelist duty. That leaves a clear opening for a sentinel player, and need I go on about how the lack of T1 IGLing experience has put the team at a major disadvantage compared to the field? IMO, stellar fits the job description. He has definitely been shooting heads at TTR recently. The only issue is that, due to add3r, he's been doing reps as an initiator in the recent months, but I don't think that's really a problem since his most played agents are all sentinels.

NRG 2022 was comprised of s0m, Ethan, tex, eeiu, and Hazed (who is now retired).

s0m - arguably best NRG player in 2023, above Victor and Ardiis

tex - incredibly good sentinel (formerly duelist) player who is now on one of the top 3 best teams in Americas.

eeiu - top 2 NA intitator on best team in Americas atm

Ethan - world champion and top 3 best support player in the world

Maybe the roster didn't mesh that well together, but damn, if you had this NRG roster at the current day, on paper, this is an incredibly stacked roster, given they have a new IGL that is not Hazed as he is retired (34 years old).

Thoughts?

For those who don’t know, GENG in league of legends has always choked in the international stage usually placing like top 4 at best even though they’ve won their region convincingly for the past 2 years. They were always highly regarded but for some reason they couldn’t win internationals until this week. I truly believe PRX will shanghai and break the choker allegations that GENG has previously have faced.