Twitch streamer Kephrii was accused of cheating in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Allegedly, he had intentionally been killed by a friend at an esports tournament. However, the investigations have revealed that he probably did not cheat. Kephrii accused two other players of cheating, and a prominent Twitter user also commented on the events. The tournament for €98,000 is turning into a debacle.
The cheating drama in a CS:GO tournament began with allegations against Twitch streamer Kephrii. He was accused of having colluded with a friend, who killed him repeatedly with knife kills.
Because: Knife kills scored the most points in the tournament.
However, a statement from a marketing agency was released, stating that the investigations indicated he did not cheat. Nevertheless, accusations continued to pour in from various individuals.
The tactical shooter CS:GO is one of the biggest esports titles in the world and the largest game on Steam:
How all the accusations came about
What kind of esports tournament was it? It was the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ReadyUp Invitational tournament. It took place on July 30, 2022.
To determine who won the tournament, there was a points system that rewarded players based on kill type:
- 1 Kill = 1 Point
- 1 Assist = 2 Points
- 1 Kill with knife = 5 Points
What was the accusation? Kephrii is accused of having intentionally allowed his friend Gale to kill him with a knife in the game to jointly cash in the prize money of $100,000 (around €98,000).
Player dies unusually often by the knife of a friend, racking up bonus points
How were Kephrii and Gale supposed to have cheated? The two Twitch streamers and friends Kephrii and Gale played in two different teams. Throughout the game, Gale killed his friend multiple times with a knife.
What does Kephrii say about the accusations? Kephrii responds on Twitter to the accusations and explains:
Kephrii: ‘I really didn’t hear him. I haven’t played CS in about 3 years. After that, I begged my team to put me on A-side because he kept going to B-side. In this tournament, there’s 1 point for an elim [elimination], 2 points for an assist, and 5 points for a knife. I’m a big advocate for anti-cheat; unfortunately, I’m just bad.’
Organizer excludes knife victim from the tournament – but not directly due to cheating
What do official channels say about this? The marketing agency in the esports sector Heaven Media released a statement on August 1, 2022, regarding the events at the CS:GO tournament (via twitter):
“During the CSGO tournament this weekend, accusations were raised that one of the players was cheating by intentionally delivering knife kills to an opposing player. This allegation was investigated during the tournament, and it was determined that no intentional foul play had occurred. In the last two rounds of the tournament, the tournament operator removed the player from the tournament to maintain the overall atmosphere and flow of the matches. The removal was not directly related to the cheating allegations, but was due to an increasingly hostile environment resulting from the accusations.”
What happened next? However, that was not enough. Jake Lucky released a video clip on Twitter in which Kephrii accused the two players Nick Bunyun and Tiffae of colluding (via twitter).
Who else did Kephrii accuse? In another post on August 3, 2022, Kephrii released: Allegedly, the event staff played in his place in the tournament after he was removed from the event (via twitter).
What does the organizer say about the event? MeinMMO requested a statement from Sony Electronics US and received the following response:
“We had an action-packed weekend with our #ReadyUp tournament to celebrate our new INZONE headphones and monitors, and we want to thank our participants for leveling up with us. Unfortunately, a player was disqualified from the tournament due to inappropriate sportsmanship and behavior. We support the decision of our moderators and uphold the expectations for a fair and respectful gaming experience for all.”
What do you think about cheating allegations after the CS:GO tournament? Feel free to let us know in the comments.
Here you can read about a different kind of cheating that a player was accused of in a Valorant tournament.
