CS2 pro banned on FACEIT for cheating, while his team broke other rules in RMR qualifier

Damian “EMIYA” Boulware, a North American professional Counter-Strike 2 player, just got banned for cheating on FACEIT. It turns out his team, Rocket, also broke other rules during the closed qualifier for an RMR tournament.

The ban came to light on Feb. 19, less than two weeks before the PGL CS2 Major American RMR is scheduled to begin, where Rocket are set to compete. Shortly after, another Rocket player, Ahmed “ayy” Mahmoud, reportedly said he will not attend the RMR since they “don’t deserve that slot,” according to HLTV. During the closed qualifier for the event, Rocket apparently broke the rules by allowing their coach to communicate with the players during games, according to HLTV, which is forbidden by the rulebook.

The FACEIT ban itself doesn’t prevent EMIYA from travelling to the RMR, since it’s a third-party ban, and not an official one from Valve. On top of that, there’s always a possibility it’s a false positive. Nevertheless, it casts a shadow over Rocket’s appearance in the tournament, especially given the accusations they used their coach’s help during the closed qualifier.

Ayy claimd Rocket’s coach Alexandr “Psycho” Zlobin “watched our POV during a few of the games and would just give little adjustments,” against M80 and BOSS. Additionally, the player’s “unsure” whether the coach aided them versus Cloud 10 and Carpe Diem. Apparently, Rocket stopped using Psycho when an unnamed team explained they were breaking the rules.

It doesn’t end there. Another Rocket player, Matthew “nero” Seymour, admitted to Dust2 he was aware what they were doing was forbidden, and there’s “no excuse” for their wrongdoings. He also outlined how there were other teams breaking the rules in closed qualifier. But, there’s no way to confirm these allegations, as the organizers didn’t use a TO-operated TeamSpeak for the tournament.

All in all, with two of Rocket’s players coming out with such statements, and EMIYA’s ban on FACEIT, their disqualification feels imminent. But, at the time of writing, PGL hasn’t made a statement regarding the case.