CS2 coach cops PGL ban for splashing opponents with water after American RMR loss

American Counter-Strike 2 coach Matt “Warden” Dickens has apologized for splashing water at an opponent following his team’s elimination at the Copenhagen Major American RMR yesterday. Despite the apology, his actions have landed him in hot water with PGL, who subsequently banned the coach from the RMR facility.

Warden, who coaches Wildcard Gaming, was accused of splashing water on M80 players from a water bottle after his team’s 1-2 defeat. The loss meant elimination for Wildcard who are now out of the running for a spot at CS2’s first Major in Denmark. According to HLTV journalist Danish “Nohte” Allana and a report via Dust2.us, Warden refused to shake hands with the M80 team and instead spilled water on them intentionally.

M80 reported the incident to PGL officials who, after a brief investigation, had Warden removed and banned from the RMR venue for unsportsmanlike conduct. Warden did apologize to M80 and Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa shortly after the incident. “I let my emotions get the best of me after some post game words from him. I’m ashamed of my actions,” Warden said on X (formerly Twitter).

While Wildcard has been eliminated, the venue and practice facilities where the American RMR is held remain available to the team until the end of the event, but with Warden barred from entry, the team will need to boot camp without their coach until they head home.

M80 has one final shot at qualifying for the Copenhagen Major tomorrow against Marcelo “coldzera” David’s Legacy. Coldzera has not played at a Counter-Strike Major since IEM Rio in 2022 but after wins against Nouns and MIBR, he and Legacy find themselves just one best-of-three away from playing at the pinnacle event.

PaiN will take on ODDIK in tomorrow’s second match, but all eyes will be on Team Liquid and Complexity—arguably NA’s best two squads—who both suffered losses to FURIA, meaning they’ll meet each other for the final NA spot in Denmark.