FLASHPOINT, the newest CS:GO league organized by B Site Inc. and operated by FACEIT, has changed its ruleset and will allow players who were VAC-banned before 2018 to participate in its events.
FACEIT initially announced that all VAC-banned players wouldn’t be eligible to play in its tournaments. Now, FACEIT is the third tournament organizer to revoke permanent bans on reformed cheaters. ESL and DreamHack were the first to do so in 2017.
With this change, a few talented players will get their chance to compete in the FLASHPOINT open and closed qualifiers. That’s the case for Vinicius “v$m” Moreira from DETONA Gaming, the best Brazilian player who’s competing in Brazil. V$m, however, still isn’t eligible to play at CS:GO Majors.
The rule extends to former match-fixers who are permanently banned from playing at the Majors. With this, players caught in the iBUYPOWER match-fixing scandal in 2014, such as Josh “steel” Nissan from Chaos and Braxton “swag” Pierce from Swole Identity, will be allowed to play in FLASHPOINT.
“Got an invite to the FLASHPOINT closed qualifier,” steel said on Twitter. “See you in B site. B for not_Banned!”
Although FLASHPOINT, ESL, and DreamHack have granted these players a second chance, it’s still unknown if Valve will review its ruleset in the future to allow former cheaters or match-fixers to play in Majors, which are still the most prestigious tournaments in CS:GO.
