Life After Getting Banned From Competitive CS:GO

VAC and Valve bans can lead to professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) players dropping out of esports entirely after cheating or match-fixing. A lot of players have left the esports industry and moved onto ordinary work; others have made comebacks on different games with clean slates. Some of the most memorable moments in CS:GO have come from cheaters or match-throwers running the game for others. A couple of major examples include Hovik "KQLY" Tovmassian hitting a jump shot on dust2 or Braxton "swag" Pierce throwing an entire set just for skins alongside iBUYPOWER. Both players have bounced back since their terrible decisions and learned from their mistakes. 

KQLY TRADES IN HIS PC FOR SUPERCARS  

At the time of his VAC ban, KQLY was a well known AWPer in the European scene and had a total of seven years under his belt. On November 20, 2014, KQLY received a VAC ban for the use of a cheating software outside of competitions. At the time he was playing for Titan eSports as a main AWPer, a team that he had only played with for roughly two months. He was originally known for his time with Team LDLC and Clan-Mystik. After getting kicked from the team following an emergency suspension, Titan was lost without their star AWPer. KQLY had previously put Titan on the map after hitting an insane jumpshot with the USP-S. Three years after retiring from CS:GO, KQLY made a short comeback with Vexed Gaming.

KQLY then took a different route. With the help of Vexed Gaming, KQLY formed his own team called eFrog - a French organisation that was built to compete in C-Tier events while working their way up to a major, but it didn’t seem to work. After three months of participating in small online events, eFrog came out with zero earnings and couldn’t keep up with the competition. Six months later, the team disbanded leaving KQLY looking for his next line of work. Since 2019, KQLY has been working for a luxury car rental business located in Los Angeles. He’s moved on from showing off his skills as an AWPer to flexing supercars on Instagram alongside celebrities and internet personalities. Safe to say, he’s made it work after being pushed away from the esports community. 

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SWAG STICKS TO ESPORTS 

Now for someone who received a Valve ban but still participates in competitive gaming, North America’s very own and iBUYPOWER'S most controversial player - known as swag. Before his Valve ban, swag was an up and coming prodigy who competed at his first Major when he was only seventeen years of age. He grew up alongside Complexity Gaming which led to his appearance on iBUYPOWER’s starting roster. While the team had loads of potential, things didn’t go as planned. On August 20, 2014, swag and the rest of iBUYPOWER had agreed to throw their match at CEVO Season 5 for a bunch of skins. Because of that event, swag received a Valve ban and was forced to limit his competition and future in esports. 

Despite all of the losses and downfalls in his career, swag went on to play CS:GO for another five years with GX, Torqued, Swole Patrol, Lazarus Esports, and even streamed for Cloud9. After earning a couple of B-Tier titles, swag moved onto playing VALORANT for a team called T1. His team is ranked ninth in the North American division but hasn’t earned money from an event since June. If that doesn’t work out in the end, swag has a Twitch channel with nearly six hundred thousand followers.    

HOW THEY SURVIVED THEIR BANS  

KQLY and swag have proven that it’s possible to bounce back from bad decisions. They’re both living comfortable lifestyles despite the years of backlash from the media. KQLY has moved away from esports while swag is just getting started, except this time it's playing VALORANT for T1 and not CS:GO for iBUYPOWER. Even though KQLY spends more time in his garage than he does in front of a monitor, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t play every now and then. His Twitch channel has over one hundred thousand followers who join his streams every month to watch the ex-CS:GO pro hop on VALORANT. Due to its similarities to CS:GO, VALORANT has become a redemption game for most retired gamers. 

Both players have admitted their bans were reasonable and instead of fighting the past, they’ve moved onto future careers. It’s never a good idea to dwell on negativity but instead connect your previous interests to new opportunities. Swag has even reconnected with old teammates, including Keven "AZK" Larivière, Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham, Sam "DaZeD" Marine, and old head coach Daniel "fRoD" Montaner.

Looks like it all worked out in the end for both KQLY and swag. 
 

Images via ESL | DreamHack