Version 1’s Valorant team will not have one of its core members for the open and closed qualifiers for Challengers 1 of Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Stage 3.
Version 1 short one man, again.
One of North America’s dark horse Valorant teams suffered a heavy blow to their roster earlier this June. Fresh off of an impressive run at the VCT Masters 2: Reykjavik, Version1 core member Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro will not be competing in the early stages of VCT Stage 3 Challengers 1.
Riot announced the final ruling on the ban on June 12th. They revealed that a “categorically offensive and discriminatory remark” made by Zellsis to one of the presiding officials for Version1’s lower bracket matchup against Fnatic was the source of the controversial ban.
The remark saw the Version1 stand-out violate rule 7.1.2 of Valorant’s Global Competition Policy which states:
“All Teams and Team Members must observe the highest standards of personal integrity and good sportsmanship at all times. Team Members must behave in a professional and sportsmanlike manner in their interactions with other competitors, Tournament Officials, the Tournament Operator, the media, sponsors, and fans, as further discussed in Section 7.3.”
Other sources have inferred that the comment may have been sexist or racist, but Version1, Zellsis, or Riot have made no confirmation.
Roster rotation issues
Zellsis will miss out on playing in VCT Stage 3 Challengers 1 open and closed qualifiers. Version1 recently had to also replace one of its core members due to traveling issues. Jammal “jammyz” Bangash stepped up to take Maxim “wippie” Shepelev place as the team’s 5th member before the Masters in Reykjavik.
Version1 has released a statement accepting the ruling made by Riot. The organization has not confirmed who will be replacing Zellsis for the upcoming VCT Stage 3 Qualifiers. Zellsis previously filled out the duelist/entry fragger role for the team and played the main sentinel during Masters 2. It will be interesting to see how Version1 shuffles the roster roles given this heavy loss.
