Riot Games denies The Guard slot in VCT 2024, causes outrage among fans and pro-players
2023-08-30 13:58:00Riot Games made a shocking move on August 29, announcing that The Guard will not play in VCT 2024 as they should be for winning the Ascension tournament in NA. The community, including many professional players and figures, was dissatisfied with the ruling.
According to the official statement, The Guard "failed to meet the deadline for the agreement," and the organizers blocked the team from participation in the franchised league next year. They didn't allow the Ascension runners-up M80 to replace the squad either.
The players were devastated after this news, which seemingly arrived as a total surprise. Michael "neT" Bernet put out a tweet full of grief, begging Riot to change their decision.
I am devastated. All the hard work and sacrifices we have gone through as a team just to have it stripped away from us through Twitter… At the end of the day, some things in life are truly out of your control. it is unfair, but to be punished for putting my heart and soul into the thing I love truly fucking hurts. I want nothing but to win a world championship with my brothers. <...>
I really hope Riot reconsiders and gives us the chance to play together one more time…. Please riot and understand that it’s more than just a game for us, but it truly is our entire life.
The Guard tweeted that the organization was surprised to see this ruling. They promised to help the roster transition to another home. Soon, streamer Disguised Toast stated he would sign the players to support their careers. G2 also hinted at possible acquisition.
However, these moves would still not give players the deserved opportunity to play in VCT 2024. The reasons for the denial were explained by Riot's Global Head of Esports, Leo Faria. The key point was, "Allowing an acquisition by a different organization now opens the door for slots in the VCT to be sold, which we do not allow."
We considered three different options: allow these 5 players to be picked up by a new organization, promote the Ascension runner-up, or not promote any team. Here’s context on why we chose the latter.
With the way our path-to-pro is designed, it’s fair to assume that a free-agent team might eventually get to Challengers and even win Ascension. We want to see five friends and dream making it all the way to the top, and we are prepared for that occasion. In case a free-agent team makes it to an International League, the players would have an opportunity to find an organization that would support them in the International League. This particular situation is different, since this team played through Challengers and Ascension under The Guard banner, and became free agents after the fact. Allowing an acquisition by a different organization now opens the door for slots in the VCT to be sold, which we do not allow.
The second solution we considered was promoting the runner-up M80, however, that would also create questionable precedents. The point of Ascension is to reward performance, and as great and talented as M80 is, qualifying a team that didn’t win the tournament defeats that purpose. Promotion is earned in-game, not out of it.
Some professional players, including Valorant Champions 2023 winner Ethan "Ethan" Arnold, openly criticized Riot Games for this approach. Many community figures were also angry with the outcome, demanding to find an honest decision for The Guard players. Some annoyed fans even suggested teams go for a strike, similar to what recently happened in another Riot's game, League of Legends.
