Rocket players admit to using coach during Americas RMR Closed Qualifier

Earlier today, Damian "EMIYA" Boulware was banned from FACEIT for cheating for a second time in his career. This ban led to a wave of speculation about what would happen to Rocket's spot in the upcoming PGL Major Copenhagen Americas RMR. While the FACEIT ban itself would not directly lead to disqualification from the Valve event, many have raised concerns about allowing a cheater into one of North America's most important events.

However, while this discussion was ongoing, Dust2.us was made aware of further allegations against Rocket. Sources told Dust2.us that Rocket had communicated with their coach, Oleksandr "Psycho" Zlobin, during the online Closed Qualifier, something that is expressly forbidden by Valve during online qualifiers:

No team staff, including the coach, may be physically or virtually present or communicate with the players at any time during the match.

As part of Dust2.us' investigation into the allegations, the publication reached out to Rocket players Ahmed "ayy" Mahmoud and Matthew "nero" Seymour about the situation. Despite the fact that admitting to the violation of the coaching rule would almost certainly lead to Rocket's disqualification from the Americas RMR and possible further sanctions, both players confirmed the accusations, wanting to come clean about the situation.

Starting with ayy, the Canadian told Dust2.us that using Psycho during the Closed Qualifier was a legitimate lapse in judgment, with the team using him during their first three matches against M80, Cloud 10, and Carpe Diem. ayy said the team stopped using Psycho after an opponent noticed Psycho's presence in Rocket's voice channel and warned the team against it.

ayy's rationale for coming clean about the situation is that with EMIYA being banned for cheating, he felt that Rocket do not deserve their spot in the RMR, and that it would have been immoral to not disclose the situation with Psycho at this time.

As for nero, he admitted to knowing what Rocket did was wrong, stating that the team has "no excuse," understanding the team would likely be disqualified when this information went public. However he also alleges that Rocket were not the only team in the Closed Qualifier using their coach openly.

nero told Dust2.us that he understands his reputation in the community is poor and that he's been trying to be a better person and player, with the news of EMIYA’s ban being devastating after months of hard work.

So where does this leave Rocket? Based on the testimonials from the players, they should undoubtedly be disqualified from the Americas RMR for a flagrant violation of Valve's rules. However, the allegations from nero along with information other sources revealed to Dust2.us raise the possibility of a wider integrity issue. Depending on the veracity and scale of the allegations, teams may have received an unfair advantage during the Closed Qualifier.

Dust2.us reached out to PGL regarding Rocket's situation but did not hear back by the time of publication.