Two Players Banned By Riot Over Fierce Teabagging Argument

Like Counter Strike before it, free-to-play shooter Valorant is known for its occasionally excessive banter. Most first-person shooters have this problem to an extent, what with the stressful nature of the action. One way to ease the tension in a humorous way is through the tradition of teabagging. For those out of the know, teabagging involves repeatedly crouching and standing above the head of a recently defeated opponent. We won't explain why it has that name here.

Recently, however, the topic has been the subject of some online debate. And this debate seems to have come to a head in a sanctioning from Riot Games, stemming from a disagreement on a Valorant Discord.

The disagreement started back in June, on the Galorants Discord - a group set up to champion women and non-binary players of Valorant. We covered the start of the discussion last month, and you can read how that played out right here. A member of the community, now being referred to as Player A, posted a message suggesting that teabagging could be construed as sexual assault. It got heated, and moderators had to close the server, but it became a social media fracas.

It soon got pretty ugly, with a "vulgar and targeted remark" aimed at Player A, and a video edited to the extent that it "amplified and personally added a vulgar commentary around Player A." It's fair enough, then, that Riot took action.

Two players - Dawn "Dawn" Park and Vivian "Risorah" Dela Cruz - have received a three month and nine month ban respectively. Risorah has responded: "I will be taking this punishment with the responsibility of my actions that led to my situation...My future in competitive play or in Valorant in general is unknown, so, we'll see where I go from here." What's certain, is that this subject will continue to be debated for some time.