Champions broadcast delayed: Riot deliberates Vivo Keyd ruling cover image

Champions broadcast delayed: Riot deliberates Vivo Keyd ruling

The Champions broadcast and Group A winners match are now delayed in order to provide more time for Riot to deliberate their Vivo Keyd ruling.

Riot can't seem to make up its mind on whether or not their ruling on the Vivo Keyd case was justified.

Announced in the early hours of Saturday morning, Riot announced that Champions will be delayed by an hour, and the Group A winners match between Envy and Acend would be postponed.

It's unclear exactly what the deliberation is over. While a hashtag #JusticeforKeyd did indeed start trending last night worldwide with a number of pro players coming out against the decision, the rules seem clear: if an exploit is used, Riot has the right to change the results of a match after its complete.

Some have argued that the punishment was too harsh, or that a complete map replay should be instituted for the third map in the Vivo vs Acend series. Regardless, it seems a bit late now to try and overturn that ruling - it will be interesting to see what the rationale was after the fact. Indeed, it could upset the entire schedule and competitive integrity of the tournament should Riot now go back on their word even further, marring the first World Championship for the young title.

The Valorant Champions broadcast will now begin at 7 AM Pacific on Saturday morning, with the first match to feature Team Vikings vs Gambit followed by Team Liquid vs Sentinels.

Esports.gg has reached out to Riot Games for clarification into what's going on with the process and we will update as soon as we hear back about the Champions delay.


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