Valorant host Vansilli reveals ban for calling out racist trolls

Canadian Valorant caster, Alex "Vansilli" Nguyen, has been left questioning how Valorant's reporting system works after he was handed a communication restriction and competitive ban after he was the subject of racism and ableist abuse.

The caster, who is a frequent sight on the desk at many of Valorant's top tier competitions, revealed what happened via Twitter.

"So yesterday I was playing on my alt account in Valorant. Queued with 2 guys who were dropping n-bombs left and right, calling me the R-word and telling me to [kill myself] when I specifically told them to chill out because I lost a friend to suicide," said Vansilli before adding, "And I get the comp ban?".

So yesterday i was playing on my alt account in @PlayVALORANT. Queue'd with 2 guys who were dropping n-bombs left and right, calling me the R word and telling me to kms when I specifically told them to chill out because i lost a friend to suicide.

And i get the comp ban? pic.twitter.com/lZ1ltE5MaL

— Vansilli (@Vansilli) September 29, 2021

The Valorant reporting system is a mix of automation and real-world investigation, with certain words and phrases earning you an instant ban and with human reviews for more serious offences (and perhaps lengthier bans). In this case, it is likely that Vansilli has been the victim of retaliatory reporting with both abusive players submitting reports and thus, putting Vansilli's account under the microscope.

Whether Vansilli was automatically banned or banned per human review is not clear but he did reveal that his ban lasted for 72 hours. Vansilli also explained that he wasn't tweeting simply to throw shade but rather as an attempt to understand how the system worked and why he ultimately found himself banned -- something that many players can sympathise with.

Riot Games is attempting to bring an end to toxicity in Valorant and it is one of their top priorities for the game. They have introduced a code of conduct, the aforementioned report and ban system, and have even gone as far as to record what is said via the game's voice chat function.

Those measures don't mean abuse can't happen or that these tools can't be used against the very people they are meant to protect, however, which is something Vansilli can surely attest to. In his case, there is somewhat of a silver lining. Given that his profile has a high ranking, a Riot employee, Matt Paoletti, has stepped in and offered to help in getting his ban reviewed.

Hey there! If you have a ticket # it would appreciated if you can DM me so I can make sure we can check it out. Our reviewers are asleep right now be we do check out these cases should you write in.

— Matt Paoletti (@RiotK3o) September 29, 2021

Vansilli isn't the only Valorant personality that has spoken out about in-game behaviour.  Earlier this week, a Valorant host, Yinsu Collins, revealed that she continues to get misogynistic abuse in-game, often when she is playing solo games.

Played VALORANT for the first time in 2 months, outside of five stacks, 3/3 of my solo queue games had multiple people make sexist remarks towards me. Everyone else in the lobby either ignored it or laughed.

If this happens in your game, speak up about it! [1/2]

— Yinsu Collins (@YinsuCollins) September 27, 2021

She has vowed to continue speaking out on the issue.

• Read more: Valorant September 2021 Night Market: Schedule and how to access

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Featured image courtesy of Riot Games.