Wow, big news coming out of the Counter-Strike scene! Joshua “steel” Nissan and Braxton “brax” Pierce, once infamous for their involvement in the iBUYPOWER match-fixing scandal, are finally back in action after a ten-year ban. Can you believe it? These guys can now enter the competitive arena again, whether as players, coaches, or analysts!
The last decade has been quite a rollercoaster for them. They faced some serious consequences for their actions back in 2014, which led to indefinite bans from Valve events and other major tournaments. It was rough! But now they’re free to chase new opportunities.
Let’s take a moment to rewind. In August 2014, the iBUYPOWER CS:GO team made headlines when they intentionally lost a match against NetcodeGuides.com while betting against themselves on a CS skin gambling site called CSGOLounge. At first, it seemed like just another day in esports until journalist Richard Lewis published an explosive report revealing the whole story in January 2015. Valve dropped the hammer two weeks later with indefinite bans for everyone involved.
Life hasn’t been easy since then. With central tournament participation off the table, both players struggled to find their footing in esports. Although they caught some breaks, like having ESL and DreamHack lift their bans in 2017, the shadow of Valve’s permanent ban loomed large until this year.
This year marked a shift! Valve recently decided that those bans were no longer permanent; they let them expire after ten years. What a turn of events! During IEM Katowice’s broadcast celebration for steel, a guy who’s transitioned into analysis over recent years, he shared how he learned “a very hard lesson.” I can only imagine how much growth has happened during all that time away from competition.
The discussion around these lengthy bans has sparked much debate within our community over the years. Some folks believed ten years was more than enough punishment, while others argued that harsh consequences deter future cheating incidents.
