Japanese Valorant pro suspended from Red Bull Home Ground for smurfing

A Japanese Valorant pro has been suspended by his organization for two months for smurfing and playing on someone else account.

Japanese esports organization FENNEL released a statement detailing the suspension of one of their Valorant pros from competition. The statement said through a machine translation that Yuto ‘Xdll’ Mizomori had been caught and admitted to smurfing and playing on another player’s account in order to boost their rank.

“We will make a later report regarding the decision and future punishments for specific activities ect after confirming more detailed facts. Additionally, we have been reporting to Riot Games in a timely manner and will continue to cooperate with external parties to conduct investigations,” FENNEL said in its statement.

Fans of international Valorant may remember XdII for his short stint as a substitute for ZETA DIVISION during Valorant Champions 2022. He did not play a match for ZETA at the tournament and spent the entire tournament on the bench in case one of the starting players became ill.

Since then, XdII has played for FENNEL in the Valorant Challengers Japan League. The squad won the first split and then placed third in the second, missing out on the Pacific Ascension tournament.

Japanese Valorant pro to miss off-season event due to suspension

FENNEL qualified for the off-season tournament Red Bull Home Ground, which is going to take place in Japan, through the Japanese qualifier with XdII as their flex player.

With the suspension, XdII has been moved to the bench and FENNEL will have to either find a replacement for the player or drop out of the tournament.

According to the org’s statement about the suspension, they have not made any changes to their off-season event schedule as of now.

The tournament kicks off on November 3-5 and will take place in Tokyo.