Cover-Credits:
The Warzone pro scene faces yet another controversy with pro player Damien "Shifty" Spirrel being accused of cheating. Spirrel has been offered a chance to prove his innocence by NRG and the organization will fly him into the organization’s gaming house for lie detector tests. Spiirrel made some suspicious plays during a $100,000 USD Warzone event and multiple pros in the scene accused him of cheating. The player denied all allegations and said that he is willing to prove his innocence publicly.
Spirrel will undergo tests at the NRG Castle
NRG’s Grady Rains, who made the NRG Castle facility, invited Spirrel to undergo tests at the facility. Rains also runs Full Squad Gaming with Ben and Jake Lucky. NRG will pay for Spirrel’s flights and accommodation and the organization will get professional players to review gameplay footage and conduct lie detector tests.
Spirrel has been accused of cheating for months with Call of Duty League pro Rasim "Blazt" Ogresevic accusing him of cheating during the Warzone 100K Qualifiers. A clip that was doing the rounds shows Shifty’s crosshair abruptly latch onto an enemy at long range. Spirrel denied all accusations of cheating and has agreed to travel to the NRG castle.
Spirrel has often been accused of using Strike Packs, but the player has always denied all accusations. There is no conclusive proof that would deem him guilty or innocent and NRG might finally put the controversy to rest. Strike packs are third-party devices that can be attached to the back of controllers and they have two extra paddles.
While a lot of Strike Packs can be harmless, a number of these products can be programmed to remove recoil from weapons or even trigger cheats. Strike packs can be difficult to detect for some games as the scripts usually run on the device without modifying game files. If Spirrel is indeed using a Strike Pack, his performance in a neutral environment at the NRG castle could help conclusively prove if he cheats or not by analyzing his gameplay.
The issue with the lie detector tests, that NRG plans on undertaking, is that they are not always conclusive. Lie detector tests or polygraph tests are not always accurate and they can be manipulated. While they were used by law enforcement in the past, many countries have stopped the use of lie detectors to determine a person’s innocence or guilt. While they are still used by private investigators, the test results are not upheld by most courts of law. It will be difficult to tell if NRG Esports’ findings are accurate if it relies too heavily on polygraph tests to determine if Spirel is cheating.
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