Valorant Coaches Unhappy With Riot Games For Keeping Them in Basements at VCT

Valorant Masters Reykjavik is set to kick off today and it looks like Riot Games is separating coaches from their teams during matches by keeping them in “basements.” 12 teams are set to compete in the LAN event, but the coaches will be stationed two floors below the venue. OpTic Gaming coach Chet ‘Chet’ Singh and 100 Thieves coach Sean “sgares” Gares discussed the issue on social media and not everyone seems to be happy about it.

Coaches will not be allowed near the players at VCT Masters Reykjavik

Chet showcased the coach area on Twitter which is apparently located in the “basement” of the venue. He sarcastically said on Twitter, “250+ Scrims, five-day quarantine, two months for qualification all to be put into a basement. Thank you, Riot.” He feels that Riot should allow coaches to just stand behind the players with a headset on, which is typically how previous events have been set up.

Coaches typically get to see everyone’s screens while standing behind the players and if a tactical pause is called, they can communicate with the players. At Reykjavik, coaches will be kept away from the players at all times when matches are live. While it may be a strange decision on Riot Games’ end, there may be underlying reasons why the publisher decided to bar coaches from being near the players.

G2 Esports’ Valorant coach Daniil "pipsoN" Meshcheryakov was caught interacting with his team during a match in February 2022, and he violated Riot Games' policy regarding communication between players and non-players. The organization received a formal warning because of it.

In the same month, T1’s Valorant coach was suspended after he communicated with players during a VCT match. The organization suspended the coach and issued an apology. It is possible that Riot Games does not want its competitive guidelines to be broken at Masters Reykjavik and it is taking precautionary measures.

Despite the coaches being separated from players, they will still be allowed to communicate during tactical pauses and breaks as per Riot Games’ guidelines. But with some coaches being unhappy with move by Riot Games, it remains to be seen if the publisher makes any changes heading into the event.