joel sidelined for BLAST Fall Showdown; Victory Zigzag coach Hardwell to stand in

21-9-2023 15:05

joel's provisional suspension by the ESIC means he is not eligible for selection at the BLAST Fall Showdown.

joel will sit out the Showdown due to his provisional ban from ESIC

BLAST has announced that Victory Zigzag will utilize their coach, Ivan "⁠Hardwell⁠" Alekseev, in place of Joel "⁠joel⁠" Holmlund for the team's upcoming run through the Fall Showdown.

The decision comes as a result of joel's provisional suspension by the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) on September 20, which stems from allegations of match-fixing.

Given that BLAST is partnered with the ESIC, joel will be unable to play in BLAST tournaments until the commission finalizes its investigation into the allegations on or after October 6. joel can submit further evidence until that date if he wishes to challenge ESIC's provisional ruling.

Ex-GODSENT player joel suspended by ESIC over match-fixing allegations*

The international roster earned their Fall Showdown berth by winning Pelaajat Nordic Masters Fall, where they notably defeated MOUZ, ECSTATIC, and 416Olsk.

joel put on a show during his team's run through the qualifier, averaging a superlative 1.48 rating over seven maps to end the tournament as the highest-rated player. His provisional suspension by ESIC comes as a big blow for Victory Zigzag, who will be without their star as they ready up for the single-elimination Showdown bracket.

Victory Zigzag qualify for BLAST Fall Showdown

BLAST Premier Fall Showdown Europe will go live on October 4-8 and notably features the likes of ENCE, G2, and Cloud9, three top-10 sides who will undoubtedly be fighting tooth and nail for the lone BLAST Fall Final berth up for grabs.

Victory Zigzag will field the following roster for BLAST Premier Fall Showdown:

Kamen "⁠bubble⁠" Kostadinov
Daniel "⁠mertz⁠" Mertz
Nicolaj "⁠mupzG⁠" Djurhus
Dmitriy "⁠propleh⁠" Senigov
Ivan "⁠Hardwell⁠" Alekseev (stand-in)

rip

2023-09-21 15:07

Deserverd

2023-09-21 15:08

-Hardwell +Tiesto

2023-09-21 15:12

so sick they allow cheaters / scammers to play.. just let the other swedish team have the chance they looked good. cant be fun to play against known cheaters either

16 replies

2023-09-21 15:13

2023-09-21 15:32

2023-09-21 15:41

it wouldn't be fair. If you consider that the whole team should be penalized, then the whole qualifier should start from scratch, as the final was not the only match affected, MOUZ could've won it, as an example.

2023-09-21 15:45

5 replies

Just ban them, joel and bubble is now known matchfixers. Rip Joel's career he was crazy good but yea..

2023-09-21 15:50

4 replies

+1 i think matchfixes happens alot more than we think. just today sampi played vs los kogutios (with stand in) and lost first map from 15-8, had 5vs3 and lost that map in ot. next map they have 13-6 on overpass as ct side and they loose 14-16. probably more fixing than we get to know and nothing is happening

2023-09-21 16:03

1 reply

i think sampi fix a lot, but los kogutos just searching for their 5th, darch officialy left

2023-09-21 16:23

where bubble evidence?

2023-09-21 16:51

So is propleh

2023-09-21 22:03

2023-09-21 15:54

not a cheater, he is skiilled thats why he carried the qualifier. he may have MATCHFIXED in GODSENT some months ago , but that doesn´t mean he doesn´t deserve to be in blast , HE IS SKILLED.

2023-09-21 15:58

2 replies

Are you for real? You want a matchfixer to play?

2023-09-22 04:19

Yeah stealing money from low IQ bettors and betting companies isnt a Bad thing

2023-09-22 15:22

2023-09-21 16:00

2023-09-21 17:13

2023-09-21 20:09

why is rest of victory zigzag not banned yet

fucking dead scene I guess

2023-09-21 15:16

joel was suspended for something he did while playing for GODSENT months ago, there is no reason/evidence (as of yet) to ban the team/org.

2023-09-21 15:52

What about propleh placing bets while playing for this team though?

2023-09-21 22:04

I haven't seen any news articles about that so far. Any links you can provide? If anyone has any proof they should contact ESIC.

2023-09-22 17:53

ESIC spent all their resources on Joel and now everyone can get away with it. Tbf to ESIC easier said than done to completely prove that these people are fixing even if it is obvious at times with how odds move around when we see those players play.

2023-09-21 17:10

Joel on lan? I aren't think that

its jOELZ* newb jesust

2023-09-21 15:21

isnt even a lan

spineless

what happend to integrity of the game? now only lan events feels not rigged by cheaters / scammers.

2023-09-21 15:18

everything is fixed, did you watch 9ine or monte? HAHAHAHA

2023-09-21 22:21

How can they even be at this event???

2023-09-21 15:19

14 replies

Because mouz sucks

2023-09-21 15:30

13 replies

Yeah Mouz are really bad...... Hard to compete against this tbf clips.twitch.tv/VainPopularNigiriYouDont..

2023-09-21 16:02

12 replies

the fuck are you even trying to imply? :D

2023-09-21 16:58

Look at that clip and tell me, who even plays like that?

2023-09-21 17:15

I mean not defending them as IEM Sydney quali they played was also omega fishy, but you can't look at this situation and say he cheats cuz he went t-spawn for bomb. He sees frozen on short and xertion looking towards monster tunnel thats a give away there are no T's there because xertion wouldn't be looking at a position that his teammate is holding. Also if the 3rd player is there he would try to refrag instead of hiding, this isn't faceit. He didn't see bomb on either player, and if siuhy had bomb he would have already planted, its not impossible to assume they did not have bomb. Now are they using radar ? Probably, but you can't cherry pick situations that have valid explanations.

2023-09-21 18:34

hltv.org/forums/threads/2818222/victory-.. What more can I say. They had radar this game and also at Sydney Qualifier

2023-09-24 00:03

u have under 3k elo so your opinion is not valid

2023-09-21 22:26

Jokes on you, I have 7k elo on premier

2023-09-21 22:41

And olks416 don’t even remember the name, a random 5 man team

2023-09-21 17:17

Nah Olskroken are goated team

2023-09-21 17:20

This is 100% normal, these line up is good, as a lot of other tier2/3 teams are good, they all play togheter all day on Faceit against top tier players. Is normal to sometimes top teams lose to this kind of lineups, not all times they are cheating or fixing. Someplayers use hacks, probably, but in low tier events, in blast is harder to cheat. And they have a lot to lose and almost nothing to will chating in a qualifier to a qualifier that the prizepool in so small. Stop crying about everything. Who watchs tier 2/3 know it.

2023-09-21 19:18

yeah, go watch CCT and get an aneurysm of how fixed they're, because eternity league is another level

2023-09-21 22:23

eternity league? Didnt understand that. Just said that all pro players are skilled, and this clip dont say nothing, it is not even suspicious. Tier 2/3 100% have much more fixing and cheats.

2023-09-21 22:46

500IQ my guy, you don't understand because they're professional players... KEKW

let the man play

2023-09-21 15:42

Nah

2023-09-21 15:49

Mr Spaceman pog

career destroyed

ayyyy lets go, get fucked

Promising career ruined by really stupid choices...

2023-09-21 16:25

2023-09-21 17:07

Justice for 416Olsk

2023-09-21 16:26

where fat (gruby)

2023-09-21 16:41

poor robiin and the boys

2023-09-21 16:50

the whole team should be banned permanently cause im 99% sure they were aware of the cheating stuff..

2023-09-21 16:55

Why would you ban the whole team then there isnt even any accusing of cheating? It's matchfixing that happened months ago, not with zig zag. Zig zag should continue playing and find another player.

2023-09-21 20:07

3 replies

You have not been following the situation at all then, most players they played against accused them of cheating and/or radar..

2023-09-22 09:42

Yeah sure i've heard it, but without the evidence they will not get banned and therefore they can play the blast

2023-09-22 09:59

For sure, but there have been accusations.. not saying they should do anything with 0 evidence, but when muliple teams call them out its most likely something fishy going on. Not saying they cant be wrong but ye

2023-09-22 10:31