For the second time today, the VCT LOCK//IN broadcast was subjected to a lengthy tech delay. But rather than it being due to the stream lagging and stuttering, it was because one of the competing teams used an illegal Killjoy Nanoswarm exploit.
During the second map of today’s VALORANT series between FURIA and T1, FURIA’s Killjoy player Khalil Schmidt appeared to place a Nanoswarm molotov in a prohibited exploit area—one that’s explicitly listed in the VCT rulebook as an exploit.
At the start of round five, as shown in the clip above, Khalil placed a Nanoswarm molotov near the center of the A site, but it didn’t get used since T1 funneled into the B site and lost. Following the end of the fourth round, T1 took a tactical timeout, but at the end of that timeout, play didn’t resume and the break extended into a technical timeout.
During the timeout, the casters informed the viewers that the reason behind the technical pause was that FURIA were determined to have used an exploited location to place the Nanoswarm. Many fans reacting on Reddit pointed to a clip of a “hidden molly” placement shared among the community back in December as the potential exploit that was used.
This exploit was likely added to the list of “known exploits” that pro teams are forbidden from using during pro play, and thus, FURIA were determined to be in violation of that rule. During the technical timeout, FURIA were penalized via T1 being gifted a round. After a lengthy reset, T1 seemed like they would be able to generate some momentum from that free round, winning the next three attack rounds to tie the game at 5-5.
But FURIA didn’t let the Nanoswarm mishap deter them. They won the next eight rounds in a row and all six of their attack rounds to take Icebox 13-5 and the series 2-0.
