Esports has grown from small LAN parties to a billion-dollar industry. Games like Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Valorant, and League of Legends attract millions of players daily and pack stadiums for world championships. The prize pools are enormous – the International 2024 for Dota 2 had over $2.5 million, and Valorant Champions 2024 offered a similar amount. Streaming platforms like Twitch broadcast these events to millions of viewers, turning pro players into celebrities.
But with big money comes big temptation. Cheating has always been a shadow over competitive gaming, but in recent years, it has crept from casual matchmaking into the highest levels of professional play. Even more concerning, while anti-cheat systems like Riot’s Vanguard are considered some of the best in the industry, cheaters still find their way into ranked matches – including the highest ranks like Radiant. This article explores how cheating happens in esports, why even top-tier anti-cheat can’t stop it entirely, and what that means for everyday players.
The Rise of Esports and the Temptation to Cheat
The success of major esports titles is staggering. CS2 regularly peaks at over 1.2 million concurrent players on Steam. Valorant, despite being newer, has built a massive competitive scene with regional leagues and international tournaments. Dota 2 and League of Legends have been pillars of the scene for over a decade. These games are not just popular – they are cultural phenomena with dedicated fanbases, professional orgs, and serious careers for top players.
However, the pressure to win at any cost has led some players – even professionals – to use cheats. The most infamous cases often involve various illicit tools. For instance, a reliable Valorant aimbot can give players an unfair advantage, and when such tools are used on stage, they shake the entire community’s trust.
When Pros Get Caught: Famous Cheating Scandals
One of the earliest and most shocking cases was Hovik “KQLY” Tovmassian, a French CS:GO player for Team Titan. In November 2014, KQLY received a VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat) ban, which immediately disqualified him from Valve-sponsored tournaments. At the time, he was considered a rising star, and his ban sent shockwaves through the scene. KQLY later admitted he had used cheats in matchmaking and casual games, though he claimed he never used them in official matches. Regardless, his career was effectively over, and his team dropped him.
Another infamous incident occurred in 2018 during the eXTREMESLAND Zowie Asia tournament in Shanghai. Nikhil “forsaken” Kumawat, a player for OpTic India, was caught red-handed using an aimbot. Tournament administrators noticed suspicious gameplay and paused the match to inspect his computer. In a dramatic moment caught on stream, Forsaken tried to delete the cheat program — named “word.exe” — while an official looked over his shoulder. The cheat was later confirmed to be an aimbot that locked onto enemies. OpTic India was disqualified, the team was disbanded, and Forsaken received a ban.
More recently, in 2025, the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) handed down a lifetime ban to Swedish CS2 player Joel “joel” Holmlund. An investigation found that joel was using a “premium hardware cheat” called Asdfware EFI bootkit, which included an aimbot, triggerbot, and ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) features. The cheat was detected by the Akros anti-cheat system during a CCT Season 2 match. What made this case even worse was that joel attempted to blackmail ESIC to prevent the findings from being published. He had also previously been suspended for betting on matches he was involved in.
These cases are just the tip of the iceberg. ESIC has banned multiple other players for cheating and match manipulation. The pattern is clear: when there is money and fame on the line, some players are willing to risk everything for an edge.
Valorant’s Vanguard: The Gold Standard of Anti-Cheat
In response to the cheating epidemic, Riot Games developed Vanguard for Valorant. Vanguard is a kernel-level anti-cheat system, meaning it runs at the deepest level of your operating system – the same level as the OS kernel itself. This gives it access to all system memory and hardware, allowing it to detect and block cheats that operate at the kernel level.
The logic is simple: if cheaters use kernel-level drivers to hide their cheats, the anti-cheat must also operate at the kernel level to detect them. Vanguard was initially always-on, running from the moment you booted your PC until you shut it down. This was controversial because it gave Riot deep access to players’ systems at all times. However, Riot recently updated Vanguard to an on-demand mode, where the kernel driver only runs while you’re playing a Riot game and unloads afterward.
Despite its aggressive approach, Vanguard has been remarkably effective. According to Riot’s director of anti-cheat, Phillip Koskinas, Vanguard has made it “far more difficult for PC gamers to use things like aimbots or wallhacks”. The system uses novel detection methods, including a technique that detects when something has been mapped into kernel memory that shouldn’t be there. Riot has also developed protections against DMA (Direct Memory Access) cheating, where cheaters use a second PC with a PCIe card to scan the game’s memory externally.
However, Vanguard is not perfect. Cheaters have found ways around it, and new methods emerge constantly.
Why Cheaters Still Exist in Valorant Ranked
If Vanguard is so powerful, why do players still encounter cheaters in ranked matches? The answer lies in the cat-and-mouse game between anti-cheat developers and cheat creators.
One major loophole is hardware-based cheats that don’t touch the game’s memory at all. For example, some cheats use Arduino devices or other external hardware to simulate mouse movements. These devices act as an external mouse and are not easily detectable by software anti-cheat. Another example is colorbots — Python scripts that capture screenshots of the monitor, detect enemy outlines by color, and move the mouse accordingly. Because these cheats don’t modify game files or memory, they are much harder for Vanguard to detect.
Cheat developers also constantly update their software to bypass Vanguard. Some sell “private” cheats that are only available to a small group of buyers, reducing the chance of detection. These cheats often claim to be “kernel driver-level hidden” and “exclusive Vanguard bypass” solutions. They also recommend using a “clean” computer that has never had cheats installed before, to avoid leaving traces that Vanguard might detect.
Another factor is the smart gameplay approach. Many cheaters in high ranks don’t rage-hack (blatantly aimbotting through walls). Instead, they use cheats subtly – just a little ESP to know enemy positions, or a Valorant Triggerbot that fires automatically when the crosshair is over an enemy. These soft cheats are much harder to spot, even for experienced players. The cheater plays normally most of the time, but uses the cheat as an information tool to gain a slight edge. Unless they make a mistake – like snapping to an enemy through a wall – they might never get reported.
And yes, even at the highest ranks, cheaters exist. Reddit threads and community discussions often mention that “unknown Radiant leaderboard players soft cheat”. While the number of cheaters in Valorant is lower than in many other FPS games, they are still present. Some players estimate that in Immortal rank, they encounter cheaters in about 1% of games – which might not sound like much, but over hundreds of matches, it adds up.
The Cheat Economy: Easy Access for Anyone
One of the most disturbing trends is how easy it is to buy cheats. A quick search online leads to dozens of websites selling cheat software for Valorant, CS2, and other games. These sites offer everything from basic ESP to full aimbot suites with customizable settings. Some even provide video tutorials on how to install and use the cheats without getting detected.
These are often sold with promises of “undetectable” performance and regular updates to stay ahead of Vanguard. The prices vary, but for a few dozen dollars, anyone can get a cheat that works in ranked matches. Some cheats even offer a “streamer mode” that hides the overlay from capture software, making it harder for viewers to spot.
This accessibility means that a player who is hard-stuck in Gold or Platinum can, with minimal effort, purchase a cheat and start climbing. They might not become a Radiant player overnight, but they can certainly reach Diamond or higher. And if they are careful – using soft cheats and playing “smart” – they might never get banned.
What About Radiant? The Highest Rank Is Not Safe
If cheaters can reach Diamond, what about Radiant – the top 500 players in each region? Logically, you would think that the best players in the world would be clean. But that’s not necessarily true. While Vanguard is effective, it’s not infallible. Some cheaters have managed to reach Radiant using private, undetected cheats. These players often hide their cheats well, using them only in crucial moments or relying on ESP to make better decisions.
Riot does take action against cheaters in high ranks, but the detection process can take time. According to some reports, it can take up to eight games for a cheater to be detected if they’re not instantly banned. During that time, they can ruin dozens of players’ games and potentially climb even higher. Riot also uses a system called VAN:RESTRICTION, which forces suspicious accounts to enable certain Windows security features, making cheating more difficult. But even with these measures, some cheaters slip through the cracks.
Ultimately, the presence of cheaters in Radiant undermines the integrity of the rank. If the top 0.1% of players can’t be trusted to play fair, what does that say about the competitive scene as a whole?
Conclusion: The Fight Continues
The battle between anti-cheat systems and cheat developers is never-ending. For every update to Vanguard, there is a cheat developer working on a bypass. For every new detection method, there is a new way to hide. Riot has made significant strides with Vanguard, and it is widely considered one of the best anti-cheat systems in the industry. But as long as there is money to be made from selling cheats, and as long as players are willing to buy them, cheating will remain a problem.
For the average player, the best defense is vigilance. Report suspicious players, watch replays, and trust your instincts. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. And remember, cheating doesn’t just ruin the game for others – it also takes away the satisfaction of genuine improvement.
As esports continues to grow, so will the pressure to win – and the temptation to cheat. The industry must remain proactive, investing in better detection, stricter penalties, and more transparent communication with the community. Only then can we hope to preserve the integrity of competitive gaming.
In the meantime, if you’re looking to understand the darker side of gaming – or if you’re just curious about what’s out there – you might come across sites offering various tools. But always remember: using cheats is not only against the rules, it’s also a disservice to yourself and the community. Play fair, and enjoy the game for what it is.
